New Musical TABLETOP to perform at Hollywood Fringe this June

MB Stage Productions announces the workshop of Tabletop (a new musical) by Chad Sundman and Race Benaglio. Tabletop will have its first workshop performances at the Hollywood Fringe Festival (June 2019) with subsequent workshops to follow and a full production by 2020/21. Tabletop will be directed and developed under the guidance of Jared Tyrel Pixler and David Evan Stolworthy who had previously produced and directed THE VIDEO GAMES which ran for three years.

Tabletop, takes place in a game store where Eric and his friends have gathered every week for years to play their favorite tabletop roleplaying game. His childhood friends Luke (the paladin) and Valarie (the ranger), the group's strategist and a regular tabletop game fanatic Ken (the wizard), and his little sister Sarah (the fighter) begin their next adventure in Vaelrun while Eric's wife, Emily, who used to play the group's druid, is pregnant and out "attending her grove". Everything starts to change when Brandon, Valerie's new boyfriend, joins the group. While these friends can't seem to pull themselves away long enough to handle their real lives, Karen, the owner of the store watches on and wishes for an escape. Tabletop explores the way we use games to disconnect from our own realities by following the weekly fantasy adventures of these five friends.

Auditions for the first workshop of Tabletop will be held April 8th and 9th at Screenland Studios in North Hollywood (10501 Burbank blvd., North Hollywood, CA 91601) from 7 - 10 pm. The show will feature over eighteen (18) original songs and a cast of thirteen.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Chad Sundman (Music & Book) Tabletop is his first musical and has been the soul focus of his creative energies for the past two years. He is a career software engineer, avid gamer, black belt martial artist, husband, and father of two. As an actor, his most notable credits include Once on this Island, Urinetown and Beauty and the Beast. He has been a Game Master (GM) of many tabletop role playing games (RPGs) for over ten years. He runs games both out of campaign books in established settings and, in recent years, his own original setting called "Aquasandria", of which "Vaelrun" is one of the many regions. Tabletop is the first combination of both of Chad's most fervent passions: writing original music, and tabletop RPGs.

Race Benaglio (Lyrics & Book) is a playwright, author ("Mile Marker 23" on Amazon) and father of one. For years was part of the improv and band scene in Los Angeles and has performed at venues such as The Laugh Factory and The Viper Room. He has been a performer and lover of the theater for many years and has performed in such shows as Little Shop of Horrors and Brigadoon. After over a decade of playing tabletop role playing games (RPGs) together, partnering with Chad on Tabletop has given him the opportunity to bring two of his favorite past times together.

Jared Tyrel Pixler (Director/Producer) is a creative producer, director and writer. For the last five years he has been the co-head creative producer of MB Stage Productions where he helped to create the award winning shows THE VIDEO GAMES, Winter is Coming: A Musical Parody and THE STUDY. He is the project leader for MB Stage theatre camps and workshops series for young performers. Some of his directing credits include, Just One Moment (David Evan Stolworthy); Aida (Elton John and Tim Rice); Let Me Out (Jared Tyrel Pixler) and MB stage's summer camp cabaret. He has also directed internationally in residence at Cagayan College in the Philippines and is the co-creator of the nationwide improvisation competition Improvathon at Christian Youth Theater. He holds a BFA in Musical Theater from AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing arts and is a current MFA Creative Producing and Integrated Media candidate at the California Institute of the Arts (CalArts).

David Evan Stolworthy (Dramaturg/Producer) is a Creative Producer with MB Stage Productions and one of the co-creators of THE VIDEO GAMES. A graduate of AMDA College and Conservatory for the Performing Arts, he holds a Bachelor's Degree in Theatre Arts. He has experience working with Universal Studios Hollywood, The Hollywood Fringe Festival, and The Murder Mystery Company in audience interaction and engagement. Producing Credits: The Monsters of Man: A Supernatural Anthology (The Complex Hollywood), Stringmates (The Actors Company), California Kiki (The Three Clubs), Book of Love (The Three Clubs), Let me Out (The Complex Hollywood). Writing Credits: THE VIDEO GAMES (Off-Broadway, The Elektra Theater), THE STUDY (The Actors Company), Winter is Coming: A Musical Parody (The Actors Company; Book), Just One Moment (The Complex Hollywood), FRAGILE (The Complex Hollywood), Roommates: The College Guide to Sharing Your Closet (The Complex Hollywood).

MB Stage Productions has been part of the Los Angeles theater scene since 2013. Their company motto is "Seeing something on screen is one thing. Seeing it live? Game over." They actively seek to tell stories with a "nerd aesthetic" inspired largely by video game culture and the vision of founders Jared Tyrel Pixler, David Evan Stolworthy and Katie Lynn who attended AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing arts together. In 2015 the company found success in their production of THE VIDEO GAMES which ran for three years, won several awards, toured comic conventions, fringe festivals nationwide, and ran Off-Broadway for seven months. MB Stage Productions believes there is nothing more powerful than an intimate and live performance to take you away to another world. They currently run two different theater programs: Nerds Gone Deep, which focuses on powerful and thought-provoking plays, dance pieces, and musicals; and Nerd Theatre, which is centered around geek and nerd culture, interactive storylines, and non-traditional theatrical boundaries. In 2018, the company took over operation of a summer arts camp in Torrance, CA and began working with other parts of the community to bring theatre and the arts to young artists. mbstage.com

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