Groundlings Founder Gary Austin to Present Libby Skala in LILIA!

Gary Austin presents Libby Skala in her internationally acclaimed play Lilia!, at The Groundlings Theatre on Monday, November 28 at 8pm.

Lilia! portrays the mentoring relationship Skala had with her grandmother, political refugee and Oscar nominated actress Lilia Skala. The performance coincides with Lilia Skala's 120th birthday, and takes place at 7307 Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles.

Tickets are $10. Purchase online at bit.ly/2giiFIJ. For more information on the show visit www.LiliaTheShow.com.

Lilia Skala was Austria's first female architect, and went on to become a stage star in Max Reinhardt's theatre and all over the German speaking world. In 1939, she fled to America as a penniless political refugee, not speaking a word of English, and started life again as a humble zipper factory worker to support her family. She attended night school and within two years was cast in a Broadway show. Her career on stage, TV and film continued for five decades, culminating in Oscar, Emmy and Golden Globe Award nominations.

Tracing their intimate relationship over 20 years, in which Lilia served as mentor, teacher and role model, Libby plays both her indomitable grandmother and herself. It's a tale of two spirits so alike they often suffer the ironic personal conflict that comes with deep love. In this creative way, Libby relates the story of her Austrian grandmother's escape from war-torn Europe, and the shame she suffers in this "demotion" to refugee and factory worker, to the final, victorious stardom on the Silver Screen. She also humorously portrays a grande dame reaching into her own experience to help her granddaughter pursue a film and stage career.

"It was in Gary Austin's workshop in 1995 that the idea for Lilia! came about. We did an exercise in which I played my grandmother and Gary encouraged me to write a one-woman show about her. I went on to develop the show in his workshop. He's been an incredible mentor and taught me everything that went into it."

Playwright/actress Libby Skala has performed Lilia! to sold-out houses across North America, in London sponsored by the Austrian Cultural Forum, at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, in Berlin and Dresden, Germany, and in Tbilisi, Rep. of Georgia. It ran off-Broadway produced by Mirror Repertory Company. Her second play A Time to Dance won her a "Best Solo Performer" Award at The London Fringe Theatre Festival. Her newest play Felicitas completes the trilogy about three immigrant sisters. Skala played Viola in Twelfth Night at St. Lawrence Shakespeare Festival in Canada, appears in the film Birth with Nicole Kidman and is a graduate of Oberlin College.

Lilia Skala Filmography:

Men of Respect (1991)
House of Games (1987)
Flashdance (1983)
Testament (1983)
The End of August (1982)
Heartland (1980)
Sooner or Later (1978)
Roseland (1977) - Golden Globe Nomination
Eleanor & Franklin (1976) - Emmy Nomination
Deadly Hero (1975)
Probe (1972)
Split Second to an Epitaph (1970)
Charly (1968)
The Sunshine Patriot (1968)
Caprice (1967)
Ironside (1967)
Ship of Fools (1965)
Lilies of the Field (1963) - Oscar and Golden Globe Nominations
Call Me Madam (1953)

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