Vs. Theatre's World Premiere of GUS'S FASHIONS AND SHOES Opens Tonight

Fresh off its sold-out run of Itamar Moses' Completeness, the award-winning Vs. Theatre Company (''Best of the Decade'' - LA Weekly) continues its tenth anniversary season with the World Premiere of GUS'S FASHIONS & SHOES, written and directed by Ron Klier. Rounding out the season will be the West Coast Premiere of Tracy Letts' adaptation of Anton Chekov's masterpiece, THREE SISTERS. Opening in Winter, 2016.

GUS'S FASHIONS & SHOES is the second play in Ron Klier's planned "St Louis" trilogy, which began in 2013 at Vs. with Cops And Friends Of Cops and will conclude with North County (about events surrounding Ferguson, Mo.). This world premiere production of GUS'S FASHIONS & SHOES follows a workshop production with Route 66 Theatre and Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble members in Chicago. GUS'S FASHIONS & SHOES opens tonight, April 24 at 8pm and runs through Saturday, May 30 at Vs. Theatre Company. 5453 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles.

It's 1990, and ''Gus's Fashions & Shoes'' is the hippest clothing store downtown. Gangstas, cops, everybody shops at Gus's. With a crazy cast of characters, including Gus, his son Matty, a narcotics detective, an aspiring rapper,

and Jimmy, the little person with a big old imagination -- GUS'S FASHIONS & SHOES is as hilarious as it is combustible. From the writer/director of Cops and Friends of Cops, comes this play about the family you're born into, the family you choose, and the difficulties of navigating each. (more)

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST:

RON KLIER (Playwright/Director) wrote and directed Cops and Friends of Cops for the Vs. Theatre Company (nominated for three LA Weekly Awards, including Best Playwriting). The Route 66 Theatre Company recently announced they'll be producing Cops at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, Fall 2015. Additional directing credits for Vs. include: The Mercy Seat by Neil LaBute (voted Reader's Choice Production of the Year in Backstage), Blackbird by Adam Rapp (nominated for three Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Awards and three LA Weekly Awards, and named one of LA Weekly's Ten Best Productions of 2009), the West Coast Premiere of Brett Neveu's Eagle Hills, Eagle Ridge, Eagle Landing, John Kolvenbach's On An Average Day (a joint production between the Vs. Theatre and Route 66 Theatre Companies, in Los Angeles and Chicago), and Waste of Shame (writer-director). Favorite directing credits elsewhere: The Traveling Companion by Tennessee Williams for the New American Theatre, the West Coast Premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's Happy Birthday/I'm Dead at the Elephant Theatre, Foolish Heart by Steve Yockey, as part of The Car Plays at the Segerstrom Center for the Arts, and Shampooed by Fielding Edlow as part of The Car Plays/Radar L.A. Festival. Ron's short plays have received productions in Chicago, San Diego, Kansas City, Norfolk, Virginia, and various small theaters in and around the Los Angeles area.

The cast of GUS'S FASHIONS AND SHOES features (in alphabetical order): Amir Abdullah, Sam Boeck, Jeffrey Johnson, Robert Maffia and Pancho Moler.

GUS'S FASHIONS AND SHOES features an award-winning design team. The Production Design is by Danny Cistone. The Art Design is by Mercedes Manning.

The Lighting Design is by Derrick McDaniel. The Sound Design is by Ron Klier. The Costume Design is by Gelareh Khalioun. The Violence Design is by Ned Mochel. The Production Stage Manager is Samantha Franco. GUS'S FASHIONS & SHOES is produced by Johnny Clark and Tommy Dunn.

GUS'S FASHIONS & SHOES will preview on Wednesday, April 22 & Thursday, April 23 at 8pm and will open on Friday, April 24 at 8pm and run through Saturday, May 30 at Vs. Theatre, 5453 W. Pico Blvd. in Los Angeles. Performances are Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm. Ticket prices are $25.00 for all performances. Preview Tickets are $15.00. Tickets are available online at www.vstheatre.org or www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 323-739-4411.

Vs. Theatre Company, a Not-For-Profit 501c-(3) Public Benefit Corporation, is a small, dedicated group of passionate artists devoted to producing original works and Los Angeles Premieres by the best contemporary playwrights in America. Vs. was founded in 2004 based on a passion for riveting stories and live performance in an intimate setting. Named "one of the top theatre companies of the last decade" by the LA Weekly, Vs. has produced or co-produced major contemporary playwrights including John Patrick Shanley, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Adam Rapp, Itamar Moses, and Neil LaBute. To date, VS. has produced or co-produced sixteen plays. Standouts include: the West Coast Premere of Keith Bunin's The Credeaux Canvas, which ran for nearly six months and played to sold out houses every night; In Arabia We'd All Be Kings (a co-production with The Elephant Theatre Company), named Best Production by the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle in 2008; On An Average Day, produced in Los Angeles and Chicago, garnering Critic's Choice in the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and Backstage, and won or was nominated for several Ovation, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, and Joseph Jefferson Awards; Blackbird by Adam Rapp which was nominated for three Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards including two for Best Lead Actor and three LA Weekly Awards including Best Production; and The Los Angeles Premiere of Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat, a co-production with the Ford Theatre as part of the Ford's prestigious 2011 [Inside] The Ford Winter Partnership Program. The Mercy Seat won two Backstage Reader's Choice Awards for Outstanding Performance and Production, won or was nominated for several LA Weekly Awards, and was voted a "Top Ten of The Year" by the Los Angeles Times.

Vs. recently opened its own space - The Vs. Theatre (site of the former Black Dahlia Theatre) on Pico Blvd., and launched its first production there, The World Premiere of Ron Klier's Cops And Friends Of Cops. The sold out production received excellent reviews including "Pick of the Week" by the LA Weekly, multiple theatre awards and nominations, and extended long after its scheduled closing night. The Route 66 Theatre Company recently announced they'll be producing Cops at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago, Fall 2015.

Fresh off its sold-out run of Itamar Moses' Completeness, Vs. continues its tenth anniversary season with the World Premiere of Gus's Fashions & Shoes, also written and directed by Ron Klier. Opening in Spring, 2015. Rounding out the season will be the West Coast Premiere of Tracy Letts' adaptation of Anton Chekov's masterpiece, Three Sisters. Opening in Winter, 2016.