Kathleen Chalfant, one of the theater's most celebrated actors, will
star in the World Premiere of Alexander Dinelaris' searing new play, Red Dog Howls at the El Portal Theatre for a strictly limited five
week engagement from May 14 to June 13. The press opening is May 19th.
Red Dog Howls also stars Matthew Rauch and Darcie Siciliano, and is
directed by Michael Peretzian. "Red Dog Howls" is produced by Gang of
Five-New York.
Chalfant is well known to New York audiences and worldwide for her
portrayal of Vivian Bearing in the off-Broadway, Los Angeles and
London
productions of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Wit. For her performance,
Ms. Chalfant received the Drama Desk Award, Lucille Lortel Award, Outer
Critics Circle Award, Drama League Award, LA Ovation Award, Connecticut
Critics Circle Award, as well as her second Obie Award.
Playwright Alexander Dinelaris was nominated for two Drama Desk awards
in 2003 for his work on the book and lyrics for the Off-Broadway hit
"Zanna Don't." Currently, he is working on writing the screenplay for
the next film by producer director Alejandro Gonzįlez-Ińįrritu, Academy
Award nominee for "Babel" and producer of "21 Grams".
Matthew Rauch was seen on Broadway in
Prelude to a Kiss and
Proposals. The sets are by Tom Buderwitz and costumes by Bobby
Pearce, with lighting design by
Michael Gilliam and original music
composed and performed by Ara Dabandjian.
Set in present day New York,
Red Dog Howls deals frankly with the
terrible legacy of the Armenian genocide, and brings to light the human
toll of one of the darkest chapters of world history.
It tells the story of Michael Kiriakos, a young man who is forced to
confront his family's most terrible secret, in order for him to move
forward with his own life. After his father dies, he discovers a box
of letters from his grandmother Rose, whom his father had told him was
long dead. Michael finds her, and as they establish a relationship,
Rose begins reveals the truth about Michael's family: that he is
Armenian, not Greek, and that his family, like many Armenians, was
destroyed by the Turks in the early part of the century.
As they become closer, Michael's wife's pregnancy advances and events
begin to collide. The play climaxes when Rose tells him the final
secret, a dark sacrifice that has cursed the family ever since. Once
he learns the truth, Michael realizes he must summon all his strength
to end the curse once and for all.
Tickets for "Red Dog Howls" are available online at
www.reddoghowls.com or
www.elportaltheatre.com
and by phone at (818) 508-4200. For group sales please call (818)
508-4200. The El Portal Theatre is at 5269 North Lankershim Blvd. in
North Hollywood.
In addition to her award winning turn in "Wit,"
Kathleen Chalfant was
also acclaimed for her Tony-nominated performance as Hannah Pitt in
Tony Kushner's "Angels in America" on Broadway. As familiar a face in
film as in the theatre, Ms. Chalfant can also be seen in the feature
films "A Perfect Stranger" opposite Halle Berry and Bruce Willis, "The
Last New Yorker," "Kinsey," "Lackwanna Blues," "Dark Water," "Random
Hearts," Boaz Yakin's "A Price Below Rubies," Whit Stillman's "The Last
Days of Disco," "Side Streets," "Company Men," and "The Pornographer."
She co-starred in the NBC series "The Book of Daniel" and has appeared
on the small screen in the CBS drama "The Guardian," HBO's "The Laramie
Project," The Stephen King mini-series "Storm of the Century"; "Voices
from the White House" (PBS), "A Death in the Family" (American
Masterpiece Theatre/PBS), with recurring roles on the critically
acclaimed "Prince Street" and "One Life to Live"; and guest spots on
"Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Law &
Order: Criminal Intent," "Spin City" and "New York Undercover."
In 1996, she made her Shakespearean debut in the Public Theater's
"Henry V," where her Mistress Quickly garnered her a 1996 Calloway
Award for Best Classical Performance of the Year.
Ms. Chalfant most recently appeared Off-Broadway in "Dead Man's Cell
Phone" at Playwrights Horizons opposite
Mary-Louise Parker. Some of
her other stage credits include "
Spalding Gray: Stories Left To Tell,"
"Great Expectations," "Guantanamo," "5 By Tenn" at the Kennedy Center
and Manhattan Theatre Club, "The Last Letter" with TFNA, "Far Away" at
New York Theatre Workshop, "Bloomer Girl" at City Center Encores!, "The
Vagina Monologues" at the West Side Arts Theater in New York and the
San Francisco production, "The Last Letter" at Theatre for a New
Audience, "Savannah Bay" at Classic Stage Company, "True History and
Real Adventures" at the Vineyard Theatre, "Nine Armenians" at the
Manhattan Theatre Club; the premiere of
David Hare's new play "Racing
Demon" at Lincoln Center; "Twelve Dreams", directed by
James Lapine;
"M. Butterfly" opposite
John Lithgow; "The Crucible" as Anne Putnam,
"Sister Mary Ignatius..." and "The Party."
