Spotlighters Theatre Presents David Drake in A VERY TAWNY CHRISTMAS, 12/28 & 29

Just in time for the holidays, Obie Award winner David Drake will return to the Spotlighters stage for the first time in over 20 years with his acclaimed new theatrical creation Tawny Heatherton in A Very Tawny Christmas! For two nights only -- on December 28th & 29th at 8pm -- Drake’s loveably eccentric showbiz survivor and “one hit wonder” from the disco zeitgeist of the 1980s will bring her blonde-swept brand of sunny, funny cheer to the Spotlighters Theatre with seasonal songs, sparkly dresses and wild stories about her globe-trotting adventures. Along with musical director Dan Noel, Tawny will also welcome several surprise guests to perform with her throughout the evening. Performed without an intermission, A Very Tawny Christmas! runs approximately 75 minutes.

Tickets for A Very Tawny Christmas! are $25., and can be obtained online at www.spotlighters.org. For more information call: 410-752-1225. The Spotlighters Theatre is located at 817 Saint Paul Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21202.

Performing on the last weekend of 2012, A Very Tawny Christmas! is being presented by Spotlighters as their annual year-end benefit. A lite fare reception is included with purchase of a ticket. Proceeds benefit the ADA Renovations Project.

David Drake is a native of Edgewood, Maryland. Starting out local as a child actor, David appeared on virtually every stage in the Baltimore region throughout the 1980s before heading to New York and -- several years later, in 1992 -- winning an Obie Award for his one-man play The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me, one of the longest-running solo shows in NY theater history. Globally, Larry Kramer has received over 100 productions, including translations into French, Greek, Portuguese, and Spanish. Last summer, the 20th anniversary of David’s play received a celebrated revival in Chicago. While an artist-in-residence NY’s Dance Theater Workshop in 2002, David premiered his next autobiographical solo show Son of Drakula, which earned rave reviews and toured the world. His latest theatrical creation, a forgotten starlet named Tawny Heatherton, has quickly been gathering fans ever since David debuted her last February in My Tawny Valentine at the NY’s Laurie Beechman Theatre, directed by Robert La Fosse. David will return to the Laurie Beechman Theatre this January for the NY debut of Tawny, Tell Me True!, which enjoyed a triumphant summer-long run in Provincetown, MA this year. Other NY stage credits include Vampire Lesbians of Sodom (succeeding Charles Busch for 856 performances), originating the role of “Miss Deep South” in the hit musical Pageant, co-starring with Jim J. Bullock in End of the World Party at the 47th St. Theater, and starring opposite B.D. Wong in A Language of Their Own at The Public. TV: LAW & ORDER, THE BEAT, NY UNDERCOVER, LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT, and most recently THE GOOD WIFE. Feature films: Jonathan Demme’s Academy Award-winning Philadelphia, as well as It’s Pat, Naked in New York, David Searching, Bear City, Longtime Companion, and in his own adaptation of The Night Larry Kramer Kissed Me (which was shot on location at the Baltimore Theatre Project). As a stage director, David has developed and directed numerous new solo-shows, including pieces by Kathy Najimy, Sherie Rene Scott, and the award-winning The Be(a)st of Taylor Mac. Twice a Directing Fellow at the Sundance Theater Lab, David has directed new works in NY at The Public’s “Under the Radar” Festival, Joe’s Pub, Rattlestick, Theater for the New City, and NYC International Fringe Festival. More recently David was a director of the world premiere of Taylor Mac’s The Lily’s Revenge, which made the “10 Best Lists” in The New Yorker, The NY Post, The Advocate, Paper Magazine, and won a 2010 Village Voice Obie Award.