Laura Dern, Gary Cole, Ken Howard and More Join Lexikat Artists' IF ALL THE SKY WERE PAPER, 6/9

Chapman University in association with Lexikat Artists present the wartime letters of American soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen and their loved ones at home which are brought to life in a new play IF ALL THE SKY WERE PAPER by Andrew Carroll. *The author will narrate this evening's performance. Directed by John Benitz.

IF ALL THE SKY WERE PAPER will feature Laura Dern (Golden Globe winner and Academy Award nominee), Kate Mansi (Days of Our Lives), Blake Berris (Days of Our Lives), Gary Cole (Talladega Nights, Office Space, Veep), Sandra Seacat (Crazy in Alabama, Country), Dear Abby, Ken Howard (The White Shadow, President of SAG), Lorna Dyn (US Air Force Veteran), Jim Beaver (Deadwood, USMC, Vietnam), Christopher Sweeney (USMC), and more.

If All the Sky Were Paper was written by Carroll based upon his New York Times bestselling books War Letters and Behind the Lines. Carroll launched the Legacy Project in 1998 - a national, all-volunteer initiative that works to find and preserve wartime correspondence from all of America's wars. Since then he has traveled to 40 countries, including Iraq and Afghanistan, to seek out what he calls "the world's great undiscovered literature," and has collected more than 100,000 previously unpublished letters (and now emails) from every conflict in U.S. history.

IF ALL THE SKY WERE PAPER features the best of letters published in War Letters and Behind the Lines, ranging from the War of Independence to the present day. Actors take on the roles of the military men and women and their loved ones at home, acting out the full spectrum of emotions and experiences contained in the letters. From the incredible drama of the human experience in battle to the pathos and humor of everyday life on the front and the home front, audiences will be moved and inspired by the correspondence of those caught up in the American Revolution, Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Press coverage of these extraordinary letters include NBC Nightly News, ABC's Good Morning America, CBS Sunday Morning, Fox News, This American Life and the play itself has been featured on CNN, Seattle Times, Albany Times Union, Washington Post, Stars and Stripes, NPR, as well as many other national publications. Carroll's books include the bestsellers Letters of a Nation, War Letters and Behind the Lines. Carroll also edited Operation Homecoming, which inspired the Oscar-nominated and Emmy-winning PBS documentary of the same name.

The play has recently been awarded a prestigious grant from The National Endowment for the Arts and a grant from Cal Humanities to help reach audiences around the country through a series of readings and performances.

The newly created Center for American War Letters, which Carroll founded, will house the Legacy Project's collection at Chapman University.

ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY! MONDAY, JUNE 9 at 7:30pm at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, 9820 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232. Located in downtown Culver City, just a few blocks south of the I-10 Freeway and across the street from Sony Entertainment Studios. Culver City Hall, behind the theatre on Culver Blvd, provides FREE covered parking. Dozens of restaurants and generous street parking are available in the surrounding area. To order tickets: http://www.brownpapertickets.com or call 1-800-838-3006. Ticket Price is $25. Running time is 80 minutes.

Celebrity guest artists to be announced - check website for updates at: www.lexikatartists.com and the Facebook page.

*A portion of ticket proceeds will support United States Veterans Artist's Alliance (USVAA), The Soldiers Project and the Wounded Warrior Project.
**Performance will be followed by a reception with the director, writer and actors.

Photo Credit: RD / Orchon / Retna Digital.

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