THE VORTEX to Play Matrix Theatre, 11/13-12/14

Noel Coward's rarely produced first hit show, updated to the Swinging Sixties, returns with the original director and cast at the Matrix Theatre.

In The Vortex, Nicky Lancaster brings his elegant fiancée, Bunty, home to introduce her to his famous mother, stage actress Florence Lancaster. Nicky is shocked to discover that Florence has taken a much-younger lover, and when Bunty ditches Nicky to run off with Florence's boy-toy, both are forced to confront the raw truth about themselves.

Starring StageScene LA Scenie 2014 Award winner for Best Actor Craig Robert Young and multi-award (Scenie, Ovation, Garland, LA Weekly) nominated and winner Shannon Holt.

The Vortex runs from Thursday November 13th through Sunday December 14th, Thursdays through Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 3pm. General seating will be $34. For reservations or more information please visit https://www.plays411.com/vortex or call 323-960-7735.

Shannon Holt ("Florence") just won the 2014 Stage Scene LA "Scenie" Award for Best Actress for her performance in The Vortex and an Ovation Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in Passion Play (at the Odyssey Theatre). Multi-nominated and award winner, Holt has performed in regional theatres throughout the U.S. and is a member of the Antaeus Theatre Company, having appeared there in Noel Coward's Tonight at 8:30, The Autumn Garden and You Can't Take It With You.

Craig Robert Young ("Nicky") recently joined Ben Kingsley and Tom Hiddleston to become the new face of Jaguar. He has just won a 2014 Stage Scene LA "Scenie" Award for Best Lead Actor The Vortex. Young's other theatre credits include Me, As a Penguin, Boise USA, Body Language, Much Ado About Nothing and The Davids (both on London's West End). His many television and film roles include NCIS:LA, Hawaii 5.0. Hot in Cleveland, Fringe, Melrose Place, Return To The Hiding Place, A Good Year, Pirates of the Caribbean 3 and Wannabe.

Victoria Hoffman ("Helen") is an LA stage veteran, having appeared in The Vortex, The Sonneteer, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Twelfth Night, A Christmas Carol (at the Kodak Theatre), Charley Bacon (South Coast Repertory) and Company. A 20-year veteran of the commercial and theatrical casting community, she now serves as the resident Casting Director of the award-winning Rogue Machine Theatre Company. Recent television appearances include CSI:NY and The Client List.

Daniel Jimenez ("Tom") has acted with theater companies across the country including, The American Shakespeare Center, The Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, Theater for the New City in NYC, The Classical Theater Lab, The Visceral Company in Los Angeles, and many more. Jimenez is also a co- founder of The Sonoma Valley Shakespeare company in Sonoma. Most recently he starred in the 2014 Fringe's hit Zombies From Beyond.

Skye LaFontaine ("Bunty") is the daughter of voice-over legend Don LaFontaine and daughter of Star Search Hall of Fame Grand Champion Nita Whitaker. LaFontaine is a recent graduate of the California Institute of the Arts and recently co-founded a theatre company with her sister, having directed their first production Rent Unplugged.

John Mawson ("David") is a classically trained British actor, writer and producer. His theatre credits include The Secret of Sherlock Holmes (Theatre Asylum and Duchess London), Inherit the Wind (The Old Vic, directed by Sir Trever Nunn), The Tempest, The Comedy of Errors, Henry V, Twelfth Night, Present Laughter, The Seagull and Uncle Vanya. Mawson's film and television credits include The Last Seven, Pack of Pain, Return to the Hiding Place, Criminal Minds, Rake, The West Wing Reunion and Masters of the House.

Cameron Mitchell Jr. ("Pawnie") is a graduate of the Central School of Speech and Drama and has performed in many stage productions in the U.S. and Canada, including Flim Flam: Houdini and the Hereafter, The Vortex, Boise, USA, Charles Dickens' Bleak House, A Patriot For Me, The Price, The Diary of Anne Frank and More Haunted Masters. Mitchell hails from "old" Hollywood parentage, and his film and television credits include Hollywoodland, Diary of a Wimpy Kid 3, Master Spy: The Robert Hansen Story and Queer As Folk.?