SeaGlass Premieres OF GRAPES AND NUTS, 9/18-10/24

OF GRAPES AND NUTS, written by Doug Armstrong, Keith Cooper and Tom Willmorth, formerly of Chicago's highly celebrated Illegitimate Players, will have its west coast premiere by SeaGlass Theatre September 18 - October 24, 2010 at the Victory Theatre Center's Little Vic Theatre in Burbank, CA.  The 6-week engagement marks the 20^th anniversary of this award-winning comedy.

Following SeaGlass Theatre's critically acclaimed 2009 production of David Lindsay-Abaire's Wonder of the World, and their initial co-production of How Cissy Grew (starring SeaGlass Board Member James Denton of Desperate Housewives), OF GRAPES AND NUTS is a dead-on spoof of two John Steinbeck classics: The Grapes of Wrath and Of Mice and Men.  Punch line after punch line propels the madness for take off.  Beginning with how the Lincoln Savings & Loan evicted the Joad clan from their ancestral dirt; to the Joads making it to California with Lenny in tow, forming a union and ingeniously repeating clichés until they simply self-destruct, OF GRAPES AND NUTS is sure-fire satire, where the audience chokes on their own laughter and Steinbeck rolls over in his grave.   

SeaGlass Theatre Managing Director and Ovation Award Nominee Paul Stroili (Straight Up with a Twist) directs the production. 

"I was lucky enough to be part of the original cast of this show in 1990. Twenty Years later, SeaGlass Theatre is delighted to be the first group to present this work to an LA audience," says Stroili.  "Good satire is timeless, especially when spoofing something as indelible as the work of John Steinbeck. What makes this play work so well is that it's not a parody of each of the stories, it's a new tale that has resulted from combining them.  This combination requires the actors to create characters that are hybrids of sorts."

"Tom Joad, for instance, played by Ian Vogt - is a blend of Joad from The Grapes of Wrath and Lenny's caretaker George from Of Mice and Men."  Lauren McCormack's Pa is also a morphing of two characters, and David Ghilardi plays Candy as a composite of several ranch hands along with his three other roles."

"Probably the oddest combination," Stroili adds, "is the role of Curly played by Kimberly Van Luin, which is the gender-blending mix of the character Curly and Curly's wife. The rest of the cast is brought to life by Casey Kramer as Ma, David Reynolds as Lenny, and Jen Ray doing double duty as a Cat Driver, and Mae: the Diner Waitress.  The cast is fantastic and has truly embraced the satirical style of this Steinbeck-themed carnival ride."  

Met with lavish accolades upon its 1990 world premiere in Chicago, the Chicago Reader wrote "The witty script supplies the one thing Steinbeck lacked: a sense of humor!  ... Of Grapes and Nuts dogs its originals like a comic bloodhound." Chicago's WBBM Radio said "I have a feeling that were he alive today, John Steinbeck would be chuckling more than just a little... Of Grapes and Nuts scoots along, as Tom Joad might say, like a 12-toed man in a foot race."

 David George serves as Set Designer, with Lighting Design and Technical Direction by Scott Legrand, Costume Design by Jennifer May Nickle, and Prop Design is by Susanna Wong.  Matthew Sandlin has been set as Stage Manager, with House Management by Eric Stolze.

 OF GRAPES AND NUTS will be presented Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 4:00 pm.  Tickets priced at $20.00 and available for purchase online at www.seaglasstheatre.org.

 The Little Vic Theatre at The Victory Theatre Center is located at 3326 W. Victory Blvd. Burbank , CA 91505. Ample street parking is available with additional parking available at the Northwest Branch Library, directly across from the Victory Theatre Center.  Directions, parking information and local dining options are also available at www.seaglasstheatre.org

For further information about SeaGlass Theatre, please contact SeaGlass Theatre directly at 818.745.5537 or 818.623-6666.

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