Andak Stage Company Presents LADYHOUSE BLUES, Now thru 3/24

Award winning playwright Kevin O'Morrison's evocative drama for five women is set in the 1919 St. Louis "ladyhouses," so-called while men were off fighting, and women almost exclusively occupied these tenements.

A working class mother and her four daughters deal with the tensions of a war-scarred nation in transition while managing their own lives. While awaiting the return, from World War I, of the only surviving male member of their family, the social and psychological state of these women becomes tested.

Ladyhouse Blues was developed at the O'Neill Center in 1976 and had twin world premieres at The Phoenix Theatre in New York and the Dallas Theatre Center. It has played around the country in the intervening years in regional and community theatres (including a four Jefferson-Award-winning production at Wisdom Bridge in Chicago) and in colleges and training programs. For two of those years, it was the most performed American play in the United States.

Anne McNaughton directs acclaimed actress (Antaeus Associate Artistic Director) Kitty Swink in the leading role of the mother, Liz Madden, with the rest of the cast made up of young actresses drawn from graduates of the nation's best acting conservatories and from some of L.A.'s prestigious actor training programs, including the Antaeus Academy A2 program. Costumes are by Andak resident designer Dean Cameron, and sets by award-winning designer John Iacovelli.

Liza de Weerd (Collected Stories for Group Rep) and Tro Shaw (West Side Story on Broadway) will play the oldest and youngest daughters, Helen and Eylie. Annie Mathews will play the second daughter, Dot. Antaeus Academy student Kaylee Bouwens (Cal State Fullerton and Long Beach City College) will play the third daughter, Terry.

LADYHOUSE BLUES opens tonight, February 16th at 8pm and runs Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 2pm through March 24, 2013 (Feb 23rd matinee moved to 7pm on Sunday, Feb 24th, to celebrate Andak's ninth birthday). NewPlace Studio Theatre is located at 10950 Peach Grove St. For reservations: Ovationtix (866) 811-4111 or www.Andak.org. Tickets are $25, with discounted $20 tickets for industry professionals, seniors, and students. Group discounts (10 or more) available by calling our direct line (818-506-8462).

Andak Stage Company was founded in 2004, and has produced thirteen plays since then, including eight world premieres, among them three award-winning productions of new translations of Spanish classics, Anne McNaughton's crowd-pleasing Moliere adaptation San Fran Scapin, the Ted-Schmitt-Award-winning verse drama The Prince of L.A., and the award-winning original musical by Dakin Matthews and B.T. Ryback Liberty Inn. The Company also staged critically acclaimed productions of David Hare's The Bay at Nice, Harold Pinter's The Betrayal, the world premiere of John Lowell's The Letters, Bernard Pomerance's The Elephant Man, and Martin Crimp's modern adaptation of The Misanthrope.

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