Chance Theatre Presents THE SUPERHEROINE MONOLOGUES 4/29-5/21

What do you get when you put Wonder Woman, Supergirl and other beloved spandex-clad females together on the same stage? You get the West Coast Premiere of The Superheroine Monologues, a parody of super proportions that runs April 29 - May 21 at Chance Theater. The Superheroine Monologues runs concurrently with Chance Theater's production of The Boy in the Bathroom.

Written by John Kuntz and Rick Park, and directed by Chance Theater Artistic Director Oanh Nguyen, The Superheroine Monologues is a hilarious, action-packed parody that explores the evolution of favorite comic book heroines through the decades. Wonder Woman, Batgirl, Supergirl, Storm and other fantastic females share what it's really like to be a woman with superpowers. Touching, funny and always campy, these dynamic divas promise to answer questions you never dreamed to ask.

The Superheroine Monologues had its East Coast Premiere at the Boston Playwrights' Theatre in 2009. Since the premiere, the show was nominated for Best New Play by the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) in 2009 and took the award for Best Costumes in the 2009 IRNE Awards. The show was also named EdgeBoston's Best of 2009.

"We are very excited about the West Coast premiere of The Superheroine Monologues," said playwright Rick Park. "When we were asked to write the show by Greg Maraio of Phoenix Theatre Artists, John and I decided to split up the characters and write separately, not sharing work until the last day of the deadline. We were stunned to see how well it all fit together and attributed it to ‘kismet' and to the fact that we have been friends for 25 years. The marriage of character to decade to the issues facing women throughout the 70 years covered in the piece just seemed to happen organically. Then to have two extremely successful runs in Boston--just the icing on the cake. So now, to have a wonderful and renowned theatre like the Chance bringing it to California is even more than we could have expected or hoped for!"

ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS
Rick Park is a playwright and actor based in Boston. His ten-minute plays have been produced throughout the United States and several have been published by Smith & Krauss. His full length plays include a dozen musicals for teenagers, spoken choral pieces about AIDS and bullying and a murder mystery entitled Beverly Kills! 9021-Uh Oh! He is currently collaborating with Mr. Kuntz on a new show entitled Cartoon Confessionals, which explores the darker side of your favorite Saturday morning cartoon characters. Rick begins his studies towards an MFA in Creative Writing at Boston University this fall.

John Kuntz is a founding company member of the Actors Shakespeare Project, where he was seen in Much Ado About Nothing, The Tempest, King John, Titus Andronicus, The Winter's Tale, Measure for Measure, Twelfth Night, All's Well That Ends Well, and Richard III. He received both an Elliot Norton Award and New York International Fringe Festival Award for his solo show Starfuckers and his plays Sing Me To Sleep and Freaks! both received Elliot Norton Awards for "Outstanding Fringe Production". He was an inaugural Playwrighting Fellow with the Huntington Theatre Company and a Fellow at the O'Neill Center 2007. His play Jasper Lake received both the Michael Kanin and Paula Vogel National Playwrighting Awards, with productions at the Kennedy Center (Washington DC) and the New York Fringe Festival. His newest solo show, The Salt Girl, received the 2010 Elliot Norton Award for "Best New Play". He teaches at Suffolk University and is on the faculty of The Boston Conservatory.

ABOUT THE DIRECTOR
Oanh Nguyen co-founded Chance Theater in 1999, where he is currently Artistic Director. He also serves as the Producing Associate at South Coast Repertory, as part of TCG's New Generations Program. Oanh was awarded the Outstanding Artist Award by Arts Orange County and is a recipient of the TCG Nathan Cummings Young Leaders of Color fellowship. He was also recently inducted into Anaheim High School's Hall of Fame. Oanh is on the board of the Network of Ensemble Theaters and on the advisory board of the Anaheim High School Performing Arts Conservatory. He's a proud member of SDC, SAG and AFTRA. Nguyen recently directed the West Coast premiere of Po Boy Tango by Kenneth Lin at the nation's premiere Asian theater company, East West Players. He was also the associate director of the world premiere of The Happy Ones by Julie Marie Myatt at South Coast Repertory (nominated for two LADCC Awards, including Best Production). Other directing credits include: world premiere of The Girl, The Grouch, and The Goat by Tony Award winner Mark Hollmann, Three Days of Rain (O.C. Register's Top Ten and O.C. Register's Best Directors), Bash, Lee Miller: The Angel and The Fiend (commissioned by the Getty Museum), Goodnight Children Everywhere, Tape, Closer Than Ever (L.A. Times Critic's Choice), Porcelain (GLAAD Media Award Nomination, Back Stage Critic's Pick, O.C. Register's Top Ten), Cabaret (Back Stage Critic's Pick), Into The Woods (Back Stage Critic's Pick), The Laramie Project, Jesus Hates Me (remounted at South Coast Repertory), Inventing Van Gogh, Frozen, The Last Five Years, Sunday in the Park with George, Assassins, Rabbit Hole (Back Stage Critic's Pick), Hair (LA Weekly GO!, five Ovation Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Musical, and six LADCC Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Revival), Merrily We Roll Along, Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter (Ovation Recommended), and the Chance's original staging of The Who's Tommy (recently remounted at Segerstrom Center for the Arts, five Ovation Award nominations, including Best Director and Best Musical, three LADCC nominations, two Garlands, Back Stage Critic's Pick).

Performances

Regular Run
April 29 - May 21, 2011
Fridays and Saturdays at 10:30 pm
(Special performances on May 17 & 18 at 8 pm)

Ticket Prices
General Admission $30
Seniors and Students $27

Information
(714) 777-3033
www.chancetheater.com

Theatre Address
5552 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim Hills, CA 92807

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