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Richard Pryor's Daughter Opening in New Show This Week

By: Feb. 14, 2017
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Richard Pryor's talented daughter, actress/singer/writer, Rain Pryor, will open her new solo play, Fried Chicken & Latkes, this week on Thursday, February 16 for a six-week run at Jewish Women's Theatre (JWT) in Santa Monica.

Daughter of show business royalty, Pryor grew up African-American and Jewish in Beverly Hills and has lived a fascinating life filled with pain, poignancy, purpose and lots of laughter. American audiences first met Pryor as television's first biracial child on Head of the Class. At home, her mom was a go-go dancer who met her dad when she was shaking it up in Sunset Boulevard nightclubs.

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Pryor's childhood was split between two cultures that had much in common, but much that was worlds apart. She was in the middle. Raised in Beverly Hills, Pryor's childhood was split between African-American and Jewish cultures. She ate both brisket and collard greens. Her Beverly Hills bubbie and zeydeh, Herbert Bonis, who managed Danny Kaye, shared her upbringing with her dad's grandma who owned a brothel.

This unique blend led to many adventures that she will soon be sharing with JWT audiences. "I hope my new play will help bridge different cultures and contribute to a larger conversation about what we can learn from each other," Pryor said. "I think my show is timely, relevant and joyful. It shows how humor can cross lines, as racially mixed audiences will laugh in and at each other's worlds."

"Actually, both strains of my mixed heritage have much in common," she explains. "Both Jews and African-Americans were slaves. Both cherish family and food. In Fried Chicken & Latkes, I play 10 different characters and use humor to highlight these diverse influences on my life, and how they caused me pain, confusion and great happiness. In this, I am following my dad's tradition of crossing ethnic lines to bring people together. And telling the truth. He told the truth and taught me to do the same," Pryor added proudly.

Veteran JWT, LA and New York Director Eve Brandstein, who is responsible for several JWT hit shows, including the current off-Broadway hit Not That Jewish, starring Monica Piper, has known Pryor since she was a child. She attended the cabaret show that was the nucleus of Fried Chicken & Latkes when it was playing at New York's famous Actor's Temple Theater. "When I saw the show, which had audiences rolling in the aisles, I envisioned the theatrical piece it could become. Rain and I worked together to transform it into the new solo play that will have its LA premiere at Jewish Women's Theatre."

Ronda Spinak, JWT's artistic director, was thrilled to provide a venue where LA's diverse community could come together. "This show has passion, heart, creativity and joy," she says. "Its themes are universal and we are happy to provide a space where all people and all generations can come together for a great night of theatre."

Fried Chicken & Latkes will begin a six-week run on February 16 and run until April 2 at The Braid, home of Jewish Women's Theatre, 2912 Colorado Ave. #102, Santa Monica, CA. Most Thursdays and Saturdays at 8 pm, Sundays at 2 pm, and Sundays at 7:30 pm. For tickets and additional information, visit: www.jewishwomenstheatre.org or 800-838-3006.

JWT provides a home for the diverse and eclectic community of artists and creators who comprise L.A.'s Jewish community. Both at its home in The Braid theatre and art gallery in Santa Monica's Bergamot Arts District, in intimate salons throughout the city, and on tour throughout the country, JWT stages and displays traditional and contemporary works that provide a forum for the development, performance and showcasing of Jewish talent. Visit www.jewishwomenstheatre.org for tickets and more information.



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