Photo Flash: Red Dog Squadron's GREEDY, 1/8-29

Five people struggle with greed, hope, desire and integrity in the wake of an emailed plea for money that promises big returns. Is it a scam or a golden opportunity? RED DOG SQUADRON presents the West Coast premiere of greedy by Karl Gajdusek. RED DOG SQUADRON co-artistic director James Roday directs a cast that includes Amanda Detmer, Kurt Fuller, Peter Mackenzie, Ivana Milicevic, Brad Raider and Roday's co-star on the USA series psych, Maggie Lawson. The limited four-week engagement takes place at the El Centro Theatre, January 8-29.
 
"I'm fascinated by Nigerian scam letters and, even more, by the psychology of the victims," explains Gajdusek, who has done some significant rewriting since the play's Off Broadway premiere and is collaborating closely with Roday and co-artistic director Brad Raider on this production. "These people who've lost everything in these schemes. What causes them to engage in the first place? Sure, money, but that's just the entry point. What's going on in their hearts once they realize they've been taken, but are incapable of admitting it to themselves and so keep getting in deeper? Greed seems to be the last remaining value we share as a culture, and we will go through incredible contortions to chase a pile of money, or to feel that we are doing something 'large' with our lives - what I call a kind of 'greed of the spirit.' "

"Is there such a thing as a truly unselfish act?" asks Roday, who is best known to TV audiences for his role as Shawn Spencer in the USA Network original series psych, and to theater audiences for his performance as 'Finn' opposite Michael Weston in last season's Extinction. "You might think you know the score - who's greedy and who's not. But this play looks at living in the gray area. You might be wrong."

greedy follows on the heels of RED DOG SQUADRON's wildly successful world premiere production of Extinction, which transferred from the Elephant Space in Hollywood to the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York.

"After Extinction, we wanted to find something equally exciting for our next production," says Raider. "When we came across greedy, we immediately recognized richly drawn characters, complex themes, and a dark, subversive humor to which we're both naturally drawn."

greedy was the first recipient of the Clubbed Thumb Biennual Playwright Commission, part of the four-time OBIE Award-winning company's mission to commission, develop, and produce "funny, strange, and provocative new plays by living American writers." The play received a four-week workshop production as part of the company's 12th annual Summerworks festival of new plays. Variety wrote, "Production and [prize-winning] dough were fairly earned for show's nose-thumbing attitude toward greedy buyers and selfish sellers of dubious commodities... there's a certain nasty fun in watching these victims squirm... the playwright scores with highly theatrical moments."

Karl Gajdusek's plays have been produced across the country and in New York, including FUBAR, Fair Game; Silverlake; North; Minneapolis; Dr.s F.s in the Terminal Ward; Big Sun Setting Fast; The Gilded Garden of Patchew; Malibu; and Waco, Texas, Mon Amour. In L.A., FUBAR was recently produced by Theatre of Note. Karl's feature screenplay Trespass recently finished production and he is a writer on the upcoming films Unknown White Male and The Mechanic. He was a story editor on Showtime's Dead Like Me, creating four of the 2004 season episodes. He is the recipient of the 1991 Jacob K. Javits fellowship, the 1996-97 & 1998-99 Jerome Fellowships, the 1997 McKnight Screenwriting Fellowship, the 2000 McKnight Advancement Grant, and the 2005 Clubbed Thumb Biennual Commission.

James Roday is best known as 'Shawn Spencer' in the USA Network original series psych, which has just been picked up for its sixth season, and he has also directed several of the episodes. Last year, he starred in RED DOG SQUADRON's acclaimed, world premiere production of Extinction, which moved from Los Angeles to an Off Broadway run at the Cherry Lane Theatre.  Also for RED DOG, he performed in Sexual Perversity in Chicago, and he wrote and directed sustenance which starred Amanda Detmer and Brad Raider. New York theater credits include The Three Sisters; Twelfth Night; A Respectable Wedding; and Severity's Mistress. Roday starred in Wim Wenders' Don't Come Knocking, Rolling Kansas directed by Thomas Haden Church, and the Warner Bros. film adaptation of The Dukes of Hazzard, as Billy Prickett. In addition to acting and directing, Roday co-wrote both the Season 1 and 2 finales of psych as well as other episodes in later seasons.

Amanda Detmer Janet is currently an Ovation nominee for her role in RED DOG SQUADRON's Extinction. Other RED DOG credits include sustenance and Grand Delusion. After graduating fron NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, Amanda immediately landed the role of Cecily in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where she also played Constanza in Amadeus. She made her onscreen debut in the television movie Stolen Innocence and her big screen debut playing Miss Minneapolis in the beauty pageant-set comedy Drop Dead Gorgeous. She has also made notable film appearances in Final Destination; Saving Silverman; The Majestic; and Big Fat Liar. She played Deena Greco on the ABC drama What About Brian and Morgan Gellman on ABC's Private Practice. She just completed Necessary Roughness, a two-hour pilot for USA.

