Glenne Headly (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dick Tracy, Mr. Holland's Opus), James Kyson (NBC's Heroes, voted one of "Hollywood's 25 Hottest" by TV Guide), Michael Yama (Betty White's Off Their Rockers) andRob Yang (The Americans, Twisted) join the cast when The Garage re-opens its acclaimed world premiere production of BLOOD. Written and directed by Obie and New York Outer Critics Circle Award-winner/ DGA Award, two-time Golden Globe and five-time Emmy Award nominee Robert Allan Ackerman, BLOOD returns to the The Complex in Hollywood beginning Oct. 28.
Inspired by true events,
BLOOD is a political thriller with music about the 1980s 'Japanese Tainted Blood Scandal' in which 2,000 people died of AIDS after the U.S. knowingly sold contaminated blood to Japan. Over a dozen rave reviews for the production when it premiered last spring include the
Los Angeles Times ("dazzling... a formidable display of small-theater invention"),
Stage Raw("lively, haunting, provocative and funny"),
BroadwayWorld ("smart, involving, totally wrenching") and
ArtsMeme ("heady Stuff... a witty treatment of a subject that matters so much").
For this return engagement, Headly will take on the role of the American reporter who uncovers a conspiracy to cover up the Japanese government-sanctioned sale of HIV-contaminated blood products, while Kyson and Yang will alternate as the Korean-Japanese lawyer who heads up the investigation. Yama plays Dr. Kazama, a character based on real-life Dr. Takeshi Abe who served as president of Japan's Aids Research Committee and the Hemophilia Society. Also in the cast are
Kazumi Aihara,
Miho Ando,
Takuma Anzai, Lindsey Ahtye, Peter Chung,
Andrew Dits,
Anthony Gros,
Takaaki Hirakawa, Tomoko Karina,Andrew Nakajima, Daryl L. Padilla, Shin Shimizu and Ke Zhang.
BLOOD features original music and songs by "The Virgins" bassist Nick Ackerman and "Jet" drummer/vocalist Chris Cester
. The creative team includes set and costume designer
Dona Granata, projections designer Hana S. Kim, lighting designer
Donny Jackson and
Sound Designer Joseph "Sloe" Slawinski.
Headly's film work includes
Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Dick Tracy, Mr. Holland's Opus, Mortal Thoughts,
2 Days in the Valley,
What's The Worst That Could Happen, Breakfast of Champions, Around The Bend,
The Amateurs, The Comeback Season, T
he Jonesesand
Don Jon. She can next be seen opposite
Bill Paxton and
Emma Watson in James Ponsoldt's
The Circle, featuring
Tom Hanks. She just wrapped Katherine Dieckmann's
Strange Weather. Television roles include the live theatrical presentation of
On Golden Pond for CBS as well as recurring roles in
ER,
Monk and
And The Band Played On. She was nominated for an Emmy for two different mini-series
: Lonesome Dove and
Bastard Out of Carolina and also appeared in the telefilms
Pronto, My Own Country and
Women Vs. Men. Most recently wrapped was Hulu's
Future Man with
Josh Hutcherson, produced by
Seth Rogan. You can see her currently on HBO's hit miniseries
The Night Of. Glenne is currently filming
Villa Capri with
Morgan Freeman and
Tommy Lee Jones. On stage, she recently wrapped
Sarah Ruhl's
Stage Kiss at the Geffen and appeared on stage in
Larry David's Broadway show,
Fish in the Dark opposite
Larry David and then
Jason Alexander. Prior to that she starred in the 2013
New Group production of
The Jacksonian, with
Ed Harris,
Amy Madigan and
Bill Pullman, which was originally presented at the
Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles. Other stage roles include
Aunt Dan & Lemon ( Almeida Theatre, London ),
My Brilliant Divorce ( Druid Theatre, Galway, Ireland),
Detachments (
Tiffany Theatre, Los Angeles ) as well as Circle in the Square's
Arms and the Man, Manhattan Theatre Club's
The Philanthropist and the Steppenwolf production of
Balm in Gilead at Circle Rep. A former member of the
Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble, she appeared in Chicago in
Say Goodnight, Gracie,
The Miss Firecracker Contest, The House, Coyote Ugly, Absent Friends, Mother Courage, Born Yesterday and
Balm in Gilead. She was nominated for a
Joseph Jefferson award for each of those roles and won for four.
