SM Playhouse Welcomes Ann Randolph in LOVELAND, Opens 10/7

What's so funny about death? Plenty, if you're award-winning writer/performer, Ann Randolph, renowned for transforming horror into humor.
Randolph's critically acclaimed solo show, LOVELAND, opens October 7, 2010 at Santa Monica Playhouse for a limited run. It follows a year long run in San Francisco, garnering Randolph the San Francisco Examiner's award for "Best Solo Performer."

In LOVELAND, Randolph takes the audience on an unforgettable cross-country flight that is both hilarious and deeply human. Randolph embodies multiple characters, including our heroine, FrAnnie Potts, an out-of-control, sexually charged misfit overwhelmed by grief. Facing loss, she stumbles from outrageous confrontation to awkward confusion, and finally glimpses the mystery, tragedy, and beauty that unites us all.

Randolph's impetus for the show was the excruciating year preceding her father's death. Mining humor and pain, she wrote LOVELAND on countless flights between Los Angeles and Loveland (her parents' home), as a way to deal with her anguish.

"Every time I boarded the plane, I thought it would be the last time I'd see my Dad. I thought the grief would overtake me," Randolph said. "So I explored every aspect of what I thought would happen if I let myself lose it, and I found the humor along the way."

Randolph, a seasoned actress, is not new to solo performance or using humor as a coping mechanism for challenging life experiences. Randolph's past productions have examined social issues from homelessness to mental illness. Mel Brooks and the late Anne Bancroft produced her last solo show, SQUEEZE BOX, Randolph's story about working the graveyard shift in a homeless shelter. SQUEEZE BOX ran Off-Broadway, moved to Los Angeles and garnered many awards, including LA Weekly's "Best Solo Show" and the Ovation Award for "Best Solo Performer."

In conjunction with LOVELAND, Randolph will continue teaching ongoing workshops, guiding people to write their own personal stories of life and loss. These workshops will be held in Santa Monica, San Francisco, Esalen, and Hawaii.

Additionally, Randolph will be traveling between LA and San Francisco to continue performing LOVELAND to sell-out crowds at the Marsh Theatre in Berkley, CA.

LOVELAND'S director, Matt Roth, directed the Ovation Award nominated productions of "Big Baby" (written by Joe Keyes) and "Teen Girl" (written by Justin Tanner). He also directed the premiere of William Wright's "Texmas" and last year's production of "Bob's Holiday Office Party" at the Zephyr theatre, which starred Randolph in dual roles as the town floozy and a sexually repressed minister's wife.

LOVELAND is produced by Jubliant Productions.

Need more Santa Barbara Theatre News in your life?
Sign up for all the news on the Summer season, discounts & more...