BLACK WHEN I WAS A BOY, PART II BLACKED OUT to Open at Hollywood Fringe Festival in June

Cooper Bates' solo show, "Black When I Was A Boy, Part II Blacked Out" will open this June at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Bates is bringing multicultural characterizations, through the lens of an honest, moving, and even humorous look at a complex, fascinating, and powerful coming of age story.

Black When I Was A Boy, Part II Blacked Out is an autobiographical recollection of the extraordinary inner life of Bates' younger self - Frankie Bates. Bates' story takes us from childhood as he grows into a young adult when he moves to Dallas, Texas with big ambitions and his eyes set on making it in the entertainment industry. Shortly after arriving, he is introduced to Mr. Pope, a mid-level, out-of-the-box-thinking businessman and shepherd of young talent. While Pope grooms and imparts wisdom to the young Kansas native, everything goes well for the two until it begins to go very wrong. Bad advice followed by an even worse choice changes the lives of both men, leading to the total devastation of their relationship and leaving Frankie at odds with the value of his life.

Location:

The Hudson Theatre - 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA

Dates:

Saturday, June 3rd, at 8:30 p.m. - Preview
Monday, June 12th at 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 22 at 8:30 p.m.
Friday, June 23rd at 6:30 p.m.

TICKETS $20.00

The Hollywood Fringe Festival - Black When I Was A Boy - part II Blacked Out

Tickets can also be acquired at the Hudson Theatre box office.

Age-appropriate 14+ parental consent, the show deals with sexual content.

Black When I Was A Boy, Part II Blacked Out is partnering with Asheville based charity, Our VOICE, Inc., a non-profit crisis intervention and prevention agency that serves survivors of sexual violence, age 13 through adult in Buncombe County. https://www.ourvoicenc.org/about/

Written and performed by Cooper Bates. Consulting Directors: Frankie Louise and Stephanie Beckman

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Cooper Bates (Playwright & Performer) was born in Kansas but raised by the world. Bates grew up as the only Black child in a small Caucasian community in Kansas. He never saw himself as Black, until he was typecast as Nigger Jim in the school production of Huckleberry Finn in sixth grade. After a college stint on a wrestling scholarship, Bates settled in Dallas, Texas to study acting full time at Kim Dawson's Acting Conservatory. Before long Bates was invited to Los Angeles by a casting director. When a motorcycle accident forced a hiatus from acting, Bates took the opportunity to visit Haiti as an educator. The novice teacher suffered a near fatal scorpion bite only to be resuscitated by a voodoo remedy, was nearly flogged by an angry mob, and fought off a shark with his bare hands, all the while inspiring a love of leaning into his elementary aged students at Kaliko Beach school. After returning to Los Angeles, Bates wrote and directed fifteen short films, directed a dozen plays, and wrote nine screenplays. An acting partner approached Bates with an idea to trademark the name "Hint Mint," as a breath mint company and sell it to fund their artistic endeavors. The plan was only going to take six months but ended up taking fifteen years to question in 2017. Black When I was A Boy is a turn back to his passion.

Bates is a professional photographer, co-founder and managing partner of Hint Mint, Creator Founder of I Think Therefore I Question, Creator of the TEDx concept and Co-Producer/Founder of TEDx Skid Row, Founder of Idea Project, and has raised two beautiful daughters with his lovely wife. Bates' is delighted to bring his highly anticipated autobiographical solo show, Black When I Was A Boy, Part II: Blacked Out to the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Frankie Louise - (Consulting Director) is a writer, director, performer, hacker of non-ordinary states of consciousness.

Stephanie Hickling Beckman - (Consulting Director) is a co-founder of Different Strokes! And Performing Arts Collective. She has been active in Asheville North Carolina's theatre scene since 1997. She has worked with several local theatre companies as an actor, stage manager and director. She has toured nationally as an actor. As the Managing Artistic Director & Producer for Different Strokes, Steph is committed to directing and producing theatre that makes a difference.

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