Opening May 18th at the Pelican Theatre, "DESIGNER GENES" is set in the loft of an old abstract painter who's fame has become a burden and whose time is running out. As an adored artist he is lacking in nothing - except love.
LOVE.
He is bored, bitter and barricaded against any emotions that might require the re-introduction of vulnerability into his well organized and pampered life.
VULNERABILITY.
Enter Whitney Beecham, a journalist from Modern Art News assigned to do an introspective piece on the aging painter and his canon of work.
WHITNEY BEECHAM.
The aging painter falls hard for the much-younger and impressionable journalist. Within months he has transformed her looks, her opinions, her style and her attitudes towards art.
FAME.
Within more months his 'Galatea' is approached by the networks to host what becomes an extremely successful national art show and slowly but surely eclipses the aging artist's hard-won fame.
RECONCILIATION.
There is an excruciating break-up, an attempted intervention by the artist's concerned son and a somewhat complicated reconciliation.
TRIUMPH.
Love triumphs. Art survives. And the magic that propels the creative impulse remains the mystery that that has alluded scholars for centuries.
Produced by ROTHMAN FAIRCHILD PRODUCTIONS and directed by RYAN DAVIS, "DESIGNER GENES" stars RICHMOND SHEPARD, SHELLEE NICOLS and CHRISTOPHER KROMER.
OPENING WEDNESDAY, MAY 18TH, performances will be Tuesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sunday at 3:00pm at the Pelican Theatre (750 Eighth Avenue - between 46th & 47th Streets.) (Previews begin Tuesday, May 10th.)
Tickets may be purchased by calling SMARTTIX at 212-868-4444 or on-line at www.smarttix.com. Tickets are $40 ($20 for students & seniors.)
RICHMOND SHEPARD BIOGRAPHY
Award-winning actor ("Cold Storage by Ron Ribman) Richmond Shepard will play the artist. Acclaimed world-wide as a Mime, Mr. Shepard has also played major speaking roles in "Attorney at Law" by Elmer Rice, "Travesties" by Tom Stoppard and many other plays in Los Angeles. Active in the theatre for over 50 years, he has also appeared in over 100 television shows and performed for many years with the Improv Troupes L.A. CABARET and NOO YAWK TAWK which performed at the Village Gate from 1988-2005. His paintings, which are used in the play, have been exhibited in galleries in the US and in Europe. As an acclaimed mime, he started America's first ensemble Mime troupe in 1952, and performed with his company throughout the U.S. until 1987. In the eighties he built and operated 5 theatres on what is now Los Angeles' Theatre Row where he produced over thirty plays, directing and/or starring in many of them. He has also appeared on over 100 television shows. As a theatre and film critic he has contributed to and/or reviewed for WNEW Radio, The Wall St. Transcript and The Performing Arts Insider through 2005. His current reviews may be found at lively-arts.com. His play "Lord Buckley's Finest Hour" played successfully in L.A., London, Edinburgh and other cities. In 1994 he directed the feature film "Gurneyman" co-starring David Arquette. Since 2001 he has created Mime troupes in Jakarta, Indonesia, Los Angeles, New York and Ireland. In the Summer of 2003 he presented his "Standup Mime" act in several cabarets throughout Berlin. He currently directs and performs with his Improv Comedy troupe NOO YAWK TAWK in New York, and there are occasional showings of his paintings at various galleries. Richmond, who has an MA in Theatre Arts and a PhD in Communication, taught part time for seven years at California State University at Los Angeles and at The University of Southern California. For six years he taught Musical Theatre for The Los Angeles Civic Light Opera. He currently teaches Screenplay Writing at St. John's University. Richmond is the father of singing star Vonda Shepard (Allie McBeal).
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