The Elephant Theatre Company presents GOD'S WAITING ROOM

The Elephant Theatre Company presents Robert Austin Rossi's heartfelt World Premiere drama God's Waiting Room where prejudices collide with the past and present in issues of sexuality, religion, intolerance and love. Renowned Los Angeles theatre Director, David Fofi directs this award-winning cast. LA stage veterans Kathleen Garrett stars along with Jeremy Glazer, Mark Adair-Rios, Randy Vasquez and Charlie Pacello.

Rising from the ashes less than two years after closing it's flagship theater, the Elephant Theatre Company returns with David Fofi at the helm of God's Waiting Room, opening March 11th, 2017 running through April 2nd at the Matrix Theatre (7657 Melrose Avenue, 90046)

Performances are on Thursday's, Friday's and Saturday's at 8:00 PM and Sunday's at 5:00 PM (Preview performances will be Wednesday,Thursday, and Friday, March 8th, 9th and 10th at 8:00 PM) General admission $28.00 on Friday and Saturday and $20 on Thursday andSunday. Previews are $20.00.

For tickets go to http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/2863684 or www.plays411.com/gwr or call (323) 960-7784

 

Who's Who:

 

David Fofi (Director) After serving with the US Navy, director David Fofi went on to study theatre at California State University Long Beach, where he met a core group of artists who would become the Elephant Theatre Company, founded in 1995 in downtown Los Angeles. In 1999, along with Don Cesario, he created Elephant Stages. Teaming up with Gary Blumsack he then opened The Lillian Theater in Hollywood that same year where he has served as Artistic Director.

 

Dave has enjoyed working in many aspects of the theatre as a Director, Producer, and Designer. His directing credits include: The World Premiere of Unorganized Crime (featuring Chaz Palminteri, Ovation Recommended ). The World Premiere of The Twilight of Schlomo by Timothy Mc Neil ( Los Angeles Times' Critic's Pick) ; The North Plan by Jason Wells

(Huffington Post's Top ten productions of 2013); The World Premiere of Collision by Lyle Kessler at the Rattlestick Theater in New York ( Critic's pick Timeout NY); The world premiere of Farm Boy by Michael Morpugo stage adaptation by Daniel Buckroyd ( Los Angeles Times' Critics Choice, Backstage Critic's pick) at The Matrix Theatre, the west coast premiere of The Late Henry Moss by Sam Shepard ( Backstage Critic's Pick ," GO" LA Weekly), the West Coast Premiere of The Little Flower of East Orange by Stephen Adly Guirgis (Ovation Recommended); and In Arabia We'd All Be Kings by Stephen Adly Guirgis (4 LADCC Awards including Best Production, Critic's Pick, LA Times and Backstage); the World Premiere of Parasite Drag by Mark Roberts (Ovation Recommended, Critic's Pick Backstage and LA Weekly); the World Premiere of The Idea Man by Kevin King (Ovation Award for Best New Play, Ovation nominee Best direction); the World Premiere of Asleep on a Bicycle by Tony Foster (Critic's Pick, LA Times and Backstage); the World Premiere of Anything by Tim McNeil (3 LADCC Awards, Best Direction included, Critic's Pick LA Times, Backstage; Carlos Lacamara's play Exiles, produced by The Hayworth Theatre (Critic's Pick, Backstage); the world-premiere Los Muertos by Timothy McNeil (Critic's Pick, LA Times; Pick of the Week ReviewPlays.com); The Sand Storm (Critic's Pick, Backstage, featured in the LA Times Calendar and LA Weekly); the World Premiere Sensitive Skin by Shem Bitterman; (feature in LA Weekly); the World Premiere of Robert J. Litz's One World (recommended, LA Times and LA Weekly; Critic's Pick, two NAACP nominations. David is a member of The US Veterans Artists Alliance where he also Directs, teaches professional Acting as well as Directing classes, including workshops for returning Veterans and Veterans Acting Professionally.

