La Jolla Playhouse Presents New John Leguizamo Show March 4-14, 2010

La Jolla Playhouse is pleased to present John Leguizamo Diary of a Madman as part of its Page To Stage program, by special arrangement with WestBeth Entertainment. The production will run March 4 - 14, 2010 in the Mandell Weiss Theatre. Performances take place Tuesday and Wednesday at 7:30 pm; Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm; Sunday at 2:00 pm.

Tickets ($30; $25 for Playhouse subscribers; $15 for students) go on sale November 30 and are available at the Box Office at (858) 550-1010 or online at www.lajollaplayhouse.org.

John Leguizamo thrills audiences as he gets up close and personal in his new, uncensored, uninhibited tour-de-force one-man show, John Leguizamo Diary of a Madman. In Leguizamo's trademark performance style, this piece explodes with energy, taking audiences on a non-stop, fever-pitch adventure, heating up the stage with vivid accounts of where he's been and the colorful characters who've shaped different facets of his life. From his adolescent memories in Queens, New York, to the early days of his acting career and beyond - with stories of the outrageous 80's avant-garde theater scene and anecdotes from major movie sets and roles opposite some of Hollywood's biggest film stars - John Leguizamo Diary of a Madman is by turns uproarious and heartfelt, laying it bare for those along for the ride.

Multi-faceted performer and Emmy Award-winner John Leguizamo's notable career defies categorization. Possessing boundless energy and creativity, Leguizamo's work spans the genres of film, theatre, television, literature and beyond. As writer and performer, Leguizamo created the Off-Broadway sensation Mambo Mouth (1991), in which he portrayed seven different characters (Obie, Outer Critics Circle, Vanguardia Awards). His second one-man show, Spic-O-Rama (1993) enjoyed extended sold-out runs in Chicago and New York (Dramatists' Guild Hull-Warriner Award for Best American Play, Lucille Lortel Outstanding Achievement Award for Best Broadway Performance, Drama Desk Award for Best Solo Performance). His third solo show, Freak, completed a successful run on Broadway in 1998. A special presentation of Freak, directed by Spike Lee, aired on HBO (Emmy Award for Outstanding Performance in a Variety or Music Program and nomination for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special). In Fall, 2001 Leguizamo returned to Broadway with Sexaholix...a Love Story, directed by Peter Askin (Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for "Outstanding Solo Performance" and Tony Award nomination for Best Special Theatrical Performance). Sexaholix aired as an HBO Special in Spring, 2002 and toured widely. Other stage credits: A Midsummer Night's Dream and La Puta Vida at the New York Shakespeare Festival and Parting Gestures at INTAR.

Presently, Leguizamo delights younger fans as the voice of "Sid" in Ice Age 1, 2, 3. He has been seen in countless films including Love in the Time of Cholera opposite Javier Bardem and Benjamin Bratt, The Happening opposite Mark Wahlberg, Righteous Kill opposite Robert DeNiro and Al Pacino, The Babysitters opposite Cynthia Nixon and The Take opposite Rosie Perez, as well as Miracle at St. Anna, Land of the Dead, The Groomsmen, Lies & Alibis, Assault on Precinct 13, Sueno, Spin, Moulin Rouge, Summer of Sam, King of the Jungle, Spawn, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet, Dr. Doolittle, Carlito's Way and Casualties of War.

WestBeth Entertainment, Arnold Engelman - President, is a producing/promoting organization that has successfully and consistently produced critically-acclaimed, financially successful, ground-breaking entertainment for 30 years. From Eddie Izzard to Billy Connolly, Mike Myers to Lewis Black, Wigfield to Hedwig, and The Family Guy to Tenacious D, WestBeth has been the creative catalyst, partner and producer of some of the most innovative productions across the nation. Upcoming productions include Eddie Izzard's January 2010 US Arena Tour STRIPPED TOO - The Big Intimacy Tour and Lewis Black's - The Parties Over at City Center in NYC, April 2010. Recent productions include An Evening Without Monty Python, directed by Eric Idle and BT McNicholl, Eddie Izzard's sold out 34 city 2008 American Tour STRIPPED. As well as Billy Connolly's Too Old To Die Young (North American Tour); Lewis Black's Nothing Sacred (Lincoln Center, Carnegie Hall); and Celtic Comics-Ardel O'Hanlon, Tommy Tiernan, and Dylan Moran. Please visit www.westbethent.com for more information.

The nationally acclaimed, Tony Award-winning La Jolla Playhouse is known for its tradition of creating the most exciting and adventurous new work in regional theatre. The Playhouse was founded in 1947 by Gregory Peck, Dorothy McGuire and Mel Ferrer, and is considered one of the most well-respected not-for-profit theatres in the country. Numerous Playhouse productions have moved to Broadway, including Big River, The Who's Tommy, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, A Walk in the Woods, Dracula, Billy Crystal's 700 Sundays, the Pulitzer Prize-winning I Am My Own Wife, Jersey Boys, The Farnsworth Invention, 33 Variations and Memphis. Located on the UC San Diego campus, La Jolla Playhouse is made up of three primary performance spaces: the Mandell Weiss Theatre, the Mandell Weiss Forum Theatre, and the Joan and Irwin Jacobs Center for La Jolla Playhouse, a state-of-the-Art Theatre complex which features the Sheila and Hughes Potiker Theatre.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.