Mine is Yours Theatre Company to Bring ROMEO AND JULIET to 2015 Hollywood Fringe

As part of the 2015 Hollywood Fringe Festival, Mine is Yours Theatre Company will remount their adventurous 90-minute production of R&J, a gender-reversed Romeo and Juliet, which had a successful preview run last November at Theatre of NOTE. While remaining faithful to Shakespeare's language, R&J transforms Romeo into Romea, Juliet into Julian, Friar Laurence into Sister Laurence, etc., in an extravaganza of gender-swapping that makes this classic love story resonate in an electrifying new way.

Mine is Yours Theatre Company knew last fall that they wanted their next production to be a fully gender-reversed Shakespeare classic. Given their mission statement to create more roles for women in every aspect of theatre, Shakespeare's plays as written can present a challenge in terms of female representation onstage. Mine is Yours Executive Director Hannah Pell explains, "Given the theatrical and legal constraints of his era, you can hardly blame Shakespeare for writing primarily male roles, and the female roles he did write are absolutely brilliant! But Shakespeare's characters embody such fundamental truths about human nature that their words translate beautifully from one gender to another, and we wanted to see what might be revealed about these archetypal characters when you put their words in the mouths of the opposite gender."

Many theatergoers who saw the show in November were amazed at what the gender-reversal illuminated about not only the lovers but every character in the play. Audience members frequently declared that they heard these famous lines as if for the first time, and that their opinions of these characters were dramatically altered. Above all, as Director Abby Craden says, many people who saw R&J "discovered that Shakespeare's poetry transcends time and gender and offers us the opportunity to experience R&J as a new play - modern and feminist."

The November run left Mine is Yours fired up and ready to take R&J to Fringe. Artistic Director Mary Ellen Schneider, who plays Romea, remarks, "The chance to delve deeper into these characters and this play and then share our new discoveries with a whole new audience was thrilling - we knew we had to bring this production to Fringe." Through the crucible of another six weeks of rehearsal, Craden and her cast pared their two-hour production down into a propulsive, exhilarating 90 minutes, getting to the pure heart of what has made this play resonate for over four hundred years. Craden says that what excites her most about reworking and remounting R&J is the chance to engage with Fringe audiences and, with them, to "question our traditional ideas about masculinity, femininity and sexuality and what is universally human in all of us."

Get tickets online at https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/2379! Tickets are $15 for general admission and pay-what-you-can for Fringe participants.

ALAN BLUMENFELD* (NURSE): As a professional actor for the past 40 years, Alan has a long history of work in film, television and theater. Some of his credits include: Theatricum Botanicum: Cecil/Nate, Equivocation; Gloucester, Lear; Lavatch, All's Well; Frank Gulick, Tone Clusters; Mangan, Heartbreak House; Wolff, Royal Family; Falstaff, Merry Wives of Windsor (LA Drama Critics Circle Award); Autolycus, Winter's Tale; Matt Friedman, Talley's Folly (with his wife Katherine James); many others. A Noise Within: Matamore, The Illusion; Scrub, Beaux Strategem; Morty, Awake and Sing (Ovation Nominee Best Production, LADCC Nominee Best Revival 2010); Pa Ubu, Ubu Roi; Bottom, A Midsummer Night's Dream Hollywood Bowl; many others. South Coast Repertory Theater: Felix/Beaupertuis, An Italian Straw Hat; David, A Feminine Ending; Eddie Brock, Born Yesterday. Odyssey Theatre: Mr. Peachum, Three Penny Opera; Jean, Rhinoceros (Drama-Logue, Garland Awards). Broadway and First National Tour: Neil Simon's Laughter on the 23rd Floor. TV: more than 300 guest starring roles including: Shameless, Murder in the First, Arrested Development, Castle, Parenthood, Heroes (recurring). Film: The Interview Righteous Kill, In Her Shoes, The Ring, Heartbreakers, Bob Buss 2gether for MTV, Tin Men.

HAYLEY BROWN (PARIS): Since graduating from USC's School of Theatre, Hayley has appeared in various productions around L.A. including: As You Like It & The Cherry Orchard with City Shakes, The Dining Room with The Promenade Playhouse, A Midsummer Night's Dream & Measure for Measure with Theatricum Botanicum, and Love & Terror with The Living Corps. She co-founded Mine is Yours Theatre Company and appeared as Viola in their production of Twelfth Night and as Katie in their production of Bachelorette.

