Pacific Resident Theatre to Present THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE Beginning June 18

Pacific Resident Theatre (Marilyn Fox, Artistic Director) celebrates their 30th season by announcing the opening of THE ECCENTRICITIES OF A NIGHTINGALE by Tennessee Williams. Dana Jackson (Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and LA Weekly nomination - The Cherry Orchard) directs.

Poetry of the heart ignites powerful desires that can no longer be ignored by Alma. The preacher's daughter boldly seizes on a chance to follow her heart's inclinations when John Buchanan returns from medical school to live in their small town where, too often, dreams die quickly. Tennessee Williams's subtly seductive play centers on the passionately complex and sometimes cruel relationships to which love becomes vulnerable, when we are strong enough to allow it.

Tennessee Williams declared himself closest to Alma Winemiller, a minister's daughter in the Mississippi Delta, in love since childhood with John Buchanan-the doctor's son who lives next door. In a 1973 Playboy interview Williams was asked, "With what characters of yours do you identify?" The reply: "Alma...is my favorite - because I came out so late and so did Alma, and she had the greatest struggle, you know?" Written in 1951, "The Eccentricities of a Nightingale" was Williams revision of the more familiar "Summer and Smoke." He preferred "Eccentricities," he wrote in an author's note. "It is less conventional and melodramatic."

What makes Alma affecting is her courage and refusal to be a victim. In Summer and Smoke, John's actions carry out Williams' conviction that lovemaking is a way to achieve spiritual wholeness. In Eccentricities that action is Alma's - Excerpt from Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival.

"....the new work effectively knocks Summer and Smoke off the map, except as a literary curiosity. It is as if a rather suaver Gentleman Caller from The Glass Menagerie had met a rather younger Blanche DuBois before she finally became Blanche DuBois" - Clive Barnes, The New York Times

Dana Jackson (Director) is a member of the Lincoln Center Theater Director's Lab. She recently helmed Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard (LA Weekly "Ten Best Plays of 2014," LADCC nomination, Best Supporting Actor) and co-directed the critically acclaimed production of Arthur Miller's A View From The Bridge (LA Times Critic's Choice, LADCC nomination, Best Revival of a Classic Play), Nora, Ingmar Bergman's Stage Adaptation based on Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House (Backstage Critic's Pick, LA Weekly Go, Backstage 10 Standout Theater Performances), Barrie: Back To Back An Evening of Two One Act Plays by J.M. Barrie (LA Times Critic's Choice), and Associate director on Ernest Vajda's Fata Morgana and The Browning Version by Terence Rattigan. Jackson was invited on scholarship to train with the international theater company Theatre Hotel Courage in the Netherlands.

Pacific Resident Theatre celebrates its 30 Anniversary this year. Recognized as one of the top regional theaters on the West Coast, the company presents works of the highest quality, in order to entertain, inform and educate our multicultural community. In addition to the company's committed to rediscover the rarely performed classics, they are focused on fostering and developing new works through the collaboration of an artistic ensemble influenced by societal relevance, past, present and future. Pacific Resident Theatre promotes the theatre arts by providing opportunities for artists and craftsmen to develop and enrich their skills.

OUR ENSEMBLE:

Paul Anderson (Roger) appeared in PRT's award winning production of A View From The Bridge. Los Angeles theatre credits include Ross/How/Snork in The Elephant Man at St. John's Cathedral, and roles in Death of a Salesman and State and of the Union with Interact Theatre Company. He will be seen in an upcoming episode of "Betrayed."

Ginna Carter (Alma) starred in Anatol and Everyday Life at PRT. She was recently seen at Rogue Machine Theatre in her solo creation, Dorothy, A Current Account. Selected Los Angeles credits include Salty Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream, You Did What, andBrilliant Traces. Regionally, Ginna has performed in workshops of her play Dorothy at Hartford Stage Brand:NEW Play festival, The Alley Theatre, and The Roundabout Theatre's Black Box.

Andrew Dits (John) was seen in Comedy Of Errors at A Noise Within; Fat Pig at The Hudson; and King Dick with Gangbusters Theatre Company. Recent Film credits include "Come Simi" and "Like You Mean It" (now on Amazon) and "Afuera" at LA Film Fest. He can be seen in "Snowden" by Oliver Stone to premiere in September. Cast as a series-regular on the Bounce TV sitcom "My Crazy Roommate."

Brad Greenquist (Reverend Winemiller) has performed on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway, and in numerous Regional theaters. He was most recently seen at PRT as Dr. Jörgen in The Unfryable Meatness of Being. Other PRT performances include roles in Nora, Becky's New Car, Orpheus Descending, Four Dogs and a Bone, Our Town, Macbeth, Entertaining Mr. Sloan, and Closer.

Rita Obermeyer (Mrs. Buchanan) played Maureen in The Beauty Queen of Leenane at PRT and was also seen in Random Acts, Sweet Thursday, and Everyday Life by Rilke. She portrayed Gertrude in Hamlet at the Lillian Theatre.

Mary Jo Deschanel (Mrs. Winemiller) is best known for her roles as Annie Glen in "The Right Stuff" and Eileen Hayward in "Twin Peaks." She is member of Pscific Resident Theatre where she performed her show DthnVncin in 2013 and 2014.

Joan Chodorow (Mrs. Bassett) is a long time member of PRT where she has appeared in numerous productions such as The award-winning Henry V and The Unfryable Meatness of Being. She co-stars in "The Encounter" by renowned video artist Bill Viola and is "the voice" in "The End of Photography" by prominent Los Angeles photographer/video artist Judy Fiskin.

Choppy Guillotte (Vernon) is a long time member of PRT. He has appeared in Rocket To The Moon (LADCC Award, Best Revival), The Swan, Lulu, and A Question Of Mercy. In the Co-op, selected credits include The Glass Menagerie, Our Town, The Goatwoman Of Corvis County, Blast, and Bully.

Amy Huntington (Rosemary) was last seen on the PRT main stage as Sister Mary in Happy End. Selected Co-Op credits include How I Learned to Drive, Macbeth, The Glass Menagerie, Birdbath, and In The Boom Boom Room.

Derek Chariton (Salesman) can be seen this summer in AMC's "The American West" as Billy the Kid. Stage credits include A Midsummer Night's Dream, Comedy of Errors, Gingerman, and Beauty Queen of Leenane.

Our Production Team: Marilyn Fox (Executive Producer), Sara Newman-Martins (Producer), Erica Stewart (Associate Producer), Kis Knekt (Set Design), Ken Boot (Sound Design), Christopher Moscatiello (Sound Design), Christine Cover Ferro (Costume Design), Claire Mazzeo (Stage Manager)

The Eccentricities of a Nightingale opens on Saturday, June 18th and runs at 8pm Thursdays - Saturdays, and at 3pm on Sundays through August 14, 2016. Pacific Resident Theatre is located at 703 Venice Blvd. in Venice, CA 90291. Tickets are $25 - $34 and can be purchased online at http://www.pacificresidenttheatre.com or by calling (310) 822-8392.

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