Exit Theater Expands Their Space, Benefit Show With Coulter & Star Held 6/12-13

"Off-off Broadway is alive and well in San Francisco," proclaims EXIT Theatre's Artistic Director Christina Augello. "Artists' demands for performance space at EXIT has more than doubled over the past year, so when the opportunity opened up for us to take over the space across the hall, we knew it was the right choice," she says.

EXIT Theatre currently leases 3,400 square feet at 156 Eddy Street in San Francisco's Tenderloin district, including the 80-seat EXIT Theatre mainstage, the 49-seat EXIT Stage Left, and the EXIT Café which serves food and beverages and doubles as a 35-seat theatre. The theatre also runs the 66-seat EXIT on Taylor, around the corner at 277 Taylor Street, where Cutting Ball Theater is currently in residence. EXIT Theatre was founded on Eddy Street in 1983 and has been at its present location since 1993.

The new space is adjacent to EXIT's other performance spaces and recently housed a youth center, which moved to larger quarters. With the acquisition of the new space, EXIT Theatre now occupies the entire commercial storefront at 156 Eddy Street. Above EXIT Theatre, the 100-year-old Tenderloin Hotel provides low-income SRO housing. The 1,700 square feet will include a new 49-seat performance space and a classroom / rehearsal studio.

EXIT Theatre has signed a 20-year lease with a 10-year option on the new space with their nonprofit landlord, the Chinatown Community Development Center. The expansion complements the emerging Tenderloin Arts District initiative of the Mayor's Office of Economic and Workforce Development. In order to complete the build-out of the newly acquired space, EXIT Theatre has launched a $125,000 capital campaign over the next 18 months. The campaign will include a number of fundraising events.

The first of these fundraisers is a pair of performances generously donated by Ventriloquist Ron Coulter and his partner, Sid Star. Coulter & Star will present two performances of Soliloquy for Two June 12 and 13 at EXIT Theatre main stage. Both performances begin at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $15-20-25 available at (415) 673-3847 or www.theexit.org.

In Soliloquy For Two, "theatre meets vaudeville for puppetry that pulls your strings," says veteran performer Ron Coulter, the taller half of the Coulter-Star duo. Written and performed by actor/ventriloquists Ron Coulter and Sid Star, Soliloquy for Two is a two act recital featuring edgy humor and short plays. "Ruby Lounge Confession" proceeds from mirth to murder. "Inherit to Die" is a deadly backstage battle of wills. These voice illusionists promise to "delight and amaze with virtuosity, comedy and the unexpected."

Ron Coulter and Sid Star present two benefit performances of Soliloquy for Two for EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy Street in San Francisco, June 12-13.

EXIT Theatre produces the San Francisco Fringe Festival, the second oldest Fringe Festival in the United States and is a member of the Canadian Association of Fringe Festivals (CAFF). 2009 will mark the 18th annual San Francisco Fringe Festival.

Each year, EXIT Theatre presents over 500 performances of some 100 productions by more than 75 companies and is one of San Francisco's most successful and enduring centers of alternative performance. EXIT continues to commission, develop and produce new work and present independent artists. In addition to the San Francisco Fringe Festival, EXIT produces the annual DIVAfest, dedicated to developing new work by women writers. The EXIT Theatreplex includes EXIT Theatre, EXIT Stage Left, and EXIT Café at 156 Eddy Street, and EXIT on Taylor, around the corner at 277 Taylor Street, all in Downtown San Francisco. Visit the EXIT Theatre web site at www.theexit.org.

COMING UP LATER THIS YEAR AT THE EXIT

June 5 - August 15. Now and at the Hour, an all-new and subtly unnerving show by theatrical magician Christian Cagigal, previews Fridays and Saturdays, June 5-Aug 15 at EXIT Stage Left, 156 Eddy Street in downtown San Francisco. All shows are at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $15-20-25. Reservations (415) 673-3847, www.theexit.org. (No performances on July 4 weekend.)

July 25-August 15. Lady of the'Loin. Songwriting team Don Seaver and Sean Owens join forces with powerhouse performer Shannon Day for a sizzling tribute to San Francisco's raciest, raunchiest, most unrepentant neighborhood: the Tenderloin. A dozen stories-in-song, about good girls gone wrong, wronged girls getting the goods, and low-lifes living the high life. Four Saturdays, July 25, Aug 1, 8, 15. All shows 9:00 p.m. EXIT Café, 156 Eddy St., San Francisco. Tickets, $15. (415) 673-3847, www.theexit.org

August 22. A Sneak Peek at the Fringe. Performers in the upcoming 2009 San Francisco Fringe Festival present excerpts from their shows. One show at 8:00 p.m. EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy Street. FREE.

September 9-20. 18th Annual San Francisco Fringe Festival. Over 250 performances of 40+ shows in 12 days. Features international, U.S., and Bay Area theater companies and performers.

Selected Thursdays, All Year Long. Mark Romyn's Thursday Night Combo. Theatre artists, musicians, and other performers try out new material at the EXIT Café.

For details on the 2009 season's shows, go to www.theexit.org.
EXIT Theatre, 156 Eddy Street, San Francisco. (415) 673-3847, www.theexit.org.