Los Angeles Ensemble Theatre Concludes 2008 With 'Quixotic'

The critically acclaimed Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble concludes its 2008 Season with the World Premiere of a new comedy that is both poignant and timely.  Quixotic by Kit Steinkellner, a modern re-telling of Cervantes' classic novel "Don Quixote," opens on October 30 at The Powerhouse Theatre in Santa Monica.

In a grim American city during an economic downturn, Munsch-Litttleton Insurance is downsizing.  Tensions are already running high in the gloomy office when office drone Arthur Quick begins to blur the line between fantasy and reality.  Convinced that he is a knight errant, Arthur turns the office upside down in his quest to rid the world of evil.

"This is a story about seeing the magic in the mundane," says director Amanda Glaze.  "Not only is Arthur able to break free from the drudgery of a cubicled existence, but he is also able to help the people around him to see the possibilities in their seemingly hopeless lives."

Featured in the L.A. Theatre Ensemble production are company members Trevor Algatt, Sarah Gold, Ariel Goldberg, Danielle Katz, Coco Kleppinger, Nathaniel Meek, Isaac Wade and Paige L. White.

Recently acclaimed productions by The Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble include Wounded, i Gelosi and a new translation of Franz Wedekind's Spring's Awakening, each a testament to the Ensemble's ability to stage theater works of high artistic integrity while remaining broadly accessible and genuinely entertaining. The Ensemble holds fast in its commitment to strike a balance between providing a venue for emerging artists and veteran artists, and between presenting the works of new playwrights and revisiting timely and important classics.

Kit Steinkellner is a playwright, screenwriter, and a director/producer of both theater and new media. As a playwright, Steinkellner has been produced nationally.  Credits include Off Broadway at Playwrights Horizons; the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C; and the Hudson, Egyptian and Powerhouse Theaters in Los Angeles. Recent playwriting awards include the 2007 Tim Robbins Award for Playwriting; Kennedy Center's 2008 National Student Playwriting Award; and a 2008 Sundance Theater Lab Playwriting Fellowship. As a screenwriter, recent awards include the 2008 Jack Nicholson Distinguished Prize in Screenwriting and the 2008 UCLA Screenwriter's Showcase (Feature Winner). Steinkellner also co-created the web series "Odyssey Years." Steinkellner is currently completing her MFA in Screenwriting/Television Showrunning at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television. She works in the literary departments of Reliant Pictures and Boston Court Theater.

Amanda Glaze recently received her BA in Theater from UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television where she studied directing and acting. Quixotic marks her third collaboration with Kit Steinkellner.  Last fall Amanda directed House Full of Letters at The Powerhouse for which she was awarded the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival's NST Fellowship for Outstanding Direction and an Associate membership to the SSD&C.  Amanda has also worked in arts outreach and publicity at the Hollywood Arts Council and Pacific Resident Theater.

The Powerhouse Theatre Company, which makes its home at the Powerhouse, a historical building originally erected in 1910 to house the Southern California Edison Electrical Plant for the city of Santa Monica, is committed to nurturing innovative new work, and has introduced Los Angeles audiences to critically-acclaimed world premieres such the multiple award-winning The Shaggs: Philosophy of the World by Joy Gregory and Gunnar Madsen; The Family Room by Aron Coleite; Golden Prospects: A Los Angeles Melodrama by Colin Campbell; A Series of Comedic Lectures with John Lehr; Robots vs Fake Robots by David Largman Murray, Testosterone: How Cancer Made a Man of Me by Hal Ackerman; and the Los Angeles Theatre Ensemble productions of Wound, i Gelosi and Spring's Awakening.

Quixotic runs Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 pm, October 30 through November 22.  All tickets are $20.00.  The Powerhouse Theatre is located at 3116 2nd Street in south Santa Monica, just off Main Street between Rose and Marine.  Guests in wheelchairs should call in advance to make arrangements.  For reservations and information, the public should call (310) 396-3680 x3 or visit www.latensemble.com.

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