Playwrights' Arena At Atwater Village Theatre Presents The World Premiere Of BILLY BOY

Playwrights' Arena, the only theater created and dedicated to discovering, nurturing, and producing original works written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights, is presenting the World Premiere of BILLY BOY by Nick Salamone as part of its 25th Anniversary Season. It stars Matt Pascua, Rachel Sorsa and Nick Salamone. The play, directed by Playwrights' Arena artistic director, Jon Lawrence Rivera, is about one man's search for truths as he confronts his past through a sequence of dreams with his ex-girlfriend, his young lover and his mother.

Nick Salamone (Playwright) is the author of eleven full-length produced plays: MOSCOW, HILLARY AGONISTES, SEA CHANGE, THE SONNETEER, HELEN, RED HAT & TALES, ALL SOULS' DAY, RIFFS & CREDOS, WHALE WATCHERS, GULLS and ANOTHER HOUSE ON MERCY STREET. He is the recipient of the Playwrights' Arena Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Los Angeles Theater Community, two Beverly Press Maddy Awards for Excellence in Playwriting, and two Backstage Garland Awards for Best Score of a Musical. He has also received the LA Weekly Award and Garland Award and an LA Ovation nomination for Best Adaptation and two LA Weekly Award nominations for Best Playwright. His work has also earned the Edinburgh International Fringe Festival's Fringe First Award for New Writing as well as its Audience Favorite Award. As a librettist, he has twice been a finalist for the Kleban Prize in Musical Theatre.

Jon Lawrence Rivera (Director) is the recipient of the first Career Achievement Award from Stage Raw. Most recently, Rivera directed the following world premieres for Playwrights' Arena: THE HOTEL PLAY (performed in an actual hotel), BLOODLETTING by Boni B. Alvarez, @THESPEEDOFJAKE by Jennifer Maisel, CIRCUS UGLY by Gabe Rivas Gomez, PAINTING IN RED by Luis Alfaro, CINNAMON GIRL by Velina Hasu Houston and Nathan Wang (also at in China), THE ANATOMY OF GAZELLAS by Janine Salinas Schoenberg, Euripides' HELEN by Nick Salamone (at the Getty Villa), and BONDED by Donald Jolly. Other recent works include: FAIRLY TRACEABLE by Mary Kathryn Nagle, OBAMA-OLOGY by Aurin Squire, CRIERS FOR HIRE by Giovanni Ortega, STAND-OFF AT HWY #37 by Vicky Ramirez, FLIPZOIDS by Ralph B. Peña (also in Manila), THE SONNETEER by Nick Salamone, THE LAST FIVE YEARS by Jason Robert Brow. Recipient of a NY Fringe Festival Award, an LA Weekly Award, and a five-time Ovation Award nominee, Rivera is the founding artistic director of Playwrights' Arena.

BILLY BOY Production team includes producer Henry Heno Fernandez, scenic designer (and Playwrights' Arena Princess Grace Fellow) Christopher Scott Murillo, lighting designer Derek Jones and costume designer Mylete Nora.

BILLY BOY opens on Saturday, September 23, at 8 PM at Atwater Village Theatre, 3269 Casitas Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90039. Regular performances are Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 7 PM, and Mondays at 8:30 PM through Sunday, October 15, 2017. There is one Friday Performance on 10/13 at 8:30 PM. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased through www.playwrightsarena.org or call Brown Paper Tickets at 800-838-3006.