DAMAGED FURNITURE Opens To a Sold Out House At Whitefire Theatre

Skora Productions in association with the Whitefire Theatre opened its world premiere comedy DAMAGED FURNITURE written by Howard Skora, directed by Jim Fall on Saturday, March 24, 2018. The play runs Saturday evenings at 8:00 pm, now through May 26, at the Whitefire Theatre in Sherman Oaks.

After a shocking furniture accident claims the life of his uncle, an LA actor must work in his family business in Brooklyn, and is confronted not only by his dysfunctional family, but what lead him to become an actor in the first place.

The play features the talents of Alex Skuby ("King of Queens," "The Fosters"), Mo Collins ("Mad TV," "Lady Dynamite"), Robert Mangiardi, Jessica Pohly (Groundlings), Peggy Maltby Etra ("Seinfeld," Groundlings): and the voice of Drew Droege ("Die Mommie, Die!," "Heathers" re-boot).

Jim Fall's feature film credits include: "Trick" which premiered at Sundance, Disney's "The Lizzie McGuire Movie" starring Hilary Duff, which opened at number two below "X-men 2" its opening week. Jim also directed the A&E feature "Wedding Wars" starring John Stamos and James Brolin, "Holiday Engagement" starring Shelley Long, Bonnie Somerville, and Jordan Bridges, "Holly's Holiday" (Lifetime) starring Claire Coffee and Ryan McPartlin, and "Kristine's Christmas Past" (Lifetime) starring Shiri Appleby and ELIZABETH MITCHELL. Jim is currently developing a sequel to "Trick" with plans to shoot the summer of 2018.

On stage, Jim directed the world premieres of Primal Scream, The Musical, with music by David Foster, book and lyrics by Arthur Janov, at the Smother's Theater, Pepperdine University, Howard Skora's comedy Miserable with an Ocean View at the Whitefire Theatre, Mark Saltzman's musical about Lorenz Hart Falling for Make Believe at the Colony Theater, and Gary Lennon's The Interlopers at the Bootleg Theater. About Writer Howard SkoraHoward Skora is the 1st place winner of the 5th Annual Scriptapalooza Screenwriting Competition beating out 3000 screenplays with his dark comedy-thriller "Reckless Endangerment." Skora used the $10,000 prize money to complete "Nick Name and The Normals," his first independent feature documentary which premiered in London at The National Film Theatre (available on Netflix). Skora studied Screenwriting at UCLA Extension where he received the prestigious Diane Thomas Screenwriting Award for his screenplay, "The Trainer." He later wrote "The Unknown Cyclist" which premiered at the Seattle Film Festival, was purchased as a Starz Original Feature, won The SHINE Award for Best Entertainment Special, and was nominated for Outstanding Cable TV Movie at the 11th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Skora developed his comedy skills first at The Second City in Chicago and later as back-up comic at Catch a Rising Star in NYC, where he worked with Louis CK and Jon Stewart, among others. Skora's play, Miserable with an Ocean View, directed by Jim Fall, had its world premiere in 2015 at the Whitefire Theatre, where it played to sold out houses for five months. Reviewers called the play "clever...with hilarious one-liners" and "laugh-out loud funny." The production is currently looking for runs in New York, San Francisco and London. Skora develops most of his writing in The Actor's Gym at The WhiteFire Theatre, run by Bobby Moresco (Academy-Award winner "Crash") where he is currently working on his next play.

Alex Skuby (Doug) was born in Neptune, New Jersey on December 27th, 1972. He attended the DePaul University Theater School (2 years) in Chicago, IL. After leaving DePaul, he stayed in Chicago for 5 years and was cast in various plays with several different theater companies. He moved to Los Angeles in 1998, and has been in television series, films and voice-overs. Some of his credits: "Santa Clarita Diet," "Bones," "Last Man Standing." "CSI," CBS's hit sitcom "The King of Queens" (5 seasons recurring as 'Mr. Pruzan'), recently recurring on Freeform's drama series "The Fosters" as Detective Joe Gray. Alex has a feature film coming out in late 2018 titled "My Babysitter the Superhero" where he plays main villain Commander Kruel. Alex played the role of Ray in Howard Skora's comedy play "Miserable with an Ocean View." Mo Collins (Laurie) hails from Minnesota where she started her improv and sketch career with Dudley Riggs Brave New Workshop in Minneapolis. In 1998 she moved to LA where she landed "Mad TV," giving birth to many unforgettable characters such as Lorraine, Doreen Larkin (Stuart's Mother), Trina and many more. Post "Mad TV," Mo built her credits with hit shows such as "Arrested Development," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," and "Parks and Recreation" as scandal-wrangler 'Joan Callamezzo' and 'Gyna' in "40 Year Old Virgin". Currently, Mo can be seen as 'Susan' on "Lady Dynamite." Mo Collins garnered her first Emmy Nomination in 2017, for her work on the animated show "F is for Family" on Netflix .

Robert Mangiardi (Phil) was most recently seen in the role of "Pug" in Patty McCarthy Gliniewicz's play "The Birches" in 2017, at The Lounge Theater in Hollywood.A veteran of TV, film and the theater, Robert is thrilled to be in the world premiere of "Damaged Furniture". Robert is a composer and singer-songwriter. He also writes screenplays and plays. He is represented by Joe Kolkowitz at The Players Talent Agency and Walter Tabayoyong at 129 Management. Robert was also involved in Bobby Morocco's production Working 2017 as a writer, director, songwriter and actor which played at The Whitefire Theatre last year. Jessica Pohly (Gina) Jessica is thrilled to part of this amazing cast in Damaged Furniture. You can catch her every Sunday at The Groundlings Theater where she performs as a member of The Sunday Company...or if this was your one night out catch her from your couch in Netflix's "Pee Wee's Big Holiday and Amazon's second season of "Goliath" out the summer of 2018. Peggy Maltby Etra (Irene) Peggy's credits included "Seinfeld" and "Boston Legal." Her film "The Last Champion" will be released later in 2018. She received her theatrical training at PCPA and ACT. Peggy is a former performing member of the Groundlings and is a current performing member of Puppet Up.

Tickets: $30 - $40. damagedfurniture.brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006. Whitefire Theatre, 13500 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks 91423 (at the corner of Sunnyslope).

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