Shanley's VERONICA Starring Livia De Paolis Begins 2/17

Aporia Productions in association with the Coast Playhouse presents a workshop production of a world premiere play, VERONICA, written by acclaimed playwright and Academy Award-nominee John Patrick Shanley ("Doubt"), directed by Daniel Allen Nelson and starring Livia De Paolis as Veronica. VERONICA performs beginning Tuesday, February 17 at 8pm and will continue for two weeks through Saturday, February 28 at the Coast Playhouse, 8325 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood.

VERONICA is a world premiere one-act play written by John Patrick Shanley, with music and two original songs by Henry Krieger. VERONICA is based on a true story from The Life of Livia De Paolis. Veronica De Lisa is an actress from Rome, Italy currently living in New York City. She winds up in the Empire State Building office of high powered attorney Doug Palermo. Following her up to the Observation Deck, he asks Veronica out for dinner. This utterly romantic comedy is a charming and delightful look at a first date and all its implications. The current workshop of the play produced by Aporia Production in association with The Coast Playhouse represents the next step in the process of its development with hopes of a full production in the future.

John Patrick Shanley (Playwright) is from The Bronx. His plays include Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, Savage in Limbo, The Dreamer Examines His Pillow, Italian American Reconciliation, Four Dogs and a Bone, Beggars in the House of Plenty, Psychopathia Sexualis, Cellini, Where's My Money?, Dirty Story, Doubt and Defiance. In the arena of screenwriting, he has eight movies to his credit, most recently Live From Baghdad for HBO, for which he received an Emmy nomination. Other films include Five Corners (Special Jury Prize, Barcelona Film Festival), Alive and Joe Versus the Volcano, which he also directed. For his script of Moonstruck he received both the Writers Guild of America Award and an Academy Award for best original screenplay. He most recently wrote and directed the film version of his acclaimed play Doubt, starring Meryl Streep and Philip Seymour Hoffman which has been nominated for five Academy Awards including Best Adapted Screenplay.

DANIEL ALLEN NELSON (Director) is a New York based writer, director, performer and founding member of Woof Nova Collective whose recent collaborative works include: Hearts & Tongues (LaMama ETC, & Ko Festival '08), Spoleum (Ontological-Hysteric Theater '06 & Baltimore Theater Project ‘07), Sedimentary (Ontological Theater & Galapagos Art Space ‘07), Veils/Vestiges (Ontological Theater '05). He performed in Object Collection's Famous Actors (Onotological Theater '07), and the premiere of Charles Mee's Fire Island (3-Legged Dog '08). His theatricalizations of poet Tom Breidenbach's works: Pharmacose, and Bleat have also been staged at Ontological Thtr & Galapagos. His scenography and puppet designs have been seen at various venues in NYC including St. Ann's Warehouse Puppet Lab, Mabou Mines, and LaMama. Regional Theater credits as a performer include: Theatre de la Jeune Lune, Ensemble Theater Co (BackStage West Garland Award), Guthrie Theater, La Jolla Playhouse, Jungle Theater, Red Eye Collaboration, Center Stage Theater, as well as Warsztat Trojkontinentalny, in Warsaw, a company created piece with performers from E. Africa and Poland. He is the author of Sympathy for the Devil - a full length solo work, and eve-n-eve-n-eve: A Play with Live Girls. He is currently a resident Sound/Light Designer and Engineer at La Mama ETC.
 Education: MFA- Towson University; BFA- UCSB.

LIVIA DE PAOLIS (Veronica) is originally from Rome, Italy. She recently created the title role in Oscar, Tony and Pulitzer winner John Patrick Shanley's play Veronica at the Powerhouse Theater Program (Summer 2008). Internationally Livia has worked with such artists as filmmaker Giuseppe Bertolucci, performer Zhuan Huang and London based Pacitti Company. Livia has featured widely on the experimental theater stage in NY including the world premiere of Charles Mee's Fire Island. In addition to acting Livia assisted 9 times OBIE winner Richard Foreman on the production of ZOMBOID! She holds a Masters degree in Philosophy. She currently lives and works in NYC.

SAM NELSON HARRIS (Doug) is an actor/musician based out of New York City. He is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree for theater at Eugene Lang College, having recently appeared onstage as Willmore in Aphra Bhen's "The Rover" at the New School University, and last spring as Dr. Foustka in Vaclav Havel's "Temptation" at La Mama. He has trained extensively with the Hangar Theater Company in his hometown Ithaca, NY, and before attending Eugene Lang, studied theater at UCLA. Sam is also the lead singer/bassist in Brooklyn-based band, the "Ambassadors". They are releasing their second album this spring, entitled "Asa Nisi Masa" and have been supporting the record all over the east coast.
VERONICA will workshop beginning on Tuesday, February 17 at 8pm and will also perform on Wednesday, February 18; Thursday, February 19; Friday, February 20; Saturday, February 21; Wednesday, February 25; Thursday, February 26; Friday, February 27 and Saturday, February 28 at 8pm at The Coast Playhouse, 8325 Santa Monica Blvd. in West Hollywood. Ticket prices are $15 for all performances. Tickets are available online at www.tix.com or by calling 1-800-595-4849.

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