 

Robert Austin Rossi (Playwright) is an award winning writer living in SignAl Hill, CA. His short film "The Bench" (2015) won awards from Best Shorts Film Festival, Best Independents International Film Festival, L.A. Shorts, New York Screenings, L.A. Cine Fest, Culver City Film Festival, and Los Angeles Independent Films. His script, "The Dowager" about the last Dowager Empress of Russia was a quarter finalist in the prestigious BlueCat Screenplay and We Screenplay Competitions, a Semi-Finalist in London's Table Read My Screenplay, and a finalist in both The Beverly Hills Screenplay Competition and The Chicago Screenplay Competition. Another venture, "Patriot/Traitor", about Irish Uprising hero, Roger Casement, garnered Bob a top 50 award from The International Screenwriters Association and Quarter Finalist recognition from The Nashville Screenwriting Competition. In 2016 Bob was chosen as one of fifteen finalists in The First Ten Pages International Script Contest for "Edith", First Lady Edith Bolling Wilson's story.

A former Vice President of Claims for AIG, Transamerica and Cal- surance, Bob retired from the insurance industry to pursue writing full time in 2012. He studied Screenwriting at UCLA under Ellen Sandler ("Everybody Loves Raymond"), Barney Lictenstein (Script Analyst for Amblin Entertainment, Sundance Lab) and Tom Lazarus ("Stigmata").

Matthew Richter (Lighting and Sound Design) is an award-winning lighting and Sound Designer based in Los Angeles. He is the resident designer for the LA LGBT Center, where he also works full time. Recent designs include Hit The Wall (LADCC Award and Ovation Nomination),and The Search For Signs Of Intelligent Life in the Universe Revisited, both for the LA LGBT Center, A Gulag Mouse (Ovation Nomination), Astroboy and the God of Comics (Stage Raw nomination), both for SacRed Fools, Rio Hondo (Stage Raw nominations) for Theatre of Note, and Macbeth for The Vagrancy. Matt also serves as half of the experimental ambient folk duo Lanfair Field (lanfairfield.com). For more information, please go to mattrichter.net.

 

Elephant Stageworks (Set Design) The award winning design wing of Elephant Theatre Company, a collective of artists and designers including Adam Hunter, Joel Daavid, Matt Maenpaa and Matthew Richter. Designs have included Love Sick by Kristina Poe and Idea Manby Kevin King.

 

Actor Bio's:

 

Kathleen Garrett (Lois Ruggerio) Off Broadway: Mrs. Alving in Ibsen's Ghosts, Century Theatre; Eleanor in That Ilk; Hudson Theatre Guild; Clytemenstra in The Orestia, La Mama. Williamstown Theatre Festival: Mina Murray in Dracula; Emily in Baal In The 21st Century; Maria in Twelfth Night. Los Angeles Mark Taper Forum: Mary Phagan in Cake Walk; Ensemble in Jules. Produced and starred in the one woman show: Zelda: The Last Flapper, Tiffany Theatres; Leo in Indiscretions, Pacific Resident Theatre. TV/Film: Over 50 productions including narrations for series on Discovery Channel shows, animations and video games. Published works: "The Figgers" and "Afghans and Ceci Beans. Awards: Drama Critics Circle Award; LA Weekly Award; Garland Award; Robbie Award; Ovation Nomination; Commercial Awards (yes, there are a few for Actors). Clio Award, Best Performance in a Commercial; Lulu Award; The Belding Bowl.

 

Jeremy Glazer (Billy D'Agostino) won an LA Weekly Theater Award for Best Comedy Performance in Block Nine. He also worked with Tony Winner Julie White, Johnny Galecki and Broadway cast in The Little Dog Laughed (CTG). Other stage: You Can't Take It With You(Antaeus), A Picture Of DorIan Gray (Boston Court), Anything and He Asked For It. Film: Clint Eastwood directed Jeremy in the Oscar, Golden Globe winning Letters Of Iwo Jima, In The Clouds (HBO), Save Me (Sundance),My Christmas Love (Hallmark) and the upcomingRust Creek. Television: Grey's Anatomy, Castle, Bones, The Mentalist, Uncharted 4 (video game), Devious Maids, How I Met Your Mother, Desperate Housewives, Csi:Ny, In Plain Sight and many more. He created the benefit show FEED THE LOVE fundraising for The L.A. Food Bank and documentary Every Three Seconds. He volunteers with The Art of Elysium at Children's Hospital L.A. and about to trek to Nepal and Africa with buildOn to construct two schools.

