Photo Flash: Pacific Stages Presents SOMETHING HAPPENED by L. Trey Wilson, 4/1-5/16

Pacific Stages will follow up their debut production of Lobby Hero with the world premiere of Something Happened, by award-winning playwright L. Trey Wilson. Something Happened runs April 1 through May 16 at Pacific Stages in El Segundo and will be directed by L. Trey Wilson. The press opening begins April 8 and there will be an opening reception Saturday, April 10.

Something Happened: Doug and Deanna Piper's lives are turned upside down with what they find their son, Donovan, doing when they return home from an outing with friends. Each is forced to take a hard look at themselves and each other; what appeared to be the perfect family, might not survive the scrutiny. Every action has consequences. Award winning writer L Trey Wilson chronicles a marriage & family in crisis - and how the actions of one can have repercussions for all. Nothing HAPPENS in a void. There had to have been SOMETHING

ABOUT THE CAST AND CREATIVE TEAM
L. Trey Wilson (playwright and director) is an actor and writer originally from Chicago. Theater credits include A Lesson Before Dying, Six Degrees Of Separation, A Few Good Men, True West and One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. He has performed in several theaters across the country including the Samuel Beckett Theater, NY, Shakespeare and Company, MA, The Odyssey Theatre, LA, Lincoln Center Theater, NY, New Georges and Victory Gardens Theater, Chicago. TV, film credits: Speed Racer, Three Takes, Law & Order, Monk, Taking Your Life, Whitewash, Final Justice, etc. Plays written by L. Trey include Something Happened, All About Esther, Three Part Disharmony, Cause, Good People and the award-winning play Stage Directions (2005 LA Drama Critics Award, NAACP Award, LA Weekly Award, GLAAD Award and BackStage West Garland Award.) His solo performance piece, This Isn't Going To Wind Up In A Play, Right? was performed at The Odyssey Theatre last year.

Eric B. Anthony (Donovan Piper) began his acting career performing at the Arena Players Youtheatre, the training program of the Arena Players, Inc in Baltimore; which is the oldest African American community theatre in America. His Los Angeles credits include How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Naked Boys Singing,

Hangin' Out, and It's a Pretty Good Life. Broadway credits include Mary Poppins, Hairspray, and The Lion King. Film credits include G Love, Sexina: Pop Star P.I., and Voodoo Doll. Eric is a member of AEA, AFTRA, and SAG and a Pacific Stages s company member. 

Mashari Laila Bain's (Deanna Piper) began her acting career on the equity stages of Chicago. In 2002 she moved to Los Angeles and started her television and film career landing roles in TV shows such as Without a Trace, The Young and The Restless, The Shield, Dirt and Strong Medicine. Currently she is filming the independent television series Going For Broke. In 2008 Mashari and her production partner Ci Ci Foster formed Flower Goddess Productions. They just completed their first feature film I Heart Hollywood. In addition to her acting and producing Mashari is also an accomplished voice over artist.

Shaun B'Laurent (Raymond Taylor)
Lisa Canning (Hosanna Brennan) hosted the first season of Dancing With The Stars and was the on-air correspondent for Entertainment Tonight for three years. Lisa's credits include a series regular on The Young & The Restless. You can see Lisa in the upcoming feature films Drop Dead Gorgeous and The Red Canvas.

William Christian (Doug Piper) is a native of Washington, DC. His television credits include All My Children for which he received a Daytime Emmy nomination and NAACP Image Award nomination. His stage credits include Stage Directions by L. Trey Wilson (Inside the Ford/ Odyssey Theater), NAACP Theatre Award (ensemble) LA Weekly Award (ensemble); The Boys in the Band (Lucille Lortel, NY); Major Crimes by Jay Presson Allen, directed by Arthur Penn (NY); St. Joan (NY); The Winter's Tale (NY); The Member of the Wedding (Roundabout Theater (NY); Measure for Measure, directed by Paul Mullins (NJ Shakespeare); Black Eagles (original prod. at Crossroads Theater); Soulful Scream of a Chosen Son (Phil. Fest. Theater); Driving Miss Daisy (Deertrees Theater); Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (Trinity Rep); The Death of Bessie Smith, directed by Edward Albee (Alley Theater); Los Angeles Philharmonic debut (2009): (Narrator) The Last Seven Words of Christ by Joseph Haydn. Formerly was often a collaborator with the 52nd Street Project in NY. Film and Television also include: Desperate Housewives; Monk; Without A Trace; Prison Break; Law & Order; Moonlight; ER; Hannah Montana; Medium; Malcolm in the Middle; Spin City; Another World; The Cosby Show; The January Man; Robbie's Brother; Love and org*sms; Nine Lives; Contradictions of the Heart. Christian was twice nominated for local Emmy Awards for a children's show, It's Elementary.

