Compulsion Dance & Theater Announce Cast & Creative Team For TEDX TALKS: THE MURDER ROOM

TEDx Talks: The Murder Room is a horror/thriller inspired by the films Split and Misery. It is the 2nd play in the Thrillogy Series, written & directed by Michael Mizerany and an homage to everything that is horror - jump scares, dark humor, violent altercations and killers that just won't die.

About The Play:

Paul Foster, an Emmy winning actor in a not-so-acclaimed daytime soap opera, is kidnapped, chained to a bed and threatened until he can give the acting performance of his life. Or more accurately for his life. As he and his psychotic captor play out the scenes, secrets are revealed, each one more twisted, demented and deranged than the last.

DETAILS:

EXCLUSIVE - ONE WEEKEND ONLY

Performances are March 9th, 10th and 11th (Thursday-Saturday) at 8pm

Industry Night Performance on Monday, March 13th at 8pm

The Light Box Theater

2590 Truxtun Road, #205, San Diego CA

PRICING:

All General Admission Seats are $25. Seating is very limited, advanced purchase is highly recommended. Tickets go on sale on February 8th.

Advisory: TEDx Talks: The Murder Room contains adult themes and content including profanity, sexual situations and dialogue, an extended scene of violence and some gore.

Michael Mizerany (Writer/Director) has directed extensively including Bat Boy, The Rocky Horror Show (OB Playhouse), Altar Boyz (Coronado Playhouse), Midnight Alley (Diversionary Theater), A Twisted Bargain, Wally & HIs Lover Boys and Songs From An Unmade Bed (Compulsion Dance & Theater). As a playwright, he won the 2016 San Diego International Fringe Festival Award for Outstanding Writing for the comedy 20 Minutes & Counting. A Twisted Bargain, the first play in the Thrillogy Series, premiered in San Diego in April of 2022 with subsequent performances in Los Angeles in October of 2022. His romantic comedy, Marry Me, Dennis Branigan premiered in December of 2021 and won the Broadway World Award for Most Anticipated Production of a New Play. Most recently, A Twisted Bargain and Marry Me, Dennis Branigan were nominated for a combined 14 Broadway World Awards including Outstanding Play and Outstanding Direction of a Play.

Stephen Simpson (Actor) His recent credits include: Romeo in Romeo & Juliet (Vanguard Theatre. Demitrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Tybalt in Romeo & Juliet (Shakespeare in the Vines) and Quint in Marry Me, Dennis Branigan (Compulsion Dance & Theatre).

Phillip Magin (Actor) holds a B.A. in Theatre from SDSU. San Diego credits include The Great Khan (u/s) (San Diego Repertory Theatre), The Mineola Twins (MOXIE Theatre), On Her Shoulders We Stand (TuYo Theatre/La Jolla Playhouse WOW Festival), La Lucha (Optika Moderna), Macbeth (Coronado Playhouse). LA Credits include a staged reading of the new play Christmastown (New West Playwrights/Ensemble Studio Theatre LA). Phillip wrote, directed, and produced Turn Me On, Dead Man for the San Diego International Fringe Festival (KPBS Beth Accomando Top 10 Pick). Phillip is a Marketing Coordinator for La Jolla Playhouse and a teaching artist at North Coast Repertory Theatre.

Jared Jacobs (Lighting Designer) is San Diego-based, mostly recently designing Big Fish at Coronado Playhouse. Some of his favorite recent designs were Hands on a Hardbody (Coronado Playhouse), Love Song (Scripps Ranch Theatre), A Twisted Bargain (Compulsion Dance & Theatre), and The Rocky Horror Show (OB Playhouse & Theatre Company). He originally began designing at a young age in Maine while in High School. Jared later joined the Marines where he was stationed in San Diego and began to work with many theaters in the community. When he isn't working on lighting design he enjoys surfing, working in IT, and riding the trolley.

Anthony Ayala (Fight Choreographer) is a Chicano actor from Norwalk California. He first found a passion for fight choreography when he was in High School. In an off chance, he enrolled in a stage combat class which sparked an interest he never strayed away from. Studying at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln as well as at California State University Fullerton, he was able to take several stage combat classes as well as participating in fight choreography heavy shows such as Tis Pity She's a Whore, Hamlet, Macbeth, and Frankenstein. This is in addition to actually choreographing fight scenes in such shows as Fly Over States (Arena Theater), What Happens After (Casa 0101) and Disgraced (Cal State Fullerton).