Boston Court Presents the West Coast Premiere of THE DINOSAUR WITHIN

The Theatre @ Boston Court presents "The Dinosaur Within," a West Coast Premiere play by John Walch, directed by The Theatre @ Boston Court Co-Artistic Director, Michael Michetti. The play opens tonight on the Main Stage at Boston Court Performing Arts Center, 70 North Mentor Avenue.

The disappearance of ancient dinosaur footprints in the Australian outback triggers a series of mysterious events bringing together a forgotten movie star, an Aboriginal elder and a grieving father on an epic journey of transformation. From the vast Australian desert to subway tunnels beneath Hollywood Boulevard, Dreamtime meets the Dream Factory when worlds collide in this play that ponders the depth of human loss, the fragile bonds between parents and children, and the possibility of redemption.

"The Dinosaur Within" features Shauna Bloom, Mimi Cozzens, Nic Few, VJ Kesh, Emily Kosloski, Chuck McCollum, Ari Skye, Scott Alan Smith and Rebecca Tilney.

Production staff for "The Dinosaur Within" includes Michetti, director, Francois-Pierre Couture, set designer, Jeremy Pivnick, lighting designer, Bruno Louchouarn, sound designer and original music, Jason Thompson, projection and video designer, Leah Piehl, costume designer, Nick Santiago, props designer, Tracy Winters and Tuffett Schmelzle, dialect coaches, Michael Donovan, C.S.A, casting director, June Carryl, assistant director, and Nicole Rossi, production stage manager.

Walch's plays include "The Dinosaur Within", "Circumference of a Squirrel", "The Nature of Mutation", "Jesting With Edged Tools", "Craving Gravy of Love in the Time of Cannibalism" and "AlIce Threw the Looking Glass (a parody of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style)". His plays have been produced by theatres such as The Mark Taper Forum, Actor's Theatre of Louisville, Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, the State Theater, Kitchen Dog Theatre, the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, and off-Broadway at Urban Stages. His work has been developed or commissioned through The Public Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club, A.S.K. Theatre Projects, Shenandoah International Playwright's, The Playwrights' Center/PlayLabs, the Mark Taper Forum, and the Theatre Royal Haymarket in London. Awards include: Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays; the American Theatre Critics Association's Osborn Award; the Charlotte Woolard Award from the Kennedy Center recognizing a promising new voice in the American theatre; the Marc Klein Playwriting Award; and three Austin Critic's Table Awards. He was a Sloan playwriting fellow at Manhattan Theatre Club and a James Michener Fellow at the Michener Center for Writers at UT @ Austin, where he earned his MFA in Playwriting. John served as artistic director of Austin Script Works and has taught playwriting at UT @ Austin/Michener Center for Writers, Florida State University, and the Playwrights Workshop at University of Iowa. Walch currently lives in Brooklyn, NY and is a resident playwright of New Dramatists.

At Boston Court Michetti has directed Tom Jacobson's "The Twentieth-Century Way", Deborah Stein's "God Save Gertrude", Jason Grote's "1001", Eric Whitacre's "Paradise Lost: Shadows & Wings", Carlos Murillo's "Dark Play or Stories For Boys", his own adaptation of Oscar Wilde's "A Picture of Dorian Gray", Sinan Ünel's "Pera Palas", Charles L. Mee's "Summertime", and Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet." A director of plays and musicals, new works and classics, his diverse credits include: Tom Jacobson's "House of the Rising Son" at Ensemble Studio Theatre L.A. and "Ouroboros" at the Road Theatre; "The Comedy of Errors", "Hamlet", "Don Juan" and "As You Like It" at A Noise Within; "Kiss Me, Kate", "Carousel", "Man of La Mancha" and "Li'l Abner" at Reprise; Brecht's "Edward II" and Aphra Behn's "The Rover" for Circle X; David Hare's "Amy's View" starring Carol Lawrence at Florida Rep; David Mamet's "A Life in the Theatre" starring HAl Holbrook at the Pasadena Playhouse; Sondheim's "Anyone Can Whistle" and "Sweeney Todd"; and "A Midsummer Night's Dream." He has received many Los Angeles area theatre awards including five Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards and two Ovation Awards.

"The Dinosaur Within" previews for six performances beginning September 29, opening October 8 and runs Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through November 6. Preview tickets are priced at $17 and regular performances at $32. Senior, student and group discounts are also available. Tickets can be purchased online at BostonCourt.org or by calling (626) 683-6883. Boston Court Performing Arts Center is located one block north of Colorado at the corner of Mentor Ave. and Boston Ct.

"The Dinosaur Within" is supported in part by the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, The Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Founding Director Z. Clark Branson, and the generous contributions of The Theatre @ Boston Court supporters and contributors.

The Theatre @ Boston Court is the award-wining resident theatre company at Boston Court Performing Arts Center in Pasadena, CA. Michael Seel, Executive Director, Jessica Kubzansky and Michael Michetti, Co-Artistic Directors, Hillary Metcalf, Managing Director.