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The October Night of Johnny Zero at Tenth Avenue Arts Center
Dates: 11/17/2022 - 12/10/2022
📍 Theatre: Tenth Avenue Arts Center
Backyard Renaissance
930 Tenth Avenue, San Diego, CA 92101
San Diego, 92101
Phone: (619) 977-0999
Tickets: $18 - $40
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Backyard Renaissance presents a World Premiere THE OCTOBER NIGHT OF JOHNNY ZERO by Francis Gercke directed by Richard Baird
Cast: Marcel Ferrin, Geoffrey Geissinger and Jessica John
at Tenth Avenue Arts Center 930 Tenth Avenue. Where the 163 turns into 10th Avenue
On a dark and stormy night, all Johnny wants to do is get home. But when his mom doesn't arrive at his usual pick-up time and her work phone number refuses to connect, Johnny ends up somewhere he never imagined... At the Pinnolini's.
In the early 1980s of a late October afternoon, local legend and high school superstar Johnny Grimes is on a mission — to get back to his house, finish his book report, and compete in the Conference Basketball Finals the following day. Schoolmate Franky Pinnolini has a similar ambition — to make it all happen. Armed with a relentless adoration for Johnny and a BMX bike with a basket, Franky takes Johnny on a journey through the strange and peculiar backdrop of a place called home.
Set in the wilds of Delaware Valley in the mid-Atlantic region of the eastern seaboard, The October Night of Johnny Zero is a world premiere based on events — both real and imaginary. Part true crime, part science fiction, the play slips down the rabbit hole of small-town suburban life and comes face to face with the myths and monsters that might lurk just below the surface.
Cast and Creative Team for The October Night of Johnny Zero at Tenth Avenue Arts Center
Creative Team
Francis Gercke
Playwright
October Night playwright Francis Gercke has been an actor, director and producer in San Diego for the past 20 years. He is currently the artistic director of Backyard Renaissance which he co-founded with his wife Jessica John in 2015. He is a graduate of the Actors Studio Drama School. Recent roles include: Noises Off, Camping with Henry and Tom, The Explorers Club, Equivocation, Freud’s Last Session (Lambs Players); Stupid F***ing Bird, True West, Fool for Love (Cygnet Theatre); Abigail’s Party, The Dazzle, American Buffalo, An Experiment with an Air Pump, Smokefall, The Zoo Story, Abundance, The Elephant Man, Parlour Song (Backyard Renaissance); The Behavior of Broadus (Capital Stage Company); In the Next Room, Honky (San Diego Rep); Accomplice, Suzette Who Set to Sea (La Jolla Playhouse WOW and POP Tour); A Life in the Theatre, Time Stands Still (NCRT); The Pride (Diversionary Theatre). He is a resident artist with Cygnet Theatre and recipient of the San Diego Theatre Critics Circle Award for acting and directing. He teaches at Palomar College and privately through ActorsApproach. He is a graduate of the Actors Studio Drama School. The October Night of Johnny Zero is his first produced play.
Richard Baird
Director
In San Diego, Richard was the founding Artistic Director of New Fortune Theatre and Poor Players (which produced twenty six Shakespeare productions). Richard has been seen throughout the United States in regional theatres. Select theatre credits as actor include: North Coast Repertory Theatre, The Old Globe, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Arizona Theatre Company, Santa Barbara Theatre Ensemble, Kingsmen Shakespeare, Southwest Shakespeare Company. Richard has directed for Backyard Renaissance, North Coast Repertory Theatre; Intrepid Shakespeare Company; Diversionary Theatre Southwest Shakespeare Company; Shakespeare Sedona/Poor Players, Black Swan Theatre Series and Poor Players. Mr. Baird is the recipient of three San Diego Critics Circle Awards and two Arizona Best Actor Awards. Past Backyard Renaissance collaborations including directing An Experiment with and Air Pump and performing the role of Teach in the company's production of American Buffalo.
Yi-Chien Lee
Set Designer
Lilymoon Perez
Costume Designer
Kate Reynolds
Lighting Designer
Kevin Anthenill
Sound Designer
Susanne Sulby
Dialect Coach
Julie Lorenz
Charge Artist
Anna Younce
Stage Manager
Anna Younce is a recent graduate of UC San Diego (BA-Theatre) where she developed her identity as a theatre maker with multiple areas of interest. Highlights include an award-winning Honors Thesis in Playwriting with her first full-length play Self-Talk; a staged reading of emerging playwright Dave Harris’s Incendiary (Asst. Stage Manager); Our Town (Asst. Dir. under Kim Walsh); writing, directing, and designing a production of two one-act plays as a studio project (Give Me Something/Whatever You Need). Professional credits include Abigail’s Party, Witchland, Dry Powder, The Dazzle, American Buffalo (Stage Manager, Backyard Renaissance); gUnTOPIA (Stage Manager, The Roustabouts Theatre Co.); Written in Stone for Without Walls Festival 2019 (“Tour Guide,” Backyard Renaissance & La Jolla Playhouse).
News About The October Night of Johnny Zero at Tenth Avenue Arts Center
Backyard Renaissance Closes Out Its Seventh Season With Its Next World Premiere
October 21, 2022 Over the last seven years, Backyard Renaissance (BYR) has proudly accepted the monikers 'edgy,' 'scrappy,' and 'gutsy,' all bequeathed by local media. Creative playing spaces, purposefully bad B-movie readings, a La Jolla Playhouse Residency, teeny-tiny musicals, a 5-camera filmed production and several world premieres have all been part of BYR's short but lively history.About the Theatre
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