GARBO'S CUBAN LOVER Comes to Casa 0101 Theatre in February
Performances run February 10- February 25, 2023.
MACHA Theatre/Films will present the critically acclaimed play Garbo's Cuban Lover. First produced in 2001, the new mounting will be a "reimagined production" of the show, with more music, dance and multimedia.
The lover of the title is Mercedes De Acosta (1893-1968), a contract screenwriter for MGM who was also a playwright, poet and costume designer. She had affairs with some of the most illustrious actresses and writers in America, including Edith Wharton, Adele Astaire, Katherine Cornell, Pola Negri, Alla Nazimova, ballerina Tamara Karsavina, a young Tallulah Bankhead, Eva La Gallienne, dancer Isadora Duncan, Marlene Dietrich, and the love of her life, Greta Garbo.
Born to a Cuban father and Spanish mother, de Acosta's ability to move in social circles and her position as a writer for MGM put her in contact with many of the most beautiful and important women in Hollywood. Garbo's Cuban Lover focuses on two of the most important relationships of her life---with Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, professional adversaries who become rivals for de Acosta's love.
Garbo holds an erotic power over de Acosta that the Cuban cannot resist nor control. She returns to Garbo no matter how often she is betrayed.
But Garbo and Dietrich both have secrets from de Acosta. It will be many years before she learns the whole truth about her two greatest loves.
Odalys Nanin is playwright. At the time of its original production, Garbo's Cuban Lover landed on multiple Critic's Choice lists (including Backstage and L.A. Weekly), as well as 2001's Ten Best Plays list of Advocate magazine. Her other works include an adaptation of Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding as well as her own original works including Skin of Honey, Beyond Love, The Nun and the Countess, The Adventures of the Lieutenant Nun, Love Struck, Naked in the Tropics, FRIDA-Stroke of Passion, Marilyn-My Secret! and Lavender Love (also set in the Golden Age of Hollywood). The Cuban-born writer is a graduate of The Drama Studio London and Rutgers University. Also an actor, she has appeared in over 30 plays in New York and Los Angeles. Her television appearances include Games People Play (recurring), Jane the Virgin, Criminal Minds, NYPD Blue, Santa Barbara and Jimmy Kimmel Live! Odalys has written three screenplays and written and produced two documentaries and three short films. She's received the Maverick Award and Pat Parker Award from Christopher Street West and was cited by OUT Magazine as one of 100 people that made a difference.
Her scripts for Garbo's Cuban Lover, FRIDA- Stroke of Passion, and Skin of Honey have been published and are available on Amazon.
Ms. Nanin also portrays de Acosta. Like Mercedes, Odalys is Latina, lesbian, a writer, and an advocate for greater participation by women in the arts and in society.
The cast also includes Lydie Denier, Elyse Mirto, Kristin Towers-Rowles, Kesia Elwin, Myeva Surjik, Skip Pipo, Saige Spinney and Katie Patel.
Angela Nicholas directs. She is also an actor, producer, playwright, choreographer and costume designer. She appeared as Garbo in two previous productions of Garbo's Cuban Lover.
MACHA Theatre/ Films is the producing entity. MACHA is an abbreviation for Mujeres (women) Advancing Culture, History & Arts. It is a 501c3 non-profit organization.
From any audience perspective, Garbo's Cuban Lover is one of the great true Hollywood love stories.
Details
WHAT: Garbo's Cuban Lover. The critically acclaimed play in a reimagined production.
WHO: Written and produced by Odalys Nanin. Directed by Angela Nicholas. Presented by MACHA Theatre/Films.
WHERE: Casa 0101Theatre, 2102 East 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90033.
WHEN: February 10- February 25, 2023. Fri. & Sat. at 8:00, Sun. at 5:00.
Opening Weekend reception follows Saturday, February 11 performance.
ADMISSION: $35.
ESTIMATED RUNNING TIME: 1 hour 30 minutes.
More Hot Stories For You
Wagner Ensemble Presents THE SLAVE LETTERS By Michal Dawson ConnorFebruary 3, 2023
The Wagner Ensemble, under the direction of Jeannine Wagner, presents 'The Slave Letters' by Michal Dawson Connor. 'The Slave Letters' is a multimedia performance featuring readings of authentic slave letters by Connor, spirituals sung by the Wagner Ensemble, and video image projections. The Wagner Ensemble will be accompanied by pianist Robert Blake.
The Blank Theatre Young Playwrights Academy Spring Session Begins Next WeekFebruary 3, 2023
Enrollment ends on February 4 for the 2023 spring session of The Blank Theatre's Young Playwrights Academy (YPA). All classes, which begin on February 6 and run through April 12, are conducted live online.
Filharmonie Brno Performs an All-Czech Program With Dvořák, Janáček, and MartinůFebruary 3, 2023
The pastoral landscape and folklore of Eastern Europe and America are brought to life through the music of three of the greatest Czech composers – Dvořák, Janáček, and Martinů – performed by the Czech Republic’s own Filharmonie Brno under the baton of Chief Conductor and Artistic Director Dennis Russell Davies.
Cal Performances at UC Berkeley Presents the U.S. Premiere of SIBYLFebruary 3, 2023
As part of its Illuminations series, which this season addresses the complex and changing relationship between technology and creative expression, Cal Performances at UC Berkeley presents the eagerly anticipated U.S. premiere of William Kentridge’s hit multi-disciplinary theatrical production SIBYL, a meditation on the ultimately unknowable nature of the future (March 17–19)
Pageant of the Masters Honors Harlem Renaissance in Upcoming Production, ART COLONY: IN THE COMPANY OF ARTISTSFebruary 2, 2023
This summer, the Pageant of the Masters celebrates 90 years of tableaux vivants (“living pictures”) with the production Art Colony: In the Company of Artists. Audiences can expect a diverse theatrical celebration of artists from around the world that have embraced communities where they could live and work, and take inspiration from one another. One of the art colonies featured in this year's Pageant is New York's Harlem Renaissance, a cultural movement that celebrated art and African American culture in the 1920s and 30s.