 

Mark Adair-Rios (Carlos Mendez) In the last 27 years Mark's discreet African-American, Dominican, Creek Indian Nation, and Scotch-Irish Danish (can you say multi-ethnic?) descent have garnered him a diversity of acting roles that range from gang member to techno geek. pyschotic killer to neurotic cop and Latino convict to L.A. transvestite. He's recurred or been a regular on Love That Girl; Extant; Grey's Anatomy; Off The Map; Csi: Miami; Jerico; Mds; The Evidence and many others. Guest star appearances on HBO's Big Little Lies; Cod Black; Doubt; Modern Family to name only a few. Soon film roles include Fear Love; Agoraphobia; Christmas Day; Jukebox Hero, andI'll See You In My Dreams. As a producer, his $2 million feature Intensive Care with Lena Olin and Mira Sorvino will shot in the spring.

 

Randy Vasquez (Stephen Ruggerio) Los Angeles Theatre: Mariela In The Desert, Casa 0101; Closer, Macha Theatre; Toypurina, San Gabriel Playhouse; Tarantella/Spider Dance, Redcat; Rebecca's Gamble, TheatreCraft Playhouse; Black Coffee, Theatre 40; Washington Square Moves, Mojo Theatre Ensemble. Regional/Off Broadway: Each Day Dies With Sleep, Berkeley Rep and Circle Rep. Television:Roadies; Shameless; Bosch; JAG (Series Regular); First Monday; The Love Boat: The Next Wave (Featured); Film: The Last Brown Beret; Among Thieves; Day of Reckoning; Volado Bajo; Saving Private Perez. Directing: Testimony: The Maria Guardado Story; 2001; The Thick Dark Fog in 2012 and the upcoming Badger Creek, both for PBS.

Charlie Pacello (alternate for Mr. Glazer not an understudy) Born in Denver, Colorado and a Graduate of the United States Air Force Academy, Charlie studied acting at The Stella Adler Academy of Acting in Los Angeles and attended the Midsummer iOxford Program, a summer-long Shakespeare intensive workshop in Oxford, England. Los Angeles Theatre Credits: Glennie And Maple Breakup; Acts Of Possession; Waiting For Godot (Pozzo); Times Scream And Hurry (L.A. And NY); One Fell Swoop; In Arabia, We'd All Be Kings; Hamlet; What The Butler Saw; Betrayal; The Bear. Film: Blind Man's Curse; Prom Queen (Emmy Nominated); The Homecoming; Separated; Child Invisible; Project America; Sam Has Seven Friends (Emmy Nominated); Charlie is the Vice President and CFO of Lightning Rod Productions. He just completed his masters' studies and earned a Masters of Arts degree from Goddard College in February.

 

Anthony Roman (Understudy for Mr. Adair-Rios) Studied Theater Arts with an emphasis in acting and directing at Cal State Long Beach University, where he had the opportunity to play the roles of Eugene in Biloxi Blues, Dinky Dau in Tracers, Ricky Roma in Glengarry Glenross and Geoffrey in The Lion In Winter amongst others. He moved to New York City to continue his pursuit of theater but was lured back to Los Angeles when the opportunity presented itself to be a founding member of a new theater company, The Elephant Off Main, which eventually became The Elephant Theater Company. He would like to dedicate his performance to his children, who've taught him more about love that he could've ever imagined and two dear people that were part of The Elephant Theater family, Tom Stanczyk, and Jon Polito, both of which left this earth far too soon.