ANNIE AND FRANNIE GO TO A FUNERAL Debuts July 13 At Open-Door Playhouse

In this short play, Annie and Frannie Go to a Funeral, just like the title says. The funeral is for Artie, Annie's husband, and her first love. The marriage was not always happy, particularly safter the tragic death of their son. Annie is there to say goodbye. Frannie is there as Annie's friend. But Annie and Frannie are more than friends. Now that Artie will be out of the way, will Annie and Frannie be able to have a life together of their own choosing?

This short play is being presented by Open-Door Playhouse., a podcast created to introduce new plays, new writers, and a wealth of unknown talent. Founded by playwright and filmmaker Bernadette Armstrong, Open-Door Playhouse brings plays to the airwaves, in response to the fact that theatres were shuttered all over the country due to the Covid-19 pandemic, leaving playwrights with nowhere to produce their plays. Open-Door Playhouse supports new and emerging writers. Since its inception, Open-Door Playhouse has presented 64 new short plays, with no limit in sight.

Don Goodrum is the playwright. With a theatre career spanning decades, he has written many plays and taught theatre, following a long career in radio. He is retired and living in Florida, but continues to write. He is an alumnus of Mississippi College.

Kim Hlavac directs. The recipient of a BFA from f SUNY Purchase, she is also a playwright and actor. She has performed in plays in New York (including Much Ado About Nothing opposite Stanley Tucci, Waiting for Lefty directed by Howard Da Silva, and Gertrude Stein's Listen to Me) and on TV (including the daytime drama Another World) in which she played Lauren Philiips) and is a member of the stage companies VS Theater and Station House. You can hear Kim's plays and direction of Penny Slots at https://opendoorplayhouse.org

Joanne McGee-Lamb plays Annie. She has appeared in productions at the Mark Taper Forum, Crown City Theatre Company, Utah Shakespeare Festival, Nevada Shakespeare Company, Florida Rep, Sonora Rep, and Mainstreet Theatre Company.

Sonja Alarr portrays Frannie. The recipient of a Master's Degree at Cal State Long Beach, She has appeared in productions at Oregon Shakespeare Festival, PCPA , La Jolla Playhouse, Crown City Theatre, Ensemble Theatre, Kirk Douglas Theatre and more. She writes and performs cabaret shows.

Producer: Bernadette Armstrong. Associate producer: Laree Griffith. Sound engineer: David Peters at Oak House Studio in Altadena, CA.

Starting July 13, 2022, you can access the podcast of Annie and Frannie Go to a Funeral at the Open-Door Playhouse website, where you can also find an archive of 65 previous podcasts, fresh new writing and skilled audio performances and directing.

There's no paywall at the Open-Door Playhouse site, so you could listen to everything for free. Open-Door Playhouse is a 501c3 non-profit organization, and if you would like to support performances of works by new and emerging playwrights, your donation will be gratefully accepted. Your tax-deductible donations help keep our plays on the Podcast Stage. We strive to bring our listeners thoughtful and surprising one-act plays and ten-minute shorts that showcase insightful and new perspectives of the world we share with others. To listen or to donate (or both), go to https://opendoorplayhouse.org

Pictured: Kim Hlavac.

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