CALL ME ELIZABETH To Have Live World Premiere In Hollywood Fringe Festival

Call Me Elizabeth, a one-woman show about the early life of Elizabeth Taylor, will have its live world premiere in the 2022 Hollywood Fringe Festival, running June 7-12, at The Zephyr Theatre. The production is written by and stars Kayla Boye and is directed by Erin Kraft.

Fresh off her triumph as Best Actress for "Butterfield 8" and recovery from a recent brush with death, Elizabeth Taylor is struggling with her hardest role yet: herself. Through an intimate conversation with her biographer, Call Me Elizabeth examines the movie star's early life, career and loves as she grapples with the culture of celebrity and her place as Hollywood's brightest star.

States Boye, "Like so many, I have long been fascinated with Elizabeth Taylor, a pop culture icon who continues to captivate more than a decade after her death. In her youth, Taylor epitomized movie stardom, later becoming associated with her fabulous jewels, her popular perfumes and her activism in the fight against HIV/AIDS. But what is the story behind the image? How does a star develop into a legend, and how does that legacy sustain itself? With Call Me Elizabeth, I hope to pay tribute to the life of this extraordinary woman by exploring how the strength of her character enabled her to break barriers with unshakable bravery and with signature style."

Set in May 1961, Call Me Elizabeth is inspired by Taylor's conversations with writer Max Lerner as they discuss plans for a biography. Through a morning session with Lerner at The Beverly Hills Hotel, Taylor rediscovers her sense of self following her Academy Awards triumph for "Butterfield 8" and nearly fatal battle with pneumonia. The play examines Taylor's career, life and loves, chronicling her survival in the face of adversity and tragedy, and illuminating the core compassion of her character that inspired her later activism in the fight against HIV/AIDS.

The filmed production of Call Me Elizabeth streamed during the pandemic with Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Broadway On Demand, The Youngstown Playhouse, and Porchlight Music Theatre, which benefited Howard Brown Health and Brave Space Alliance in continued support of programs concerning HIV/AIDS. The staged reading, directed by 12-time Joseph Jefferson Award-winner Hollis Resnik, was presented at The Den Theatre and named one of the Top 3 Solo Events of 2019 by the Michael and Mona Heath Fund. Presentations of the piece have been awarded grants by the Arts Midwest Touring Fund and Illinois Arts Council.

Tickets for Call Me Elizabeth are now on sale for $15 and may be purchased by visiting www.callmeelizabeth.com or by calling 323-455-4585.

Kayla Boye is a Chicago-based artist whose credits include productions with Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Drury Lane Theatre, Fireside Theatre, Capital City Theatre, Porchlight Music Theatre, Mercury Theater Chicago, Music Theater Works, Brightside Theatre, Citadel Theatre, Bigfork Summer Playhouse, and The Huron Playhouse. As an arts administrator, she has worked in development, marketing, and finance for Goodman Theatre and Writers Theatre, and she has served as a producer for Steppenwolf Theatre Company's Garage Rep series. As a consultant for Artistic Fundraising Group, her portfolio included work for Arts of Life, BrightSide Theatre, Chicago Composers Orchestra, Chicago Mosaic School, Oak Park Festival Theatre, and Snow City Arts. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she served as Executive Director of The Youngstown Playhouse. She holds a BA in Professional Writing & Editing from Youngstown State University and is a Certified Nonprofit Professional (CNP) through the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance. www.kaylaboye.com

Erin Kraft is a Chicago-based director whose recent projects include the world premiere of How the Hell Did I Get Here, starring Downton Abbey's Lesley Nichol (Greenhouse Theater Center-Chicago, The McKittrick Hotel-NYC, Pittsburgh Public Theater-Pittsburgh), In A Word (Urbanite Theatre-Sarasota), the world premiere of The Great Inconvenience (Annex Theatre), We Are Proud to Present a Presentation..., The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, Circle Mirror Transformation, Tender, The Lady From the Sea and The Merchant of Venice (The Theatre School). She has directed new play workshops and world premieres for Seattle Repertory Theatre, Chicago Dramatists, 20% Theatre, Prop Theatre, Washington Ensemble Theatre, Book-It Repertory Theatre and Northwest Playwrights Alliance. She is a member of the Lincoln Center Director's Lab, the SDCF 2018-2019 Observership Class and earned her MFA in Directing from The Theatre School at DePaul University. www.erinkraft.com

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