FUSCHIA! (Melanie Taylor) is a NAACP & Ovations Awards nominee. She was Born and raised in Baltimore, MD and graduated from The Baltimore School for the Arts where she received a scholarship to continue her studies in opera at The Philadelphia College of Performing Arts. Her Broadway credits include: Les Miserables; first African American to be cast as Madame Thenardier, Julie Taymor's Juan Darien and Dreamgirls. Off Broadway credits include: Beehive, Once On This Island, Sheila's Day (w / Mary Wilson) and Uptown It's Hot (w/ Maurice Hines.) Television and Film credits include: Mind of Mencia, Cordially Invited, Ugly Betty, Boston Public, Days of Our Lives (Caprice,) Bringing Out The Dead (w/ Nicholas Cage & Patricia Arquette,) Harlem Aria (w/ Daman Wayans,) I'll Take You There (w/Ally Sheedy,) The Next Step, Law & Order and New York Undercover.

Christopher Guyton (Bernard Taylor) is a native of Alabama, has appeared in a number of film, television and theatre productions throughout his career. Notably the feature films White Wall, CH-27, Blocked, For Da Love of Money and Steppin Back. His television credits include: Moonlight, Heroes, The Shield and Martin. Stage credits include: The Boys Next Door, To Kill A Mockingbird, A Woman's Worth, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Twelve Angry Men, The Odd Couple and A Few Good Men.

Allan Louis (Gary) was born in Haiti and came to the States when he was five; he is fluent in Spanish and Creole. Louis created the role of Booker T. Washington in Ragtime. Most recently, he debuted in the Pasadena Playhouse 2009 season production of Baby It's You. His television credits include: Martin, The Jamie Foxx Show, Chuck, Boston Legal, Invasion, Numb3rs, Cane, Days of Our Lives, Charmed, and CSI: Miami. Louis appeared in the film Stomp the Yard, in the role of Dr. William Palmer. Louis amassed a devoted fan base with his portrayal of Marco Giordani on the CW drama Privileged. 

Jeorge Watson [Tom Brennan] was born in Windsor, North Carolina. He studied graphic design and illustration at The Maryland Institute, College of Art in Baltimore, MD, and acting at The Studio Theatre Acting Conservatory in Washington, DC. Los Angeles credits include stopkiss (Rogue Machine Theatre), and The Glory of Living (Athena Theatre). In Washington, DC, he worked with The Studio Theatre, The Shakespeare Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre, Arena Stage, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Washington Shakespeare Company, The Source Theatre, African Continuum Theatre Coalition and The Theatre Alliance (nominated for a Helen Hayes Award, Best Ensemble In a Resident Play for The Bluest Eye) among others. Television credits include Homicide: Life On The Streets (NBC), the wire (HBO), Cold Case (CBS), and Justified (FX).

Jeryll Adler (Executive Director/Founder) has cultivated her vision over the last seven years for the creation and development of Pacific Stages by drawing from a multi-faceted career in the fields of the arts, entertainment, media and business. Her experience in entertainment and media include positions at The American Place Theatre as Director of Marketing, along with tenures at companies including Capital Cities/ABC, Inc. Adler founded the marketing department for IndieWire, the lead news source for the independent film industry. While pursuing her producing career, Adler was approached by a group of actors from ABC's Daytime division to found a theatre, The Rogue Repertory Company. For this company, over a two-year period, Adler produced, promoted, raised money, and grew the company from six to sixty actors, running in the black from its very first production. For the past seven years Adler has been a sales consultant to The Arthouse Marketing Group, a nationwide cinema marketing network. 

