Theatre Unleashed to Launch New Spotlight Series

Theatre Unleashed has been an active participant in the Hollywood Fringe Festival since its inception; producing, co-producing, sponsoring an award, volunteering and more. According to Artistic Director Jenn Scuderi Crafts, one of the highlights of the festival is not only the number of talented people you get to meet but the creative relationships you can build. So when she thought of how to kick off TU's new Spotlight Series, she knew exactly where to go.

"While we sponsor an award that recognizes ensembles, we've seen so many wonderful solo shows that we wanted to give them some recognition too," she said. "We felt that giving the shows a new life in our space would be a great way to keep these 'fringeships' strong throughout the year, while also opening them up to a new audience."

The Theatre Unleashed Spotlight Series will feature four solo shows playing limited engagements on Fridays and Saturdays from Jan. 22-30 at The Belfry Stage. The four shows are:

Ceremony - By Michael Kass and directed by Diana Wyenn, this award-winning true tale of love, fear and Ayahuasca, whisks audiences on a journey from Downtown L.A. to Peru's Sacred Valley and back in just under 60 minutes. At turns self-deprecatingly funny and unsparingly frank, the story grapples with universal themes of isolation, self-doubt and coming of age in the context of a shamanic medicine ceremony.

I Died...I Came Back...Whatever - By Cyanne McClairian and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson, this one-woman dramedy is about a pagan actress who dies on the operating table, awakens in "Heaven's Waiting Room" and is led back thru her earthly life by the spirit of Sir Laurence Olivier. Will she give up on her dreams in purgatory or decide to play the greatest role of her life, with God as her director?

Unemployed. Finally. - By Heather Dowling and directed by Jessica Lynn Johnson, this is the story of a woman who tried on 30 jobs, in 30 years before finally doing what everyone said she couldn't. Dowling is an actress and writer who has impersonated someone who wanted a "real job" since she was 14. She has finally surrendered to her passion for writing and performing. But now she has dirt to dish about the odd-jobs and odd-balls she's encountered along the way.

War and Peace the One Man Show - By Brad Griffith, this is a journey into the world of Tolstoy's classic novel with a quick, witty sensibility and snippets of history that will whet your appetite to conquer the classic yourself.

The Spotlight Series follows the extended run of TU's hit show A Very Die Hard Christmas, playing Jan. 7-16 and opens just before the company's Main Stage production of the new drama Only the Moon Howls, which also performed at Hollywood Fringe! Check out www.theatreunleashed.org for more info on all Theatre Unleashed shows.

Theatre Unleashed Spotlight Series

Co-Produced by Theatre Unleashed and

Michael Kass, Cyanne Martin, Heather Dowling and Brad Griffith

SYNOPSIS:

In its first ever Spotlight Series, Theatre Unleashed welcomes back some of the most popular and critically acclaimed solo shows of the Hollywood Fringe Festival for a limited engagement at the company's home, The Belfry Stage. The Spotlight Series will feature Ceremony by Michael Kass, I Died...I Came Back...Whatever by Cyanne McClairian, Unemployed. Finally. by Heather Dowling and War and Peace the One Man Show by Brad Griffith.

DATES AND TIMES:

Ceremony - Friday, Jan. 22, 8 p.m.

Unemployed. Finally. - Saturday, Jan. 23, 8 p.m.

I Died...I Came Back...Whatever - Saturday, Jan. 23, 9:30 p.m.

War and Peace the One Man Show - Friday, Jan. 29 and Saturday, Jan. 30, 8 p.m.

LOCATION:

The Belfry Stage

Upstairs at the Crown

11031 Camarillo St.

North Hollywood, CA 91602

TICKET PRICES:

General Admission: $10

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