Inaugural Hollywood Fringe Adjacent – Festival of Solo Shows Opens With Encore Performance of BRICK-BY-BRICK

The Inaugural Hollywood Fringe Adjacent – Festival of Solo Shows opens on June 21, 2023 with an encore performance of BRICK-BY-BRICK starring Amanda Casarella at 8 PM, followed by the world premiere of PANTEA (Everything) in Exile starring Pantea Ommi at 9:15 PM. On June 22nd, an encore performance of I Never Met A Jerk I Didn’t Like starring Tiffany Phillips begins at 8 PM. On June 24th, the world premiere of CROSSROADS starring Renée Santos starts at 8 PM, followed by an encore performance of The Great Brain Robbery starring Jennifer Lee Weaver at 9:15 PM. The festival closes on June 25th with the world premiere of Such a Pretty Face starring Linda L. Michaels at 8 PM and continues with an encore performance of Traveling With Angels starring J. René Peña at 9:15 PM. All seven shows take place at the Atwater Village Theatre, at 3269 Casitas Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90039.

“We are incredibly proud and excited to bring these powerful, transformational stories to the stage. Now more than ever female voices need to be heard. These are universal, sometimes painful stories, but full of humor, vulnerability and authenticity. These stories are from real life superheroes that have turned their greatest traumas into their greatest gifts, they take full ownership of their stories and share them without fear or shame. From trauma to triumph...now that is true power, and power is freedom.” said director Kimleigh Smith

PANTEA (Everything) in Exile starring Pantea Ommi. What happened to a little Iranian girl named everything, when she is whisked away from home and half of her family by politics and circumstance? Well, she spends a lifetime running away from everything she is including her name, Pantea aka everything. Witness Pantea, her scarf, her laughter and tears as she takes us on a journey of self discovery from her ancestry to her homeland and ultimately embracing her true self in the midst of foreign country named, America. Wednesday, June 21.

BRICK-BY-BRICK – This BEST OF FEST show is a life-changing journey that takes the audience one brick at a time from the bottom. Watch our star, Amanda Casarella’s dark spiral through to finally defying gravity. Witness this brave young girl free herself from fear, overcome the bricks that have held her down and become the extraordinary woman she was always meant to be. You will laugh, cry, and laugh again with every step she takes. Wednesday, June 21.

I Never Met a Jerk I Didn't Like –BEST OF FEST one of LA WEEKLY’S Top Ten Picks is an unabashed referendum on dating in the 21st Century. The show stars Tiffany Phillips (Scandal.) Her tour de force performance lays it all on the line. Bold, brash, hilarious and totally transparent, Tiffany takes the audience on a comical and at times heartbreaking journey through the jerk- magnet phase in her life. Get into the mind of a woman who shuns the good guy while chasing the bad boy, only to discover the good, bad and ugly of love, is to ultimately love every part herself. “Tiffany brilliantly flits around her life with a masterful and nuanced performance. Jerk Is hilarious, clever, heartfelt, and darkly perceptive.” -Samantha Ronceros, NoHo Arts District Thursday, June 22.

The Great Brain Robbery takes us on a Jersey girl’s jeopardous journey from the evil clutches of the United States education system. Watch as star Jennifer Lee Weaver, a girl no one expected anything from, goes along a perilous path of illness, death, and ragtime music to eventually own her potential, power and voice. “Stellar, dead on, and an expressive performer,” Jen tells a story that is relatable, important, and of course, entertaining! This is about never letting anyone rob you of who you are meant to be, a story of triumph and truly embracing who and what you are. Saturday, June 24.

CROSSROADS starring Renee Santos gives you a little bit of everything: funny voices, wordplay, guitar, and rapturous storytelling. Witness as multidimensional, multi-talented, capital-e Entertainer, Renee endears you through natural showmanship, genuineness and artistic integrity- pulling no punches. She endures personal tragedy, like family drama, the foster care system, assault, and finding sobriety, through a liberal, lesbian lens, with nuance, passion, intelligence and forthright transformative honesty. The comedian is not just a comedian, Santos has lived a full life and isn’t afraid to relay it in bold, proud, salty, vibrant, meticulous heart wrenching detail. “Santos is on the vanguard of emergent new voices speaking truth to power by being true to life. Her down to earth but shocking stories told with integrity and upbeat energy are equally accessible and defiant.” -Mehak Fatima THE BORN REALIST Saturday, June 24.

Such A Pretty Face is a must-see starring Linda L. Michaels. Linda pulls no punches as she tackles issues of body image, self-love, and the challenges of being a plus-size woman in a society obsessed with thinness. Her journey is full of wit, charm, and her signature sarcastic humor. Linda openly and honestly shares the depths of pain – physical, mental and spiritual as she finds her truth within herself and ends up loving every inch of it. Sunday, June 25.

Traveling With Angels stars J. Rene Pena (The Game.) This is the story of one woman’s personal adventure, adversity and divine guidance. J. Rene Pena takes you on the ride of her life­ from the tribal lands in Gallup to the small-town streets of Germany. By the end the audience is left with a suitcase full of memories, laughter and love.” “Pena is obviously a very skilled actor but what impressed me the most was her sense of honesty and willingness to share her story. In doing so it invited the audience to tap into the realities of life: love, joy, regret, etc. Bravo!! -Regina Evans, San Francisco Fringe Festival Sunday, June 25.

Kimleigh Smith is an Actress, Director, Producer, Best- Selling Author, Internationally Acclaimed Multi-Award-Winning Solo Performer, Sex Positive, Sexual Assault Awareness Advocate, Speaker and Founder of the Embrace Your Cape! Philosophy. She holds a BS in Psychology with a Minor in Sociology from Emporia State University in Kansas. Kimleigh has graced the stages of Chicago’s most renowned theaters: The Goodman Theatre, Lookingglass Theatre, and The Steppenwolf Theatre, where she performed in “A Clockwork Orange”, “Crumbs from the Table of Joy,” and “Puddn’Head Wilson,” to name a few. She is a proud member of SAG-AFTRA & AEA. Some of her television and film credits include, "S.W.A.T.,” "DC's Legends Of Tomorrow,” “Shameless,” “9-1-1,” “Everything’s Gonna Be Okay,” “Criminal Minds,” “Grace and Frankie,” “Castle,” “Bones,” "The Mentalist," "Parenthood," "Key and Peele," "Heroes,” “Princess Diaries”, “The Discovery,” “Wildflowers” and Jason Bateman's directorial debut, "Bad Words." Kimleigh has written and continues to perform her Internationally Acclaimed, Multi-Award Winning solo show, T-O-T-A-L-L-Y! She is grateful that her career continues to flourish in theatre, commercials, voiceover, television, and film and that she has the pleasure of producing, directing and creating content that hopefully changes the way the world sees things.