Van Outen & Biggins to Star in L.A. 'Addictions,' Jan. 29

Denise Van Outen and Christopher Biggins will appear in the West Coast premiere of Addictions, three one-act plays by Tricia Walsh-Smith, on Monday, January 29 at 7 p.m. at the Kirk Douglas Theatre (9820 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA). 

Additional casting will be announced soon.  The one night only event will be a benefit performance for the Actor's Fund Chemical Dependency Services program, which helps entertainment professionals and their families when there is a problem with drug or alcohol abuse.  Addictions will be directed by Justin Ross.

"British playwright Tricia Walsh-Smith is the author of the hit play Bonkers, which premiered at the Man in the Moon Theatre in London.  Addictions was written after her youngest brother Kevin committed suicide.  Tricia and her family realized that the tragic event was the result of his longtime addiction to alcohol, and it is her hope that this play might help other suffering addicts.  Indeed it already has -- Addictions had its East Coast premiere last April at New York City's Promenade Theatre with a celebrity reading benefiting Caron Treatment Centers, an internationally recognized leader in the treatment of addiction to alcohol and drugs.  It raised high six figures, and the money is being used to rehabilitate adults who can't afford treatment.  Tricia hopes the Actors Fund Reading will repeat the success of the East Coast event," press materials state.

British stage, film and television star Denise Van Outen played Roxie Hart in the hit revival of Chicago both in London's West End and on Broadway.  In 2003, she returned to the London stage in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Tell Me On a Sunday, which was specially rewritten for her.  Her other stage credits include the RSC's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, Les Miserables, and Stop the World - I Want to Get Off with the late Anthony Newley.  Van Outen got her big break in 1997 as the host of the British TV morning show "The Big Breakfast."  Her films include Love, Honor and Obey and Are You Ready for Love?  She will co-host NBC's upcoming talent competition series "You're the One That I Want," which will cast the two lead roles in the Broadway revival of Grease.

Biggins has appeared in numerous British TV series including "Porridge," "Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?" and "Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em."  He played Nero in the acclaimed BBC miniseries "I, Claudius."  Other TV credits include the BBC's famed adaptation of "Poldark" and the Great Perfomances presentation of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."  On children's television he had a starring role in "Rentaghost" and "Brendon Chase."  His films include The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Circus and Blow Dry.  Recently, he appeared in the West End as Baron Bomburst in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

Visit www.centertheatregroup.org/theatres/douglas for tickets and more information.