Marissa Jaret Winokur, Alexandra Billings and More Will Lead THE COWARDS Benefit Reading for Los Angeles LGBT Center

On Saturday, October 21, After Hours Theatre Company and the Los Angeles LGBT Center co-present “The Cowards,” Ryan O’Connor’s fresh adaptation of Noel Coward’s classic play “Hay Fever.” In this unapologetically queer version, the four members of a dysfunctional chosen family unit (The Cowards) have each invited a surprise guest to their Provincetown, Massachusetts home for the weekend. What ensues is a biting, wicked comedy in which a batch of wildly unpleasant people make for uproarious entertainment. This reading is being presented as a benefit for the LGBT Center.
 
Directed by John Hill (Hairspray, BARE: A Pop Opera), this reading stars Marissa Jaret Winokur (Hairspray, What We Do in the Shadows), Alexandra Billings (Wicked, Transparent), Brendan Jordan (Lady Gaga fame), Vico Ortiz (Our Flag Means Death, The Sex Lives of College Girls),  and Ryan O’Connor (Big Little Lies, Home Street Home) as the Coward family, and George Salazar (Be More Chill, Superstore), Charlie Barnett (Chicago Fire, Russian Doll), Nhut Le (Peacemaker, Kroll Show), and Elle Deran (TikTok star, Home Street Home) as their surprise guests. Comedian Nori Reed will be reading stage directions. Casting by Conrad Woolfe and Leigh Ann Smith of Indigo Casting.
 
Co-presented by After Hours Theatre Company and the Los Angeles LGBT Center, all proceeds from tickets will go to support the Los Angeles LGBT Center.
 
Ryan O’Connor is a Los Angeles based actor, director and writer best known for appearances on Big Little Lies and How I Met Your Mother. His autobiographical solo shows garnered him the attention of Oprah Winfrey and led to appearing in the final season of The Oprah Winfrey Show. Theatrical credits as an actor include Home Street Home, Scissorhands, Eat, Pray, Vote and Chicken. Directorial credits include the world premiere of Jimi Darkness: Alcoholic Superhero and a critically acclaimed Los Angeles production of A Little Night Music. The Cowards marks O’Connor’s full length playwriting debut.
 
After Hours Theatre Company is an award-winning Los Angeles Theatre company known for their immersive-enhanced and multi-sensory productions. Previous works include The Tempest: An Immersive Experience (LA Times Critics’ Choice), The Last Five Years: A Multisensory Experience (4x Ovation nominations), One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest: The Immersive Experience (5x Ovation nominations, LA Times Critics’ Choice), and the Hollywood premiere of Pasek and Paul’s Dogfight (4x Ovation nominations, LA Times Critics’ Choice).
 

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