Crown City Theatre Presents Compleat Female STAGE BEAUTY, Now thru 7/1

Crown City Theatre presents Jeffrey Hatchers' Compleat Female STAGE BEAUTY. The official press opening is tonight, May 31. The show runs through July 1.

Compleat Female STAGE BEAUTY is a comedic and dramatic exploration of the end of an era in the English Theater when women were finally allowed to perform as actresses on the public stage and the devastating effect it had on one man who had spent his life perfecting the compleat female persona.

In 1661 the most famous portrayer of female roles on the London stage was a performer named "Kynaston." Like every other player permitted to enact such roles, Kynaston was a man. A celebrity artist shining bright at the crest of the Restoration, Ned or Mr. K, as he's called, is applauded onstage and off for his interpretations of Shakespeare's tragic ladies: Ophelia, Cleopatra, especially his Desdemona and his famous "death scene." He's the toast of the town and the very secret "mistress" of the powerful Duke of Buckingham. But when an unknown named Margaret Hughes plays Desdemona one night at an illegal theater, instead of stopping the show, the ever-game King Charles II changes the law to allow women to act. By the stroke of a pen, Kynaston's world is turned upside-down. He loses his cachet, his livelihood, his lover and his sense of self. And as such women as the king's own courtesan, Nell Gwynn, and Kynaston's former dresser, Maria, become stars, his own light disappears until fate and his desire for revenge give him a chance to take the stage again.

The show's grand Press Opening is tonight, Thursday, May 31st at 8pm with a small tasteful party right after the show. The show will continue playing Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays at 7pm through July 1st.

Tickets: $25 general admission, $20 for senior citizen and students. Not recommended for Children under the age of 15. For Tickets go to www.brownpapertickets.com.

Directed by William A. Reilly (Co-Artistic Director CCTC), the production features choreographer Stephanie Pease, stage manager Zad Potter, set designer Keiko Moreno, costume designer Dean Cameron, lighting designer Zad Potter, with original music by William A. Reilly. The show is produced by Crown City Theatre Company, Joanne McGee, Ben Rovner & William A. Reilly with artistic directors Gary Lamb and William A. Reilly.

Cast: George Alvarez, Laura Cuffe, Cameron Daxon, Dennis Gersten, Natale Hope MacMillan, Catherine Masters, Joanne McGee, Michelle Page, Ben Rovner, Richard Sabine and Neil Unger.

Crown City Theatre is located on the campus of St. Matthew's Church - not affiliated, at  11031 Camarillo St. North Hollywood, Calif.

For more information, visit www.crowncitytheatre.com or call 818.605.5685.

 

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