Group Rep's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE Begins 7/25

The Group Rep presents as their first production of their 41st Season Tennessee Williams' A Streetcar Named Desire directed by L. Flint Esquerra, produced by Kellie Brook Malone for the Group Rep. This Pulitzer Prize and Drama Critics Circle Award-winning play famously recounts how the faded and promiscuous Blanche DuBois is pushed over the edge by her sexy and brutal brother-in-law, Stanley Kowalski. Considered to be one of the most remarkable plays of our time, the play solidified Tennessee Williams' position as one of the most important young playwrights of his generation.

The cast includes the talents of Linda Alznauer, Kent Butler, Laura Coker, J. Kent Inasy, Daniel Kaemon, LizAnne Keigley, Edgar Mastin, Francisco Medina, Diedra Celeste Miranda, Anya Profumo, Natalie Santamaria, Cathy Tomlin, Garrett Wagner and Gina Yates.

What beckoned director L. Flint Esquerra to direct Williams' classic drama? "For me, I think it's the complexity of the characters and the intense emotional/psychological journeys that they go through during the course of the play. They face deep issues -- love, loss, status, family, passion, power, etc. It's a rich playbook to dig into."

And, when asked about what Esquerra would like the audience to experience or take away from having seen this production of A Streetcar Named Desire he stated, "It'd be terrific if the audience became completely engulfed in the story and in these characters. We've tried to attack the piece from the stand point that no one person is only one thing -- that there are moral gradations in each character. Perhaps, in seeing this within these characters, we might also see it and examine it within ourselves."

L. Flint Esquerra (Director) Bones of Lesser Men (LA Weekly Award Nominee - Best Director; NAACP Award Nominee - Best Director); Anatol Vs. (LA Weekly Award Nominee - Best Adaptation; LA Weekly Pick of the Week); Head! (LA Weekly Award Nominee - Best Director of a Musical); California Dreamin'; Heydrich/ Hitler/Holocaust; Twilight In Venice; tick, tick...BOOM!; Who Is Curtis Lee?; Red, Red Rose (LA Weekly Performance Pick of the Week); CONSANGUINITY - Pennies In A Well (L.A. Times' Best Bet); Western Big Sky; Patty Cake; The Death of Ivan Ilych (reminds me of my own). Artistic Director of The MET Theatre (Hollywood); Member of Actors Studio's Playwrights/Directors Unit; AFI Alum; Directors Lab West. Having worked years ago at the GRT in primarily technical capacities, Flint is immensely delighted for this opportunity to return and direct such a classic.

Kellie Brook Malone (Producer) a graduate of the University of Michigan, this is the third production Kellie has served on with GRT and her first time producing a play! She has produced for a talk show, and worked as a stage manager and production assistant for film & TV in Los Angeles and New York. Kellie is also an actor and expects to do a lot more work on the stage and in front of the camera.

Linda Alznauer (Nurse) last appeared at GRT in INSPECTING CAROL. Other theater credits include (NY) Off-Broadway WHO KILLED WOODY ALLEN? at the Triad Theater and (LA) AMERICAN GRIND at the Lyric-Hyperion Theater. Film and TV credits include "The Concrete Jungle", "All My Children", and "The Dana Carvey Show". This past spring Linda directed THE REAL THING by Tom Stoppard at Two Roads Theater in Studio City.

Kent Butler (Mitch) is making his 14th appearance on the GRT main stage. Most recently, he was seen as Mr. Cobb in GRT's critically acclaimed production of Cobb. Streetcar is Kent's second Tennessee Williams play, having appeared as Gooper in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Other notable roles include Mel in Prisoner of Second Avenue, Watson in Sherlock's Last Case, Joe in Time of Your Life, Elwood in Harvey and Ludie in A Trip to Bountiful.

Laura Coker (Eunice Alternate/Mexican Woman Alternate) has been a member of the Group Rep for 11 years. She has appeared in the films "Irreconcilable Differences" and "Teachers". Stage credits include Fetish at the Whitefire Theatre; Group Rep audiences may remember her as Costanza, in Enchanted April. She recently produced Mom's Gift, and Someone Who'll Watch Over Me for the Group Rep. Other productions she has produced include Firehouse and Blood Brothers at the Whitefire Theatre.

J.Kent Inasy (Steve) is a veteran of Los Angeles theater. His last role was that of the Sea Captain in UNDER MILK WOOD.