Voted by
TV Guide as one of "Hollywood's 25 Hottest," Kyson recently finished filming
NCIS:LA (CBS), the new HBO show
Animals, the new sitcom
School of Rock (Nickelodeon), and a recurring role on the FX drama
Justified. He is currently filming FOX's hit series
Sleepy Hollow, recently appeared in
Hawaii Five-O on CBS, and is beloved to many for his four-year run on NBC's
Heroesas "Ando." James will be in two feature films released later this year: the romantic comedy
Another Time and a thriller,
The Livingston Gardener. He also recently wrapped the feature
Banana Season, for which he spent six weeks training as a mixed martial arts fighter. Other TV credits include
CSI, NBC's
Las Vegas, The West Wing, Heist, ABC's
Threat Matrix and CW's
All About The Andersons.Michael Yama was most recently seen as a series regular on
Betty White's Off Their Rockers. He has appeared in many television shows, including as Kimo on
General Hospital and Kai on the series
Hotel. His feature film credits include
Hail Caesar, Dumb & Dumber To, Pure Country-The Gift, Click, Down and Out in Beverly Hills and
Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. He has appeared in numerous commercials. His voice credits include GI Joe, Rocket Power, and Spawn. He was the voice of the Ancient One in the animated version of
Doctor Strange and the Sorcerer Supreme. Los Angeles theater credits include
Shoe Story at Theatre of Note,
Climbing Everest at the
Colony Theatre,
Gumsimao at the Playwrights' Arena at LATC,
The Nisei Widows Club at East West Players and
Bronzeville at the Robey Theatre at LATC.
Rob Yang's theater credits include, off-Broadway:
A Midsummer Night's Dream (
Classic Stage Company),
Shanghai Gesture(Mirror Rep/
Julia Miles), world premiere of
Adam Rapp's
Bingo With The Indians,
Los Angeles,
I.E. In Other Words,
Twas the Night Before (The Flea) and
Death and The Ploughman (La MaMa). Regionally: the U.S. premiere of
Chimerica (
Studio Theatre, DC). His film credits include
A Bear Lands on Earth;
The Secrets of Emily Blair;
Stockholm, Pennsylvania;
Stephen Belber's
Match; and
Listen Up Phillip. TV credits include FX's
The Americans, New Girl, The Grinder, The Good Wife, The Blacklist, Twisted and
Bored to Death.
Ackerman's directing credits are almost too numerous to list. In New York, he directed the Tony-nominated Broadway production of
Martin Sherman's
Bent starring
Richard Gere and
David Dukes;
Slab Boys starring
Sean Penn,
Kevin Bacon and
Val Kilmer;
Oscar Wilde's
Salome starring
Al Pacino;
Legs Diamond starring
Peter Allen; and
William Mastrosimone's
Extremities starring
Susan Sarandon, for which he received the Outer Critics Circle Award. As a resident director of
Joseph Papp's New York Shakespeare Festival, he directed
Thomas Babe's
A Prayer for My Daughter (Obie Award for direction);
Taken in Marriage starring
Meryl Streep and
Colleen Dewhurst;
Fathers and Sons starring
Richard Chamberlin and
Dixie Carter;
Salt Lake City Skyline starring
John Lithgow and
Fred Gwynne;
O'Neill and Carlotta starring
Jason Robards,
Colleen Dewhurst and
Madeline Kahn; and
David Henry Hwang's
Family Devotions. London credits include West End productions of
Strangers On A Train;
Extremities starring
Helen Mirren;
Torch Song Trilogy starring Sir
Antony Sher;
A Madhouse in Goa starring
Vanessa Redgrave;
Burn This starring
John Malkovich and
Juliet Stevenson;
Our Town starring
Alan Alda and
Robert Sean Leonard;
When She Danced starring
Vanessa Redgrave; and the world premiere of
Manuel Puig's
Mystery of the Rose Bouquet starring
Gemma Jones at the
Donmar Warehouse. In Los Angeles, he directed
Holiday starring
Kevin Kline,
Sally Kellerman and
Maurice Evans (
Ahmanson Theatre);
Mystery of the Rose Bouquet starring
Anne Bancroft and
Jane Alexander and
Scenes from and Execution starring
Frank Langella and
Juliet Stevenson (
Mark Taper Forum); and Noel Coward's
The Vortex starring
Rupert Everett (Doolittle Theatre). While living in Tokyo, he directed numerous
Theater Productions including
Angels in America, for which he won the coveted Yomiuri Award; served as artistic director of The Company in Tokyo; and directed films including
The Ramen Girl starring
Brittany Murphy and
Sohee Park. Other film credits include
Safe Passage starring
Susan Sarandon and
Sam Shepard (
Beatrice Wood Film Award);
Life with July Garland: Me and My Shadows starring
Judy Davis and
Victor Garber (Television Critics Association and Broadcast Journalists Awards, as well as Emmy, DGA and Golden Globe nominations);
Tennessee Williams'
The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone starring
Helen Mirren and
Anne Bancroft (Emmy nomination);
The Reagans starring
James Brolin and
Judy Davis; the Emmy Award-winning
David's Mother starring Kirsty Alley,
Stockard Channing and
Sam Waterston;
Forget Me Never starring
Mia Farrow;
Mrs. Cage with
Anne Bancroft and
Hector Elizondo;
Double Platinum starring
Diana Ross and Brandy; and
Edith Wharton's
The Reef starring
Timothy Dalton and
Leslie Caron. He was an executive producer on HBO's
My House in Umbria starring
Maggie Smith, for which he received a Producer's Guild Award as well as Emmy and Golden Globe nominations.
Performances of
BLOOD take place on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m., Oct. 28 through Dec. 18. General admission is $35; students with valid ID are $25. The Complex is located at 6476 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90038. To purchase tickets, call (323) 960-7745 or go to
www.plays411.com/blood
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