CLOSBC Presents SPIT LIKE A GIRL by Clarinda Ross, 3/23-4/4

Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities and Executive Producer James A. Blackman, III proudly present SPIT LIKE A BIG GIRL written by and starring Clarinda Ross and directed by Ovation Award winner Stephanie A. Coltrin, opening with previews March 23, 24, 25 with the Gala Press Opening night on Friday, March 26 at the Hermosa Beach Playhouse. This is the 4th show in the 2009/2010 Season for The Playhouse.

Clarinda Ross, a Drama-Logue award winner for Best Actress in a solo performance, wrote and stars in this quirky and highly personal family memoir. A comic look at what a Southern daughter learned from her college professor parents. Inspired by the discovery of her father's journals after his death, Clarinda Ross takes us on a humorous and poignant journey in planes, trains and automobiles when she leaves her home to venture out into the big world. Compassion, etiquette, men and children are just a few of the subjects she examines through her wacky and uniquely Southern viewfinder. Most importantly, the play expresses how well her parents' lessons have served her in her struggles as the mother of a disabled child. In SPIT LIKE A BIG GIRL Ross deals with growing up southern, the death of her father and raising her mentally disabled daughter.

Clarinda grew up in Boone, North Carolina where both her parents were professors at Appalachian State University. Her father, the late Carl A. Ross Jr., was Chairman of the Appalachian Studies Department at ASU and her mother Charlotte is a renowned storyteller in the region. This backdrop is interwoven throughout SPIT LIKE A BIG GIRL. The impetus for the play was when Clarinda shared with a director friend how she had accidentally come across her father's journals. The friend got her to a theatre with a stool, where Clarinda sat, flipped through the journals and read a story here and there. "Spit Like A Big Girl is essentially a love letter from a daughter to her father, a father I lost suddenly in my 20's before I was ready to say goodbye," said Ross.

"An indelible evening of theatre...heartwarming...intensely moving" - Ventura Star

"Southern to the core...truly captivating...a moving experience" - LA Times

"This is theatre at it's best. It's loud and soft and funny and sad"- Vida Newspaper

CLARINDA ROSS (Herself) graduated from Appalachian State with a B.A. in theatre. She furthered her studies at the ALLIANCE THEATRE in Atlanta and at the Conservatory program at the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. She has worked at many major regional theatres including The Alley Theatre (Houston), and spent four years as a leading lady with the Atlanta Shakespeare Company. Her first feature film was Blue Sky with Tommy Lee Jones and Jessica Lange directed by the late great Tony Richardson. Other film credits include Fluke with Matthew Modine and Eric Stoltz, The Sky Is Falling and View From The Top with Gwyneth Paltrow. Her television appearances include: Judging Amy, E.R., Drew Carey, The Client, The District, In The Heat of The Night, I'll Fly Away, and several movies of the week, most notably the Emmy award-winning Stolen Babies with Mary Tyler Moore. Ms. Ross received an individual artist grant from the NEA at age 23 and developed her first one-woman play, From My Grandmother's Grandmother Unto Me, based on her southern ancestors. Grandmother was a runaway hit at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, and represented the U.S.A. in two Cultural Olympiads; Lillehammer, Norway in 1994 and Atlanta in 1996. Clarinda also starred in the movie version of Grandmother, for PBS directed by John David Allen. Ms. Ross is on the National Council of Actors' Equity Association. She has three children, Clara, Frank, and Gus and is married to the actor, Googy Gress. She and her family divide their time between North Carolina and Santa Monica, California.DATES:

SPIT LIKE A GIRL: 

PREVIEWS: Tuesday, Mar 23 through Thursday, Mar 25 at 8 P.M.

REGULAR SCHEDULE: Tuesday through Saturday at 8 P.M.

SUNDAY MATINEES: Mar 28 & Apr 4 at 2 P.M.

SUNDAY EVENING: Mar 28 at 7 P.M.

CLOSES: Sunday, Apr 4 at 2 P.M.

TICKETS: $35 - $45

For tickets, visit  www.hermosabeachplayhouse.com

The finale show of the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities at the Hermosa Beach is A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM, May 25-June 6. For information and tickets call: 310-372-4477 or order online www.hermosabeachplayhouse.com.

All performances are held at the 400-seat HERMOSA BEACH PLAYHOUSE located on
Pier Avenue at Pacific Coast Highway, Hermosa Beach, California. Valet parking is
available in front of the theatre on Pier Ave for Friday, Saturday and Sunday
performances for $5. On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, you'll find plenty of free
parking around the theatre.

 

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