KATHERINE JAMES* (CAPULET/SISTER LAURENCE): Before L.A. - A.C.T, Little Fox Theater, Berkeley Stage, Ashland, P.C.P.A. L.A - Theatricum: Member since 1985 - Winter's Tale, Talley's Folly,Lysistrata 2003, Heartbreak House, Tone Clusters. Actor, Writer, Director for Seedlings Program. Other L.A.: Globe: Twelfth Night, Theater Theatre: Waiting for the Parade. Artistic Director of Free Association Theatre. Proud member of AEA, MFA A.C.T. Check out katherinejamesplays.com. Smitten by Alan Blumenfeld. For Daddy, who instilled an eternal love of the Bard.

CJ MERRIMAN* (TYBALT/APOTHECARY): CJ Merriman received her BFA from Webster University Conservatory for Theatre Arts. She is the Associate Artistic Director and creative play teacher for Virginia Avenue Project and frequents the stage at Sacred Fools where she is a member, actress, and choreographer. Some beloved shows she has done at Sacred Fools include: Serial Killers, Watson, Poe Show and The Behavior of Broadus. "Thank you to Los Angeles 99 seat theatre for giving me a home, a church, a family, and some intense, beautiful, and weird love."

DANE OLIVER (JULIAN): Dane has previously appeared in productions with The Lower Depth Theatre Ensemble, The Skylight Theatre, and most recently, Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum, where his classical roles included Puck in A Midsummer Night's Dream and Cordelia in Lear. His more contemporary credits include Sharpe in Equivocation, Merrick in The Elephant Man, and Padraic in The Lieutenant of Inishmore. He is glad to add R&J to this list of theatrical experiences.

HANNAH PELL (BENVOLIA): Hannah has played Feste in Twelfth Night and Becky in Bachelorette for Mine is Yours, Sir Hugh Evans in The Merry Wives of Windsor (directed by Nick Hutchison), a nun in Measure for Measure, a servant in Heartbreak House (Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum), Tiger Lily/Ump in Looking Glass Land (West Valley Playhouse), Hannah Pitt/Ethel Rosenberg/Henry/Oldest Living Bolshevik in Angels in America: Millennium Approaches and Perestroika, Olga in Three Sisters (both at the Powerhouse Theater), Pope Joan/Louise in Top Girls, and Girl in Boy's Life (Shiva Theater). BA in Drama from Vassar College.

TAYLOR JACKSON ROSS* (MERCUTIA/MESSENGER): Taylor Jackson Ross is a Los Angeles born actor and has worked in theaters from Topanga to Glendale. She has been working with Theatricum Botanicum for the past four years. Most recently she has performed as the Duchess of Albany in the gender-reversed Lear, and as Judith in Equivocation, both with Theatricum.

MARY ELLEN SCHNEIDER (ROMEA): LA Theatre: Olivia/Sir Andrew in Twelfth Night (Mine is Yours, Hollywood Fringe Encore! Award Winner), Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatricum Botanicum). NY Theatre: Irina in Three Sisters and Moth in Love's Labor's Lost (directed by Andrei Serban), Phoebe in As You Like It (Classic Stage Company), Lady Anne in Richard III, Nina in The Seagull and The Pupil in The Lesson (ColumbiaSTAGES). She's thrilled to be a part of Mine is Yours' second production: R&J! She holds an MFA in Acting from Columbia University. Visit www.maryellenschneider.com for more info.

ABBY CRADEN* (DIRECTOR): Abby Craden is a Resident Artist with A Noise Within and long-time company member at Will Geer's Theatricum Botanicum. Her directing credits include the world premiere of Plastic Crystal at The Open Fist Theatre, assistant director of The Cherry Orchard at Theatricum, as well as many showcase scenes. She is very excited to direct R&J as her first full-length Shakespeare. She is an award-winning stage actress and most recently played the "Bastard" in Theatricum's critically acclaimed Lear. She has also worked in regional theatres in Portland, Palm Springs, Santa Fe and Santa Barbara. Her voice can be heard in national commercials, animation, video games and over 100 audio books.

MINE IS YOURS THEATRE COMPANY: Born out of a few actors who met during Theatricum Botanicum's amazing summer stock in 2012, Mine is Yours is growing steadily with the support of a strong audience following and killer artists! They started with a 6-actor-and-1-musician production of Twelfth Night that was so well-received in its first run in January, that they brought it to the Hollywood Fringe Festival in June, and won an Encore! Producers' Award and an extension in July. StageSceneLA says, "Mine is Yours Theatre Company may just be starting out... but you'll likely be hearing a lot more from this talented ensemble of classically trained Los Angeles-based artists in years to come."

*Member of Actors' Equity Association, The Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States

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