FACING EAST Runs At ICT 6/12 - 7/5, Low-priced Previews Begin 6/9

Facing East by Carol Lynn Pearson is the powerful and poignant story of a Mormon couple dealing with the suicide of their gay son.  ICT artistic director Shashin Desai directs Terry Davis, Daniel Kash and Christian Lebano in a four-week run, June 12 through July 5 at International City Theatre in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center.  Low-priced previews begin June 9.

In Carol Lynn Pearson's eloquent and multifaceted play about the challenging intersections of faith, family, diversity and love, Ruth and Alex McCormick are an upstanding Mormon couple reeling from the suicide of their excommunicated homosexual son.  When they encounter their son's partner for the first time, the three must try to come to terms with their own inner demons and the love they lost.

In 1966, American poet, author, screenwriter and playwright Carol Lynn Wright married actor, musician and songwriter Gerald Neils Pearson, whom she had met in a college production of The Skin of Our Teeth. The two were devout Mormons who both descended from several generations of Latter Day Saints. They were married for 12 years and had four children together, settling in Provo, Utah.  Gerald had told Carol Lynn while they were engaged that he had had sexual relationships with men, but assured her that he had left that phase of his life behind. However, he eventually confronted his homosexuality and, after a move to California prompted by his need to
explore this side of himself, they separated and were divorced in 1978. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1984, and later that year Carol Lynn brought him home and cared for him until his death.  Since then, Pearson has become an unofficial spokesperson for acceptance of gay people by their Mormon families, as well as a stronger leadership role for women in the Mormon community.  Many of her works address these issues, and she speaks on these and related subjects around the
country. She notes, "I love the Mormon community [and] I have a unique opportunity to build bridges."

"My Mormon temple marriage to a gay man and subsequent events have filled my life with a realization of how badly society - and especially religious communities like mine - deal with homosexuality" said Pearson in an interview.  "Condemnation and hopelessness too often drive gay people to suicide - an attempt by a gay man who was a dear friend still haunts me.  Utah is first in the nation for suicides of men 15-24, and that is itself a cry for help.  What is better equipped to answer that cry than drama?  Nothing I know of has the immediate magic that invites one person into the heart of another like theater does."

Facing East received its premiere in November, 2006 from Plan-B Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, where it was named "Best Drama of 2006" by the church-owned Deseret News and "Best Play 2006" by Q Salt Lake.  The production transferred off-Broadway for a successful run in May-June of 2007 ("Some theater is good drama.  Some drama is important theater.  Facing East is both." - nytheatre.com), and was remounted that August in San Francisco to further critical acclaim ("Poignant, disturbing and memorable, Facing East packs an enormous punch and tells a story that resonates far beyond its roots." - Contra Costa Times).

Although centered on Mormon characters, Facing East will resonate with anyone of any faith, anyone with a family, anyone who has felt the pain of loss, anyone with hope for change.

The Set Designer for Facing East is Stephen Gifford; Lighting Design is by Jared A. Sayeg; Sound Design and Original Music are by Bill Georges; Property Designers are Patty and Gordon Briles; Production Stage Manager is Maya Rodgers; and Casting is by Michael Donovan Casting.

Shashin Desai, founding artistic director of ICT, has directed more than 150 productions, including classic and contemporary dramas, comedies, and musicals.  Most recently he directed the West Coast premiere of the newly discovered Mark Twain comedy, Is He Dead? Other directing credits for ICT include the world premiere of Velina Hasu Houston's Calling Aphrodite; To Kill A Mockingbird; Judgment at Nuremberg; the American premiere of My Boy Jack; The Crucible; Black
Comedy; A View from the Bridge; Lend Me a Tenor; Noises Off; Flyin' West; A...My Name is Alice; and The Price.

Terry Davis (Ruth) is a member of Pacific Resident Theatre where she has performed in Pygmalion; Camino Real; Under the Gaslight; Southern Girls; American Comedy; Night Breath;  No Problem; A Revenger's Tragedy; Los Angeles; and Happy End.  Other L.A. theater credits include the premiere of Questa; Tennessee William's Kingdom of Earth; and Favors, for which she won a Drama-Logue Award.

Christian Lebano (Alex) has performed at the Oregon, Utah, and Montana Shakespeare Festivals; Shakespeare Repertory and Court Theatre in Chicago; PCPA TheatreFest in Santa Maria; and the Madison Repertory and American Players Theatre in Wisconsin, among others.  Favorite roles include: Stephen in Major Barbara; Dromio of Ephesus in Comedy of Errors; Suffolk in Henry VI parts 1 & 2; Oberon/Theseus in A Midsummer Night's Dream; Malvolio in Twelfth Night; Lloyd in Noises Off; and the title character in Cymbeline.  Locally he played Lord Capulet in a long-running L.A. production of Romeo & Juliet directed by Joe Regalbuto.  Most recently, he played Stan in Mutineer Theatre Company's critically lauded, world premiere production of Lie With Me.

Daniel Kash (Marcus) has been seen in Twelve Angry Men at Grove Theater Center; The Lonesome West at Ventura Court Theatre; Simcha at Theatre 40; Kill Your Darlings at Hudson Mainstage Theatre; and The Duchess of Malfi at Chandler Studio Theatre.  Recent TV/Film: The Closer, Boston Legal, Cold Case, The Unit, Days of Our Lives, The Immortal Voyage of Captain Drake.

International City Theatre is the Resident Professional Theater at the Long Beach Performing Arts Center, and the recipient of the Margaret Harford Award from the Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle for "Sustained Excellence in Theater."

Facing East runs Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, June 12 through July 5 (dark July 4). Tickets are $32.00 and $37.00 on Thursdays, and $37.00 and $42.00 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, except opening night which is $50.00 and $60.00 and includes
a reception with the actors following the performance.  Preview performances take place on Tuesday, June 9; Wednesday, June 10; and Thursday, June 11 at 8 pm.  Preview tickets are
$29.00.  International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 300 E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach.  For reservations and information, call the ICT Box Office at (562)
436-4610 or go to www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.

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