Tara Grammy's MAHMOUD Opens 5/10 in Los Angeles

Following back-to-back wins for best solo performance at the Toronto and New York Fringe Festivals in 2012 and a brief run at the Santa Monica Playhouse earlier this year, Tara Grammy will reprise her acclaimed solo performance in Mahmoud at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks beginning May 10. This limited, final run in the Los Angeles area will run through June 29 only.

Mahmoud tells the tale of an aging Iranian engineer-cum-taxi drive, a fabulously gay Spaniard, and a young Iranian-Canadian girl who are all trying to get through the day-to-day grind in a large metropolitan city. Hilarious, insightful, and touching, Mahmoud takes a memorable look at racism against Middle Eastern immigrants, homophobia within immigrant communities, and media-created stigmas surrounding Middle Eastern culture. Co-written by Tara Grammy and Tom Arthur Davis and directed by Davis, the show has a running time of one hour.

Performer and co-writer Tara Grammy is a recent graduate of the University of Toronto, where she worked with some of Canada's top theatre artists, including Ken Gass, Leah Cherniak, Soheil Parsa and Martha Ross. Born in Tehran, she has lived in Germany, the United States, and Canada, and has traveled all across the world. She is interested in the immigration experience in her artistic endeavors, in an attempt to better understand multi-national identities. Recent credits include the Toronto Fringe hit show The Traveling Salesman & His Magical Suitcase of Desires, Necessary Angel's award-winning SummerWorks production, White Rabbit Red Rabbit, and the indie smash hit Murder on Ossington. Her roles in these shows have ranged from a crazy British Mayor based on the commedia dell'arte character Pantalone, to a six-year-old child, to a dominatrix.
The lighting design for Mahmoud is by Jenna Koenig, the sound design is by Mike Conley, and stage managers are Morgan Zupanski and Jenna Koenig. The producers are Ty Donaldson and Michelle Grant.
Mahmoud will play one preview performance on Friday, May 10 at 8pm, and opening is set for Saturday, May 11 at 8pm. The regular running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm through June 29. Admission is $30 and tickets are available now, online at www.mahmoudtaxi.tix.com or by phone at (800) 504-4849. The Whitefire Theatre is located at 13500 Ventura Boulevard (on the corner of Sunnyslope, between Coldwater Canyon and Woodman), in Sherman Oaks.

For more information, visit www.mahmoudtaxi.com or www.whitefiretheatre.com.