Matthew Rauch, who costars as Michael, appeared on Broadway in "Prelude
to a Kiss," and "Proposals." Off-Broadway credits include "Edward the
Second" (Red Bull), "1001" (Page 73), "Expats" (New Group), "The Prime
of Miss Jean Brodie" (New Group), "In the Matter of J. Robert
Oppenheimer" (Keen Company), "Revenger's Tragedy" (Red Bull),
"Hurlyburly" (New Group), and "Book of Days" (Signature Theatre).
His regional credits include "The Front Page" (Williamstown), "Modern
Orthodox" (Long Wharf), "The Miser" (Arena Stage), "Henry V" and
"
Macbeth" (Shakespeare Theatre), "Arcadia" and "Ghosts" (Repertory
Theatre of St. Louis), "The Brothers Karamazov" (Cincinnati Playhouse),
"Book of Days" (Hartford Stage), "Black Snow," "Cakewalk" and "The LA
Plays" (American Repertory Theatre), "Othello" (Philadelphia Drama
Guild).
Matthew has appeared on television in "Without a Trace," "Criminal
Intent," "Jonny Zero," "Navy NCIS," "Leap of Faith," "The DA," "Law
& Order," and the pilot of "Metropolis," and on film in "No
Reservations," "Order of Redemption," "Invitation to a Suicide,"
"Frankenfish," "Future Imperfect," and "Balkanization."
Darcie Siciliano, who plays Gabriella, performed the role in New York
at the premiere reading of "Red Dog Howls" in June 2007. Other New York
credits include: "Chaos Theories" (Resistance/Shotgun); "Caseload";
"Soundtrack To Cezanne"(WorkShop Theatre Co.); "Big Kids" (Shotgun);
multiple appearances with The A-Train Musicals (Playwright Horizons,
Kaye Playhouse, New World Stages, et al), Women's Project, and
Metropolitan
Playhouse. She starred as Carrie Ann, alongside
Danny Aiello, in many
readings of Dinelaris' STILL LIFE; and she also acted as a line coach
for the Broadway production of MATCH, directed by
Nicholas Martin.
Regional credits include the East Coast premieres of both Michael
Weller's "Help!" (Schoolhouse Theatre) and "Don't Hug Me" (New Jersey
Rep); "First In Flight" (TheatreWorks/USA); "All's Well That Ends Well"
(Vineyard Playhouse); Joan of Arc in "Joan" (Northeastern Theatre);
"Sorrows and Rejoicings" (New Day Rep); "Lady of Copper" (TheatreGarden
Ltd); "Christmas Carol" (Westport Acting Co.); "Months On End" (Bay
Street Theatre). In addition to her musical theater credits, she has
performed as a singer in New York at Joe's Pub, the Zipper, Danny's,
the Knitting Factory, Southpaw, and at Guild Hall in East Hampton.
Darcie is a graduate of Connecticut College and the Neighborhood
Playhouse.
In addition to "Zanna Don't," and his work with Alejandro
Gonzįlez-Ińįrritu, playwright Alexander Dinelaris wrote the play "The
Chaos Theories," which was the hit of the 2004 New York Fringe
Festival, and chosen as a top pick of the Festival by the New York
Times and Daily News. It was re-mounted and played to sold-out
audiences last year.
At present, he has two plays optioned for Broadway -- "Folding The
Monster" (with Academy Award nominee
Danny Aiello) and "Still Life,"
slated for fall of 2008. His other works include "Big Kids," "Adam
& Evelyn," and "Pathetique." He has been a script doctor for New
Line Cinema and recently finished work on "Crisis Center: NYC," his
first television pilot, and he is also developing a television drama
with Warren Littlefield and The Littlefield Co.
Michael Peretzian directed "Phil and Mac" by David Briggs for Los
Angeles Actors' Theatre, the West Coast Premiere of "Talking With" by
Jane Martin for the Mark Taper Forum Taper Too, a staged reading of
Truman Capote's "One Christmas" for the Taper, and "A Christmas
Memory," broadcast for many years on KCRW FM (NPR). He also staged "A
Christmas Memory" for Pacific Resident Theatre. At Theatre 40, he
directed productions of
Michael Cristofer's "The Shadow Box," James
Prideaux's "The Orphans," Garry Williams' one act "Rain," David
Storey's "Home," and productions of Hugh Leonard's "Summer" and "A
Life," the latter of which won Peretzian the Los Angeles Critics' Award
for Best Director.
The El Portal Theater is located at 5269 Lankershim Blvd, North Hollwywood CA.
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