Orson Bean, star of stage and screen, performs a very personal evening of life moments and memories, along with the occasional joke or magic trick, entitled SAFE AT HOME: An Evening with Orson Bean, where fans of the timeless raconteur and well-known actor can experience up close what has made him such a funny and talented mainstay of television, films and stage productions over the years.
The show begins with previews tonight, October 15, and opens on October 22, 2015 at the Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice. Tickets ($12 previews, $25-30 performances) can be purchased online at
www.pacificresidenttheatre.com or by calling
310-822-8392.
Orson Bean was nominated for a SAG award for his performance in the film BEING JOHN MALKOVICH. As an actor and singer, he starred on Broadway for twenty years, winning a Theater World Award and a Tony Award nomination (1961's Subways are for Sleeping) in the process. His stage career included roles in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, Never Too Late and Illya Darling. As a panelist, he was seen on "To Tell The Truth" for eight years. As a comic, he appeared over 200 times on The Tonight Show, about one hundred times as substitute host. Bean appeared in TV cult favorites "
Mary Hartman,
Mary Hartman" and "Forever Fernwood." For seven years, he portrayed the storekeeper Loren Bray on the popular western drama, "Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman." He also played Roy Bender, Karen McCluskey's husband on the three final seasons of "Desperate Housewives." He beat
Charlie Sheen with a cane on "Two and a Half Men." It seems to have done Charlie no good. He resides in Venice Beach with his wife, actress
Alley Mills.
The show recounts Bean's childhood and young adulthood, his start in comedy, his stage, film and television work, major portions of his personal life and major transitions in his philosophy and religious beliefs. He tells some whopper jokes and performs feats of magic, as well. Mostly, he uncovers the
Orson Bean rarely shown to the public... the private man behind the skillful public performance.
Alley Mills Bean is the producer of SAFE AT HOME, along with associate producers Rita Obermeyer and
Sarah Newman-Martins. Lighting design is by Norman Scott.
Guillermo Cienfuegos has directed numerous plays at Pacific Resident Theatre, most recently the smash hit production of
Harold Pinter's The Homecoming, which was named LA Times Critic's Choice, LA Weekly GO!, and Ovation Recommended. Cienfuegos also directed last year's production of Shakespeare's Henry V, for which he won the Ovation Award and the Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award for Best Director. The production was also named LA Times Critic's Choice, and was on numerous 'Best of 2014' lists, including on KCRW. In addition, Cienfuegos has directed seven World Premieres for Pacific Resident Theatre, including Keith Stevenson's Ovation-Award-nominated Out There on Fried Meat Ridge Rd., A Fried Meat Christmas, and The Unfryable Meatness of Being, Wendy Johnson's Concealing
Judy Holliday and Vince Melocchi's Welcome to Santa. After a successful run at PRT, his production of Vince Melocchi's Julia (which was nominated for three LA Weekly Theatre Awards, including Best Director) transferred to New York's 59E59 Theatre, Off Broadway. Lions, his first collaboration with Melocchi, was nominated for an Ovation Award and later published by Samuel French. Cienfuegos has also directed for the Chalk Repertory Theatre, the
Blank Theatre Company and Nom De Guerre, a theatre and film collective, which he
co-founded. He is thrilled to be associated with
Orson Bean and grateful to be able to help tell his story.
The Pacific Resident Theatre (PRT) produces award-winning plays. In a town teeming with theater, PRT is at the top of the heap. Frequently singled out as one of the best theatres operating in Southern California, PRT is the recipient of more awards for excellence than any resident company in Los Angeles. Pacific Resident Theatre is a company dedicated to producing the great works of known playwrights, unearthing uncommon and seldom seen classics, and discovering new and innovative plays by developing writers. Founded in 1985, PRT is an oasis for actors, directors, playwrights, and designers with extensive Broadway and regional theater careers. Their sixteen seasons have produced plays of extraordinary artistic range. Their productions have set a standard of excellence in Los Angeles, having received more than 30 Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Awards, the prestigious Margaret Harford Award for Continuous Achievement in Theater and two special Polly Warfield Awards for Outstanding Overall Season.
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