Ride On Theatre Presents THE BLIND DATE PROJECT; Opens 5/28

Andrew Carlberg, in association with Ride on Theatre, presents an immersive, all new theatrical experience, The Blind Date Project, created by Bojana Novakovic and Mark Winter and directed by Scott Rodgers (in rotation with Tanya Goldberg and Mark Winter). Coming straight from sell out seasons around Australia, The Blind Date Project will open on Wednesday, May 28 at 8pm and be an ongoing Wednesday night event at the Three Clubs 1123 N. Vine St. (at Santa Monica Blvd.) in Hollywood.

Desperate and looking for love, Anna (AFI award-winner Bojana Novakovic) is a woman waiting at a Karaoke Bar for a date she was matched up with on line. Her date happens to be a different guest performer every week (male or female) whose identity is unknown to her until the moment of performance. There is no script. All dialogue is created on the spot by the actors. Directions are sent live via text messages and phone calls by the director. There is no set ending and what happens is entirely up in the air. This is edge of your seat theatre - dangerous, daring and dirty. Anything can - and does - happen. Will the date work or will it fail tremendously? No one ever knows until the very end, and no two dates are ever the same.

This is not theatre sports, nor a comedy act. There are no gimmicks or forced gags. The Blind Date Project is an immersive theatrical experience where the danger of performing without scripts lends itself to the reality of what is being explored. A literal blind date between two actors who have never met and are willing to dive into the unknown.

While hilarious and unpredictable, - the show also celebrates the more awkward aspects of being desperately in need. It is ultimately a shared experience between audience and performers about the fundamental human need to connect and be understood. It reflects in a very real way our fear of facing the unknown, daring to date blindly and revealing about ourselves far more than we would ever care to admit.

The Blind Date Project is set in a venue with a full bar and Karaoke set up (with Margaux Susi as the Karaoke Queen). Songs are an ample part of each show and audiences are welcome to stay and sing.

Past guest actors in the date role include Jason Alexander, Justin Kirk, Jeremy Sisto, Edi Gathegi and Troian Bellisario to name just a few. At The Blind Date Project, you never know who is going to show up!

Bojana Novakovic (Creator/Performer) is an actor, writer and producer. Born in Serbia, she moved to Australia when she was seven. She began acting at twelve with The Sydney Theatre Company and shot her first film Blackrock at fifteen. She graduated from the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in 2002. Her international film credits include Martin Campbell's Edge of Darkness with Mel Gibson, Sam Raimi's Drag Me to Hell, M. Night Shyamalan's Devil, and Mark L. Mann's Generation Um opposite Keanu Reeves. She is currently on the FOX series Rake with Greg Kinnear.

Bojana has also starred in over a dozen independent films including Serbian speaking films as well as Australian films Burning Man, Solo, The Monkey's Mask, Strange Fits of Passion, Thunderstruck, Blackrock, The Little Death, Charlie's Country, The King is Dead, and Not Suitable for Children. Institute Award recipient and has earned numerous nominations for AFI, Critics Circle and Australian Subscription Television Awards. Bojana has a repertoire of theatrical performances and has worked with Australia's most prestigious companies including Melbourne Theatre Company, Sydney Theatre Company and Malthouse Theatre. She is a co-founder of Ride On Theatre. Fake Porno, which she adapted, directed and produced, earned three Green Room Award nominations and her original play - The Story of Mary MacLane By Herself was published by Currency press in 2012. Other credits include Criminology, Eldorado, and Woyzek, for which she earned numerous Helpmann Award nominations; and the original production of Female of The Species for MTC and Romeo and Juliet, for Bell Shakespeare Company.

Scott Rodgers (Director) found a home at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theater in Los Angeles and has spent most of the last 6 years writing, performing and directing there. He recently wrapped post production on The Dramatics (A Comedy), a feature he co-wrote and stars in that also marks his feature directorial debut. Scott has shot well over 100 digital shorts, most of which can be seen on Funnyordie.com, including The Newlymovedins, a web-series which he co-wrote and co-starred in. The Newlymovedins was nominated for Best Short at The LA Comedy Festival. His acting credits include: PT Anderson's The Master, Reno 911!, Key & Peele, FunnyOrDie Presents On HBO, Freakdance, NTSF:SD:SUV, The Late, Late Show With Craig Ferguson, Players, and THE OC. Scott is currently writing and directing original content for One Trick Pony.

Recently named by Variety alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Mindy Kaling and Andy Samberg as one of "Hollywood's New Leaders," Andrew Carlberg (Producer) is an award-winning feature film, television, new media, Broadway and Los Angeles stage producer.

On the New York stage, Andrew associated produced the first Broadway revival of Romeo and Juliet in 36 years. Performed at the Richard Rodgers Theatre, the classic play starred Orlando Bloom and multiple Tony nominee Condola Rashad. Andrew founded The 4th Wall, a theater initiative originated at The Geffen Playhouse, and The Piece Project, a celebrity-based theater ensemble and reading series. Los Angeles theater credits include: the Los Angeles Premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's Be A Good Little Widow, the World Premiere of Ron Klier's Cops And Friends Of Cops, the World Premiere of Steve Yockey's Wolves, the World Premiere of Rob Mersola's Dirty Filthy Love Story, the World Premiere of Steve Yockey's The Fisherman's Wife, the Los Angeles intimate theater premiere of The Color Purple: The Musical (Ovation and LA Weekly Theater Award; LA TIMES, BACKSTAGE and LA WEEKLY CRITICS' PICK), the Los Angeles premiere of Neil LaBute's The Mercy Seat, the West Coast premiere of Edward Anthony's Wish I Had A Sylvia Plath, the World Premiere of David Dean Bottrell Makes Love, and the Los Angeles premiere of Sarah Tuft's 110 Stories (starring Katharine McPhee, John Hawkes, Ed Asner, Sharon Lawrence, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, and others). Andrew is a graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and frequent collaborator of playwright and filmmaker Neil LaBute. He has numerous film and television credits.

Blind Date Project will open on Wednesday, May 28 at 8pm; and run indefintely at The Three Clubs, 1123 N. Vine St. (at Santa Monica Blvd.) in Hollywood.

Performances are Wednesday evenings at 8:00pm (with additional 10pm performances on select dates including Weds., June 4 and Weds., June 11); Ticket prices are $20.00 for all Performances. Tickets may be purchased at the door (pending availability) or reservations can be made by e-mailing theblinddateprojectla@gmail.com. For more information on the play, please visit www.facebook.com/TheBlindDateProject.

Ride On Theatre is a collective of professional theatre practitioners: performers, directors, musicians and creatives, for whom theatre is a vital resource for collective cultural conscience, our identity as individuals and as a community. Ride On's vision is to draw upon the vitality of the medium, creating works that expand boundaries relating to the form of theatrical possibilities and to our distinctive culture.

Credits include the three times Green Room nominated Fake Porno (LUPA art/Brisbane Powerhouse), An Oak Tree (BSharp), Family Stories (Griffin Stablemates), The Merchant of Venice (BSharp), Bone (Darlinghurst Theatre/Seymour Centre), Debris (Old Fitz/ Black Lung Theatre), Loveplay (BSharp) and the two original works - The Blind Date Project (Seymour Centre/Brisbane Powerhouse) and The Story of Mary MacLAne - by Herself. Ride On has had numerous Greenroom Award nominations, Sydney theatre nominations and holds the box office record at the Downstairs Belvoir Street theatre. Ride On was founded in 2003 by NIDA graduates Bojana Novakovic and Tanya Goldberg.

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