Photo Flash: THE DEEP THROAT SEX SCANDAL Extends Through April 14 at Zephyr Theatre
Due to overwhelming popularity, David Bertolino's new play THE DEEP THROAT SEX SCANDAL about the making of the famed, groundbreaking, 1970s pornographic film "Deep Throat" and the subsequent controversy surrounding the film, is extending its West Coast Premiere run at the Zephyr Theatre through Sunday, April 14 with performances on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m.
Award-winning adult film writer-director Jerry Douglas directed the production. The cast features adult film stars Veronica Hart and Herschel Savage as part of the eight-actor company. Noted adult film star Ron Jeremy has come aboard as executive producer since the production opened on January 31.
The play tells the true story of Herb Streicher, who became Harry Reems, and his legendary co-star Linda Lovelace, following the strange and bizarre journey of the creation of the movie, and how the actor himself was put on trial for obscenity and not the director, producer, or distributor. The trial stands as one of the great battles against censorship in modern American history - taken up by Alan Dershowitz, helping to expand the career of one of America's best-known attorneys. At the time, Hollywood stars, such as Warren Beatty and Jack Nicholson, rallied against the censorship of "Deep Throat" and came to Reems' defense, fearing that the U.S. government would censor mainstream films next--- once it got a taste of banning films for their content.
The Los Angeles Times called the production, "Equal parts parody, courtroom drama and R-rated pep rally." LA Weekly said it's a "comedy that takes a satirical look at how 1972 porn flick Deep Throat, itself a comedy, became the most lucrative blue movie made." Backstage said "The time is ripe for The Deep Throat Sex Scandal, now strutting its stuff --quite literally - at the Zephyr Theatre." Frontiers says those behind the production "capture the cheesy ambience of porn filmmaking," and in my earlier review here on Broadway World, I called it "A sinfully entertaining play about freedom, truth, justice, and porn."
The actors are now more comfortable in their roles, especially adult film star Herschel Savage as Gerry Damiano who now seems to inhabit the role rather than just play at it. From Damiano's start as a hairdresser through his rise to fame as the film's director, dealing with mob henchmen Vito (wonderfully played by Bart Tangredi), to the bravado shown during his court appearance, Savage lets us see Damiano's ability to transform himself into whatever was needed to stand tall and be heard. And again, kudos to Marc Ginsburg and Natasha Charles Parker for their fearless portrayals of Harry Reems and Linda Lovelace.
Tickets are also available online at http://www.deepthroattheplay.com or by calling 800-838-3006. Special Guilty Pleasures premium-priced packages are also available. And as a way of thanking Los Angeles audiences for their support of his play, Bertolino is offering special $10 tickets on Goldstar for the remaining two weekends of the run. Goldstar tickets are available at http://www.goldstar.com/events/hollywood-ca/the-deep-throat-sex-scandal.html
THE DEEP THROAT SEX SCANDAL
Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA. Now through Sunday, April 14 on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $34.99; Guilty Pleasures premium-priced packages also available http://www.deepthroattheplay.com or 800-838-3006. Special $10 tickets available on Goldstar for final two weeks.
The Deep Throat Sex Scandal contains adult themes and nudity; no one eighteen and under will be admitted.
Photo Credit: Ed Krieger
Marc Ginsburg and Natasha Chalres Parker
Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems on screen behind the actors portraying them. (Natasha Charles Parker as Lovelace and Marc Ginsburg as Harry Reems.
Hungry for fame, Harry Reems (Marc Ginsburg) revels in his popularity as DEEP THROAT becomes a sensation.
Actors Veronica Hart as Shana Babcock with Natasha Charles Parker as Linda Lovelace, who is breaking up with her abusive husband Chuck Traynor on the phone.
Actor Bart Tangredi plays the courtroom judge with Marc Ginsburg as Harry Reems.
The cast of THE DEEP THROAT SEX SCANDAL in a scene where they are filming DEEP THROAT at a Miami, Florida location.
Bart Tangredi as Vito, Veronica Hart as the ticket taker, and Herschel Savage as Gerry Damiano discuss the run of DEEP THROAT at the World Theater in Times Square.
From This Author - Shari Barrett
Shari Barrett, a Los Angeles native, has been active in the theater world since the age of six - acting, singing, and dancing her way across the boards all over town. After teaching in secondary sc... (read more about this author)
Interview: Director John Farmanesh-Bocca On His Vision For PICNIC By William IngeMarch 21, 2023
John Farmanesh-Bocca is a multi-award-winning physical theatre director, the Founding Artistic Director of both Not Man Apart - Physical Theatre Ensemble (2005-2015) and Shakespeare Santa Monica (2003-2014). Now he has shifted gears to go on a search for America by directing the sensual, passionate, and delightfully funny Pulitzer Prize winning play Picnic by William Inge, with his version featuring an entirely Black American cast. I decided to speak with him about his vision for presenting the quintessentially American play and the unique challenges faced while shifting gears from physical movement to character development.
Interview: Ben Donenberg, Graham Wetterhahn, And Sara Beil On THE TEMPEST: AN IMMERSIVE EXPERIENCEMarch 17, 2023
As a fan of Shakespeare and immersive theatre productions, I was intrigued when I heard that The Shakespeare Center LA and After Hours Theatre Company were set to present the premiere of The Tempest: An Immersive Experience, a fully reimagined audience-participation performance based on William Shakespeare's tale of family members caught up in a storm and shipwrecked on an isolated Mediterranean island. So I decided to speak with the production's director Ben Donenberg, Shakespeare Center LA Artistic Director, Graham Wetterhahn, the Producing Artistic Director at After Hours Theatre Company, and Sara Beil one of the producers for After Hours who created the immersive design, about their vision for an immersive way to include audience members in the experience of Shakespeare's tempestuous play.
Interview: Co-Directors Jeremie Loncka And Rich Loya On (IM)MIGRANTS OF THE STATE At The Actors' GangMarch 17, 2023
For seventeen years, the teaching artists of the Actors’ Gang Prison Project have been creating transformational opportunities for incarcerated men and women. Their latest workshop production, (Im)migrants of the State, is performed by an ensemble of their alumni with over 240 years of combined incarceration who have found their way to freedom and now want to share their stories with audiences. I decided to speak with its co-directors, Jeremie Loncka, who also serves as the Director of Programs for the Actors’ Gang’s Prison Project, and ensemble member Rich Loya, about their vision for the project and how it came into being with the two of them at the helm.
Interview: Director Paula Kelley On Neil Simon's LITTLE ME Musical At Manhattan Beach Community Church TheaterMarch 13, 2023
The soon-to-open production of the Neil Simon musical Little Me at Manhattan Beach Community Church Theater (MBCC), the longest running theater in the South Bay since 1956, is directed by Paula Kelley with choreography by Angela Asch. Originally scheduled to open in the Spring of 2020, I decided to speak with the director about the production’s three-year delay and how she envisions presenting a musical full of comic vignettes featuring such a large cast, especially since it was written specifically for Sid Caesar to play multiple roles as all the heroine’s husbands and lovers.
Interview: Mitch Hara Talks Revamped MUTANT OLIVE 2.0 at the Hudson Guild TheatreFebruary 26, 2023
Back in 2015, I caught a solo performance play Mutant Olive, created and performed by Mitch Hara. I decided to speak with him about his revamped play, Mutant Olive 2.0, soon to begin performance at the Hudson Theatre in Hollywood, to ask about the new show, it’s title, and what’s been going on during the 8 years since Mutant Olive in its original form premiered.
