Phil Johnson's A JEWISH JOKE Set for 2016 United Solo Festival

United Solo Festival will present writer/performer Phil Johnson in his latest solo work, A Jewish Joke - a drama about comedy as relevant today is it was during the McCarthy era - in a single performance on Saturday, September 17th at 4pm at The Studio Theatre @ Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street - just east of Broadway.)

Tickets are $18 and may be obtained through Telecharge.com/(212) 279-6200. For further information, visit www.ajewishjoke.com.

In A Jewish Joke, a curmudgeonly Jewish comedy screenwriter from MGM comes up against the Communist blacklist in 1950's Hollywood. Funny and lovable, Bernie has made his way up the ladder by being a spineless Hollywood sellout. He now has to make the biggest decision of his life. The night before a big red carpet premiere that will make Bernie's career, he has been asked to name names and give up a friend. Armed with stories about the great era of Jewish humor, this poignant and funny solo comedy shows one small man facing the tough American events of the mid-20th century and looking into the depths of his own soul. A Jewish Joke had its World Premiere in San Diego in May and its Chicago premiere at Victory Gardens Theatre this past July.

Phil Johnson (Co-Writer/Performer) is an actor and writer in Southern California. Phil played in Les Miserables on Broadway & on tour; the Canadian production of Sunset Boulevard; & the first national company of Miss Saigon. He has just returned from the NY Fringe Festival where he performed in his original comedy 'She-Rantulas from Outer Space in 3D!' at the Lynn Redgrave Theatre, co-written by he and Ruff Yeager for Diversionary Theatre. He has appeared at all the San Diego theatres, and is a two-time winner of the San Diego Critics Circle Craig Noel Award for acting. Theatres include: North Coast Rep, The Old Globe, Cygnet, South Coast Rep, and the SD Rep. Other written works: Hound of the Baskervilles (original solo show, commissioned by the San Diego Foundation), solo show Say Cheese (Dramalogue Award, co-writer), Music, Mistletoe & Madness (for North Coast Rep, co-writer), and 'Casa del Haha with Señor Phil' (ongoing original sketch comedy show) at Diversionary and North Coast Rep in San Diego. www.philjohnson.net

Marni Freedman (Co-Writer) is a produced, published and award winning writer. Graduating as an award winning student from the USC School of Filmic Writing, Marni began her career with her play, "Two Goldsteins on Acid," produced in Los Angeles. She worked as a script doctor for top film companies and worked as a script agent for the Mary Sue Seymour Agency. One of her plays was made into a film, "Playing Mona Lisa," produced by Disney. She has published articles in several magazines and online sites, worked as a ghostwriter for a "how to" book series and is currently in demand working for TheWriterInYou as a book editor and script doctor. Marni can be found teaching writing workshops at San Diego Writers Ink, UCSD Extension and running the popular San Diego Screenwriter's group, The Writer's Circle.

David Ellenstein (Director) was born into a theatrical family and has worked in theatres across the country. Before joining North Coast Rep in 2003 he served as Artistic Director for the Los Angeles Repertory Company and the Arizona Jewish Theatre Company (AJTC). A veteran of over 250 theatrical productions, directorial favorites include: North Coast Rep - Words By Ira Gershwin, Faded Glory (World Premiere), Mandate Memories (World Premiere), Becoming Cuba (World Premiere), Time Stands Still, Words by: Ira Gershwin and the Great American Songbook (World Premiere), Two by Pinter: The Lover and The Dumb Waiter, HENRY IV Part 1, Heroes, My Name is Asher Lev, The Drawer Boy, Becky's New Car, Ghosts, The Tempest,Talley's Folly, Over the Tavern, Old Wicked Songs, The Dresser, Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris, Madagascar, A Shayna Maidel, The Honky Tonk Angels, Rashomon, A Moon for the Misbegotten; Tuesdays With Morrie; Collected Stories; Halpern and Johnson; Romeo and Juliet; Amy's View; Einstein Comes Through (also co-author); The Chosen; A Life in the Theatre; Story Theatre and Charley's Aunt. Coconut Grove Playhouse - Sonia Flew starring Lucie Arnaz; Halpern and Johnson starring Hal Linden and Brian Murray. Paper Mill Playhouse - The Chosen starring Theodore Bikel and John Lloyd Young. Portland Stage - Words By Ira Gershwin, Halpern and Johnson. Renaissance Theatre - Long Day's Journey Into Night. Actor's Theatre of Phoenix - Rabbit Hole. Alabama Shakespeare Festival - Rocket City (World Premiere) and Honky Tonk Angels. Laguna Playhouse - Alexandros (World Premiere). Southwest Shakespeare Company - Cyrano de Bergerac. AJTC - Awake and Sing. Meadow Brook Theatre - A Christmas Carol. Portland Rep - Conversations With My Father and Gaslamp Quarter Theatre - A Shayna Maidel.