DONNA/MADONNA to Play LA's Lyric Theatre, 7/24 & 25

Rizzo 39 Productions has announced two night only engagements of Donna/Madonna at the Lyric Theatre in Los Angeles (July 24 & 25), and at the Chance Theatre in Anaheim (August 6 & 13). Written and performed byJohn Paul Karliak, Donna/Madonna is directed by Tiger Reel and Matthew Craig. Curtain time for all performances is 8pm.

 

In this autobiographical one-act, writer/performer John Paul Karliak wants desperately to be the perfect son for his adopted mother, a doting Catholic housewife from Scranton, PA. But realizing he will never be the ideal local boy, he seeks answers from a very different source: his fashion-writing, married-to-a-British-pop-star birth mother. Donna/Madonna is a tale of motherly love and finding acceptance, told through stories, songs and characters like Darth Vader, Carol Channing and John Paul's unforgettable mothers. Hilarious and poignant, this cross-country journey from Scranton to Los Angeles shows that sometimes you have to meet a "Material Girl" to truly appreciate "America's Sweetheart."  

 

Donna/Madonna was the winner of the Best One Man Show Award (2010 United Solo Theatre Festival in New York), Best of Fringe Award (2011 New York International Fringe Festival), Overall Excellence in Solo Performance Award (2011 San Francisco Fringe Festival), and Best Solo Performance (2011 StageSceneLA.comAwards). Last year, the show enjoyed a successful run at Hollywood’s Lounge Theatre. Said the LA Weekly, “GO! Karliak's execution is top-drawer. His delivery is brisk but unrushed, his sense of humor, contemplative but unsentimental. Inhabiting the skin of his drastically different mothers, Karliak's range is gleefully apparent."  

 

John Paul Karliak’s recent film and TV projects include Ringer (opposite Sarah Michelle Gellar), Marvel Mash-Ups for Disney XD, Dante’s Inferno and Little Black Dress for AFI. LA theatre credits include The Mistakes Madeline Made, The Girl, the Grouch & the Goat, Into the Woods, Inherit the Wind, Women and Wallace, Whatever, andSexual Perversity  in  Chicago.   A   graduate  of   the  USC   School  of  Theatre,  iO  West  and  Second  City Training Center, John Paul has written numerous short films and plays which have been produced in various locales around the country, including Donna/Madonna, which is his first full-length solo production.

 

Tickets for the Lyric Theatre performances of Donna/Madonna are available online athttp://bit.ly/DMinLA, or by calling (800) 838-3006. Tickets for the Chance Theatre performances are available online at www.chancetheatre.com, or by calling (714) 777-3033. All seats are $20. The Lyric is located at 520 N. La Brea Avenue in Los Angeles, 90036. The Chance is located at 5552 E. La Palma Avenue in Anaheim, 92807.  For more info, visit www.donnamadonnashow.com.