Center Theatre Groups's DouglasPlus to Present 'The Projectionist' March 26 - April 4

As part of Center Theatre Group's DouglasPlus, Los Angeles playwright Michael Sargent's new play "The Projectionist" will run for seven performances only at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, beginning Thursday, March 26 and continuing through Saturday, April 4, 2009.

Directed by Bart DeLorenzo, the cast includes (in alphabetical order) Maynor Alvarado, Lauren Campedelli, Hugh Dane, Barry del Sherman, Tara Chocol Joyce, Christian Leffler, Hamish Linklater, Don Oscar Smith and Brittany Slattery. The set design is by Chris Covics, costume design is by Ann Closs-Farley, lighting design is by Anne Militello and the sound design is by John Ballinger. Erica R. Christensen is the production stage manager.

"The Projectionist" is a wry comedy about an unlikely hero, Randy, living and working in a seedy, second-run movie house on the edge of Hollywood and Vine. Randy develops a relationship of sorts with the punk vixen he hires to sell popcorn, but his attention is diverted when Sal, the owner, shows up with a loaded pistol and a plan for opening the office safe. Soon, the action in the lobby becomes more violent than that on the screen. "The Projectionist" will be staged in the Kirk Douglas Theatre lobby; the Douglas was originally the Culver Theater, a movie house built in 1947.

Michael Sargent has been writing, directing and performing in his own work in Los Angeles and New York for over 20 years. As a teenaged playwright, Sargent studied with John Steppling. He went to UCLA, and beginning with Big Boy in 1988, Sargent had a string of hits at the Cast Theatre through the 90s including I Hate!, My Crime, Tarantula and The

Brat! Sargent's Knock-outs! and Deep Inside Michael Sargent played marathon runs in the backspace at the original Theater/Theatre at Hollywood and Cahuenga. Sargent premiered Sweet Hostage, Hollywood Burning, and 18 episodes of his late night weekly serial American Nympho at Bart DeLorenzo's Evidence Room. He wrote and directed the smash hit Steeltown at the Actors' Gang. Sargent is a member of Unknown Theater in Hollywood where his play Grand

Motel is currently onstage (through March 28). Last year, Sargent starred in the world premiere of his own Torn Between 2 Bitches at Unknown. In New York, his work has been developed by Circle Rep, the New Group, New York Theatre Workshop, Atlantic Theater Company and others. Sargent is a founding member of the Splinter Group, eight L.A.-based playwrights dedicated to fostering each other's work.

The performance schedule for "The Projectionist" is as follows: Thursday, March 26 -

Saturday, March 28 at 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday, April 2 and 3 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, April 4 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

Tickets are $20 (general admission) and available by calling CTG Audience Services at (213) 628-2772, in person at the Center Theatre Group box office at the Ahmanson Theatre, on-line at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, and in person two hours prior to curtain at the Kirk Douglas Theatre box office.

DouglasPlus is Center Theatre Group's new programming at the Kirk Douglas Theatre and includes an eclectic mix of theatre choices, ranging from fully-staged or minimally-staged events to workshops and readings.

DouglasPlus also includes the works of Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas ("Before I Forget"), Corbin Popp and Ian Carney's cutting-edge blend of puppetry, technology and dance ("Darwin"), solo performer Mike Daisey ("How Theater Failed America" and "The Last Cargo Cult") and Hip-Hop theatre artist Matt Sax ("Venice").

Funding for DouglasPlus is provided by The James Irvine Foundation's Artistic Innovation Fund and the Leading for the Future Initiative, a program of the Nonprofit Finance Fund, funded by the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

The Kirk Douglas Theatre is located at 9820 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232.

 

 

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