Daniel Kaemon (Stanley) Recent credits: Moe Axelrod in Awake & Sing! for Group Rep (company member), Noel in War, Bassanio in Merchant of Venice, Malcolm in Macbeth at Theatre Banshee (company member). Marc Antony in Julius Caesar, Cassio in Othello at A Noise Within, Moderation at Pasadena Playhouse (Hothouse). Film: "The Whisperer in Darkness", "Winged Feet Do Fly", "Power Poison", "Zombie Holocaust" and "You, Katherine" (Cannes Film Festival). TV: "Ganymede Pan" (2014 Pilot), "Alias", "Days of Our Lives", "Passions", "Pirate Waters".

LizAnne Keigley (Eunice Alternate) debut production with GRT. She recently completed shooting the short film "Committed" , and was also in La Mirada Performing Arts Center's production of The Diary of Anne Frank in the role of Mrs. Van Daan.

Edgar Mastin,(Doctor) a Broadway veteran, was last seen at GRT in Awake And Sing! by Odets, Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None, Painting Churches by Tina Howe, Comic Potential by Alan Ayckbourn, Arsenic and Old Lace as well as Nuts, and in the awar- nominated Shifting Gears by Linda Steinbaum. He appeared locally in Nathan the Wise as the papal emissary to the Middle East.

Francisco Medina (Pablo) a member of the GRT community since 2011. Francisco studies at Lifebook Acting Academy under Allan Levin. Francisco resolves the eternal desire for activity and attraction to the new and extraordinary, by acting, making music, and politics

Diedra Celeste Miranda (Blanche) just finished directing The Miracle Worker in Gilbert Arizona at The Hale Centre Theatre. She is slated to direct three more productions this coming year in and out of state. She has been a private acting coach for years in addition to teaching workshops. The stage is her gym and Diedra loves to work out.

Anya Profumo (Stella) This is Anya's Group Rep Theatre debut. Her main theatre credits include Closer at Stages Theatre, Delores at The Lost Studio, East of Berlin at NOHO Arts Center, and A Majority of One at Pico Playhouse. TV/Film credits include "Nurse Jackie", "Lie to Me", "Cruel but Necessary", the lead in both the indie films '"Coming up Easy" and the soon to be released short film "Mine".

Natalia Santamaria (Mexican Woman Alternate) is excited to be making her debut on The Group Rep stage in this production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Natalia has appeared on screen in both independent films and commercials. Other theater credits include Anita in West Side Story where she won an Abby Award for Best Actress, Elsa in Go Back For Murder, Jackie in Hay Fever, and Sissy in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean.

Cathy Tomlin (Negro Woman b.n.a Florence) currently can be seen on VOD & DVD co-starring opposite Frances Fisher in the film "Red Wing". Cathy just performed in Our Miss Brooks, a live radio play at the Autry Museum, was recently heard in Day Trader by Eric Rudnick on UBNRadio.com, and seen in Light Up The Sky at Theatre 40. She's had recurring roles on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" and CBS's "As the World Turns", and just completed shooting the films "Tarrasch Rule" and "Quinn". Cathy also appeared opposite George Clooney in the film "Michael Clayton".

Garrett Wagner (Collector) born and raised in Lawrence, Kansas, he received an acting scholarship to the New York Film Academy in NYC. While there, he starred in a production of John Pielmeier's Pillow Talk for the NYFA Ensemble. Garrett was the co-writer of and acting coach for "Freeze", a Batman feature film. He also played the role of Andrew, the jock, in a theatrical production of The Breakfast Club in West Hollywood.

Gina Yates (Blanche U/S) Past roles at The Group Rep include Kat in Mom's Gift, Marcelle in Hotel Paradiso, Bennie in Next Window, Please and Jessie Mae in The Trip to Bountiful. Other theatre credits include Wonder of the World, Uncommon Women and Others, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Painting Churches and more. Gina earned a double BA in Theater Arts and Psychology from Portland State University, and is an alumnus of the famed Howard Fine Acting Studio in Hollywood.

CALENDAR LISTING
Who: The Group Rep presents
What: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
Written by Tennessee Williams
Directed by L. Flint Esquerra
Runs: July 25 - September 7, 2014
Plays: Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm
Sunday Matinees at 2pm
Talk-back Sundays with cast after the show - August 3 & August 24
Where: Lonny Chapman Theatre 10900 Burbank Blvd. North Hollywood 91601
Reservations: www.thegrouprep.com or (818) 763-5990
Tickets: $15 - $25 (Admission: $25; Senior/Student: $20; Group 10+: $15)
Tickets/Information: www.thegrouprep.com or (818) 763-5990
Running Time: 2 ½ hours plus one intermission
Parking: Ample street parking on Burbank Blvd. and on Cleon Ave. south of the Burbank Blvd.

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