Kurt Fuller Paul - Saturday and Sunday performances currently plays 'Joel' on the ABC series Better With You. Although best known for his work in the films Wayne's World and Anger Management, others will remember him as the wacky sheriff who likes to pose in Speedos in Scary Movie. He has a leading role in David O. Russell's romantic comedy Nailed, and can also be seen in Woody Allen's new film, Midnight in Paris. Other film credits include Auto Focus; Ray; Pushing Tin; The Jack Bull; Ghostbusters 2; Mr. Woodcock; Superhero; and The Pursuit of Happyness. Regular roles on TV series include ABC's Big Day with Wendie Malick; That's my Bush! from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone; and recurring characters on Supernatural; psych; Desperate Housewives; Boston Legal; and Alias. On stage, he appeared most recently in The Cosmonaut's Last Message to the Woman He Once Loved in the Former Soviet Union at the La Jolla Playhouse and The Waiting Room at The Mark Taper Forum. In 2007, he starred in Grand Delusion for RED DOG SQUADRON.

Maggie Lawson Keira stars as Juliet in the USA Network original series psych. Born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, Lawson started appearing in local community and dinner theater when she was eight years old. She became a youth journalist for the locAl Fox station before moving to Los Angeles. Lawson's television credits are numerous and include series regular roles on Crumbs; Its All Relative; Inside Schwartz; and Spellbound, and guest-star and recurring appearances on E.R; Tru Calling; Party of Five; Smallville; and Felicity. Other credits include the lifetime mini series Crimes of Fashion and the TV movie Model Behavior. Lawson's film credits include roles in Cheats; Winter Break; Pleasantville and Nice Guys Sleep Alone.

Peter Mackenzie Paul - Thursday and Friday performances played Meryl Streep's therapist in It's Complicated, and will be seen in the upcoming feature films The Chicago 8 as David Dellinger and Project X. On television, he has recurred on Law & Order LA and opposite Larry David in Curb Your Enthusiasm, and as a Mormon bishop on Big Love. Recent guest starring roles include Jonas; The Mentalist; Grey's Anatomy; My Name is Earl; Eli Stone; and CSI, to name a few. His voice can be heard in various roles on American Dad.

Ivana Milicevic Tatiana is best known as one of the stars of the HBO original series Mind of the Married Man, and she can next be seen in Sony's What's Your Number? with Anna Faris and Chris Evans. Her film credts include Jerry Maguire; Enemy of the State opposite Will Smith and Gene Hackman; Head Over Heels opposite FrEddie Prinze, Jr. and Monica Potter; Vanilla Sky; Down With Love; Love Actually; Paycheck; Just Like Heaven; Running Scared; and Casino Royale. On television, Ivana starred with Tom Cavanaugh and Judy Greer in the CBS series Love Monkey.  Other countless television appearances include guest starring roles on Seinfeld; Felicity; Friends; Just Shoot Me; CSI: Miami; Ugly Betty; The Unit; Royal Pains; House; and, most recently, Hawaii Five-O.

Brad Raider Louis is an NYU Circle in the Square and Experimental Theatre Wing alum. His New York theater credits include the title role in Henry V; Duperret in Marat/Sade; Larry Foreman in The Cradle Will Rock; Antonio inTwelfth Night to James Roday's Sebastian. L.A. theater and with RED DOG: Bernie' in Sexual Perversity in Chicago; Birthday Boy in sustenance with Amanda Detmer, and most recently 'Podnov' in Grand Delusion with Amanda Detmer and Kurt Fuller. Film and TV: short-lived series The Trouble With Normal and That Was Then both for ABC, guest-starring roles on psych, Better Off Ted, and Jericho, to name a few. Recent starring roles in the independent features Greener Mountains, Americanizing Shelley and Loss Control.

Brad Raider and James Roday founded RED DOG SQUADRON following their successful Off Broadway mounting of Henry V at the Mazer Theatre in New York. After Henry V, the pair moved to Los Angeles, where RED DOG's inaugural production was David Mamet's Sexual Perversity in Chicago at the Stella Adler Studio Theatre. Next up was a pair of one acts, sustenance written and directed by Roday, with a cast that included Raider and Amanda Detmer and Chickens and Assholes. In 2007, they produced the world premiere of David Rock's Grand Delusion, a black comedy re-imagining the events leading up to World War I. RED DOG's most recent production, the sold-out and critically-acclaimed Extinction by Gabe McKinley, transferred to Off Broadway's Cherry Lane Theatre after its world premiere at the Elephant Space Theatre in Hollywood.

Scenic Design for greedy is by Kurt Boetcher; Costume Design is by Gali Noy; Lighting Design is by Mike Durst; and Production Stage Manager is Jenn Bendik. Andrew Crabtree produces for RED DOG SQUADRON.

Performances of greedy take place Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, January 8 through 29. All performances begin at 8 pm. There will be two preview performances on January 6 and 7 @ 8 pm. General admission is $20. The El Centro Theatre is located at 804 El Centro Ave. in Hollywood, 90038.  For reservations and information, go to www.reddogsquadron.com.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Robert

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