Five self-absorbed customers find themselves trapped together in Starbucks in the latest off-beat comedy from Emmy Award-winning writer Peter Lefcourt. Set around the corner in a West L.A. franchise, the world premiere of Café Society, presented by Theatre Planners and directed by Terri Hanauer, opens as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre tonight, August 22. BroadwayWorld has a sneak peek at the cast in rehearsal below!
Packed with sly humor about life in L.A., Café Society takes an irreverent look at our obsession with social media and the way we connect in today's world. Café Society stars Julliard graduate Eric Wentz (Tommy Smith's The Break-Up and Thirty Story Masterpieces at the Hayworth) as Jeff McHenry, a wannabe screenwriter who writes at Starbucks so he can study the "human condition" firsthand; Chandra Lee Schwartz(Glinda in Wicked on Broadway) as Kari Shaw, a hungry young actress desperate for her big break; Road Theatre Company member Susan Diol (You Never Can Tell on Broadway opposite Uta Hagen) as high octane realtor Marilyn Dresden; History Channel'sCities of the Underworld host Eric Myles Geller as a libertarian personal wealth consultant; and Emmy Award-winning actor Ian Patrick Williams (Bleacher Bums in Chicago, L.A. and on PBS) as a delusional homeless man. Nick Cobey (off-Broadway production of Finger Paint) plays the mysterious loner who triggers the connection between these five raging narcissists, while recent Chapman University graduateDonathan Walters plays Darnell, the barrista, and recent UCLA graduate Kailyn Leilaniand Mexican-born actor Gabriel Romero (Telemundo's Los Beltrán) make cameo appearances on video.Photo Credit: Ed Krieger
Chandra Lee Schwartz and Eric Myles Geller
Ian Patrick Williams, Eric Myles Geller, Nick Cobey, Donathan Walters, Susan Diol and Chandra Lee Schwartz
Eric Myles Geller, Susan Diol, Chandra Lee Schwartz and Nick Cobey
Donathan Walters and Ian Patrick Williams
Donathan Walters and Ian Patrick Williams
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