A DEATH IN COLOMBIA to Open 6/18 at Skylight Theatre

Katselas Theatre Company announces the World Premiere of A Death in Colombia by Shem Bitterman, Directed by Steve Zuckerman at The Skylight Theatre 1816 N. Vermont Ave. LA 90027. Previews begin June 3rd with the official press opening Saturday, June 18th. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. through July 31st. Tickets are $30 or $20 for students/seniors. Tickets can be purchased by calling 702-KTC-TKTS (702-582-8587), or online at www.ktctickets.com

A thriller set in Colombia, about the wife of an activist missing in the jungle and a mysterious visitor. In Bogota, the capital city of Colombia, anthropologist Lisa Fine awaits the return of her husband, John, from the jungles of the Amazon where he is waging a fight on behalf of the indigenous Indians. As night falls, she has a surprise visit from Roger, an old friend of John's from Harvard. Roger is a highly paid consultant for an American oil company. During a long intimate evening, secrets are revealed and difficult choices must be made.

This is KTC's second outing with Shem Bitterman. Last season KTC produced the World Premiere of Influence written by Shem and directed by Steve Zuckerman. Influence received an LA Weekly nomination for best play as well as a LADCC nomination for lead actor. Influence is the third in Shem's Iraq war trilogy. Man.gov, the first, was produced by Circus Theatricals and nominated for Best Play by the LA WEEKLY. Harm's Way, the second, also produced by CT, won the 2008 Pen Award. Both transferred to New York and were directed by Zuckerman. Other plays include; The Job, LA Times Critic's Circle Award Best New Play; Sensitive Skin; The Circle; Ten Below; National Play Award; Peephole; Davie Award; Night-Side; The Ramp; California Playwright's Competition; Beijing Legends; Fund For New American Plays and Iowa Boys, CBS/FDG New Plays Award. Shem's film adaptation of the The Job, which he directed, featuring Patrick Flueger, Taryn Manning, Joe Pantoliano and Ron Perlman, won Best Screenplay at the 2009 San Diego Film Festival and iwas distributed through Magnolia, Spring, 2010. Other films include: Play Dead; Full Count; Tinsletown; Out Of The Rain; Off The Lip and Open House. Shem got his M.F.A. in Dramatic Writing at University of Iowa and has taught screenwriting, playwriting and acting in the California Prisons and in Beijing, China. Shem heads KTC's Playwriting Lab.

A Death in Colombia is Mr. Zuckerman's second production with KTC and producer Gary Grossman and his sixth collaboration with Shem Bitterman. Most recently he directed the premiere of Garry Marshall's Everybody Say Cheese at the Falcon Theatre. He directed Shem's Man.Gov and Harm's Way (LA Pen Award Winner) at the 45th Street Theater in New York. He directed both of those plays' premieres at Circus Theatricals here in LA., where he is an associate artist. He directed Nuts by Tom Topor on Broadway which received two Tony nominations and a Drama Desk Award. As Associate Director of New York's WPA Theater he directed over 15 productions including the premieres of Nuts, Shem Bitterman's, Ten Below and Israel Horovitz's Unexpected Tenderness and North Shore Fish. His collaboration with Mr.Horovitz also resulted in the premieres of Today I Am A Fountain Pen, A Rosen By Any Other Name and The Chopin Payoffs. He directed a filmed version of North Shore Fish for Showtime which starred Mercedes Ruehl, Peter Riegert and Tony Danza. Revivals of Tennessee Williams Vieux Carre and Ibsen's When We Dead Awaken with Kim Hunter, received Drama Desk Awards. He has been Director of Play Development at The Circle in the Square Theatre and Artistic Director of the Impossible Ragtime Theatre in New York and the Sharon Playhouse. He has directed at the Manhattan Theater Club, Circle Rep and many regional theatres including Baltimore's Center Stage, The La Jolla Playhouse and the Yale Cabaret. Mr. Zuckerman was trained at the University of Michigan and the Yale School of Drama. In addition to his long theater career Mr. Zuckerman has directed over 350 episodes of prime time television including such shows as Everybody Loves Raymond, The Drew Carey Show, Friends, Empty Nest and Murphy Brown for which he received an Humanitarian Award. Most recently, According To Jim, Hanna Montana, Melissa & Joey and Bleed My Day Says.

RoxAnne Hart is best known for her role as Brenda Wyatt in the 1986 film Highlander. She is also known for the role of Nurse Camille Shutt on the medical drama Chicago Hope. Broadway stage productions include: Salome starring opposite Al Pacino and Peter Nichols' Passion, for which she received a Tony nomination in 1983. She has been seen in a number of films, including The Verdict, Once Around with Holly Hunter, The Good Girl with Jennifer Aniston and Letters From Iwo Jima directed by Clint Eastwood. She has appeared in many television shows over the years including ER, Law & Order, and OZ. She had recurring roles on the 1990s HBO sitcom Dream On, NBC's Medium and is currently recurring in Hung.

For over thirty-five years audiences have been watching Joe Regalbuto. For ten seasons, Joe appeared as Frank, in the award winning TV series Murphy Brown, where he received an Emmy and SAG nomination during Born in Brooklyn, Joe was educated at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and NYU School of the Arts with none other than RoxAnne Hart! Joe began his career with work on stage both in NY and regional theatre, including on Broadway, The Guthrie Theatre, Seattle Rep. and The New York Shakespeare Festival. Movie credits include: Missing, Lassiter and Bottle Shock. Joe began directing while at Murphy Brown, with over thirty episodes of MB to his name.
After Murphy, the directing continued with episodes of many popular shows including Friends, Veronicas Closet, and the George Lopez Show. Joe has directed over 150 episodes of TV. Trying to appear on stage whenever possible, Joe is privileged to have worked as an actor with Neil Simon on Oscar and Felix, at the Geffen Theatre, where he played the role of Felix to John Larroquette's Oscar, ART at The Old Globe, directed and acted in Romeo and Juliet with his daughter Gina at the Odyssey, and directed Pretty Good Time at the Falcon Theatre. Recently he worked with director Steve Zuckerman on Gary Marshal's new play Everybody Say Cheese.

KATSELAS THEATRE COMPANY is a home for artists to develop, take risks and create theatrical works of excellence with the intent to entertain, provoke and illuminate audiences reiterating the value of the arts to this city we call home. Through our programs and our main stage productions our aim is to bring together the artist and the audience in order to participate in the artist's development process. KTC's primary focus is the development of the artist. Believing that artists and their communities are influenced by each other and that the audience should be an acknowledged within the artist's development process. KTC's newest programs, INK-ubator and New Voices have been created to engage the artist and the audience in that process.

A Death In Colombia by Shem Bitterman, Directed by Steve Zuckerman at The Skylight Theatre 1816 N. Vermont Ave. LA 90027. Previews begin June 10th with the official press opening Saturday, June 18th. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 7 p.m. through July 31st. Tickets are $30 or $20 for students/seniors. Tickets can be purchased by calling 702-KTC-TKTS (702-582-8587) or online at www.ktctickets.org

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