Robert Bailey (Associate Artistic Director) directed the Jeffrey Hatcher adaptation of Henry James' The Turn of the Screw for Pacific Resident Theatre. In New York he worked at several Off-Broadway theatres, including Circle Repertory Company, Ensemble Studio Theatre, the American Place Theatre, Home for Contemporary Theatre, and the Actors' Studio, where he was a member of the Playwrights and Directors Unit for several years. He also directed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, at the Court Theatre and the Skylight Theatre in Los Angeles, and at the Washington Theatre Laboratory. Productions include Borderlines by John Bishop, Lilith by Allan Havis (starring Allison Janney), and The Dumb Waiter and Landscape by Harold Pinter. He was co-director with Otto Preminger for William Packard's The Killer Thing at the Corner Loft Theatre in New York, and also with Viveca Lindfors for her play Anna at the River Arts Repertory in upstate New York. His short film Last Call won awards for Best Short Film, Best Actor, and Best Actress at the Breckenridge Film Festival and Best Actor at the Hermosa Shorts Festival, and was selected for the Avignon, Sedona and Avignon/New York film festivals. Robert Bailey has directed and taught at Brown University, UCLA, and UC San Diego, and frequently directs at the USC School of Theatre.

Brendon Fox (Artistic Director) is a consultant and former Associate Producer for L.A. Theatre Works, and has also worked on staff at the Tony Award-winning Old Globe Theatre, the Court Theatre, and the Eclipse Theatre of Chicago, among others. He has previously directed for LATW two national tours and many plays including Private Lives, Arms and the Man, and Work Song. Brendon served for seven years as the Associate Director for the Old Globe Theatre, where he directed An Infinite Ache, Sky Girls, and Much Ado About Nothing. Regional directing credits include: Opus at Playmakers Repertory Theatre, As You Like It at Weston Theatre Company, Tonight At 8:30 at Antaeus Theatre Company, What The Butler Saw at Two River Theatre Company, Richard 11 at Writers Theatre Chicago, A Bright Room Called Day (2006 Award, Best Ensemble,) CLOUD 9, Sir Patient Fancy at The Julliard School and the L.A. premiere of The Lady With All The Answers at the Pasadena Playhouse. 

Pacific Stages chooses work from two categories of American Playwrights, the more established names and the next generation of the best, focusing on writers who share a love and talent for great stories and fascinating characters. With the core belief that the arts have the power to strengthen community and enrich the human spirit, Pacific Stages is dedicated to produce, present and perform the early, new and lesser known works of the best American Playwrights, and to nurture the next generation of storytellers through new play development and commissions. Pacific Stages, the only non-profit theatre company in El Segundo, began their program of concert readings featuring stage plays in June 2005. Each location was donated by local neighbors, schools and businesses with stages being built anywhere from art galleries to a former church and several living rooms. Local businesses made sure that each and every actor and director knew just how much this community appreciated their contribution, festooning the cast and crew of every performance with flowers and gifts. Pacific Stages has been able to build a talented and substantial Artists Company of 111, the likes of which have included Joe Spano, Dana Delaney, Chris Pine, Sam Anderson, Alan Blumenfeld, David Clennon, Russell Hornsby, Gregory Jbara, Matt Letscher, Ethan Phillips, David Proval, Victor Rivers, Stephen Wadsworth, Shannon Cochran and Sandy Martin. For over four years Pacific Stages has sustained and grown an audience in the South Bay.

In 2004, a conversation with local business leader and developer Richard Lundquist about Pacific Stages vision to bring a theatre to the South Bay comparable in scope to the great national non-profit theatres led to a strategy for the donation of land to build a mid-size theatre in El Segundo. This generous proposal from Lundquist, President of Continental Development Corporation, happened before even one play had been considered for production. Pacific Stages' first full production, Lobby Hero, received the prestigious O! Recommends from the LA Stage Alliance and garnered much critical praise.

SOMETHING HAPPENED

Dates: Saturday, April 1 through Sunday, May 16, 2010 - Press Opening is April 8

Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Saturdays at 3:00 pm and Sundays at 5:00 pm

Theatre: Pacific Stages - 2041 Rosecrans Avenue #170, El Segundo 90245. Pacific Stages is located at the Beach City Plaza in the Continental Development building immediately adjacent to the Pacific Theatres Beach Cities Cinema 

Tickets: (310) 868-2631 or www.pacificstages.org

Prices: $34.99 - Students: $25.00 - Season Pass: $50.00

Saturday April 10 Opening Reception and Ticket $50.00

20% Group Discount for 10 or more except Saturday evenings

For more information on Pacific Stages, visit www.pacificstages.org

Photo credit: Steven Moses