Rogue Machine Brings THIS WONDERFUL LIFE to the Matrix Theatre

Rogue Machine brings Frank Capra's iconic holiday film, "It's a Wonderful Life," to the stage in this hilarious and heartwarming one-person show starring Leo Marks. Part fan frenzy and part tour-de-force, it's a celebration of cinematic storytelling and the differences, big and small, that one person can make in the lives of others.

Written by Steve Murray and conceived by Mark Setlock the play is adapted from the screenplay "It's a Wonderful Life" by Frances Goodrich, Albert Hackett, Frank Capra, and Jo Swerling and produced by special arrangement with Playscripts, Inc.

"This Wonderful Life" will be Rogue Machine's first show after moving into the Matrix Theatre at 7657 Melrose Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046. The schedule is 8pm, Fridays, Saturdays, Mondays, Wednesdays: 12/22, 12/23 12/27, 12/31, 1/1 & 1/3/2022; 3pm Sundays 12/19, 12/26, & 1/2/2022. "This Wonderful Life" will close Monday, January 3, 2022. Call 855-585-5185 Or Visit Http://www.roguemachinetheatre.net For More Information.

Steve Murray (Playwright) is known for his musicals and plays which have been performed in all 50 of the United States as well as in Canada, China, Japan, Australia, Hungary, Singapore, Germany, Malta, The Netherlands, and South Africa. Additionally, he is a composer, lyricist, and performing arts educator from Massachusetts. Steve's nationally produced plays include This Passion Thing, Hungry to Bed, Cupid's Bones, Body Politic, Lost, Rogue, Rescue & Recovery, The Algae Eaters, and Manna. His musical, Tortoise vs. Hare, was a recipient of the Anna Zornio Memorial Children's Theatre Playwriting Award. Musical! The Bard is Back! won the Jackie White Memorial National Children's Play Writing Contest, and has the distinction of being the first musical to receive this award.

Rogue Machine has had the twin air conditioners at The Matrix serviced and upgraded to exceed compliance with current COVID protocols. They have installed HEPA air purifiers in all public spaces. All staff and artists are fully vaccinated and boosted. Audiences are required to show proof of vaccination along with state or federal ID, have their temperature taken upon entering, and must wear masks at all times while indoors.

Director Drew Barr was Resident Director for War Horse on Broadway at Lincoln Center. He directed the Dutch-language premiere of The National Theatre of London's War Horse before directing the Australian premiere in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane. Drew served as associate director for Nicholas Hytner's Broadway productions of Sweet Smell of Success and Twelfth Night, as well as for Simon McBurney's Broadway revival of All My Sons and The Kid Stays in the Picture at The Royal Court Theatre in London. Off-Broadway, Drew directed the premieres of Neal Brennan's one man show, 3 Mics, Adam Bock's The Typographer's Dream and KARL GAJDUSEK's Greedy, as well as revivals and new plays for such companies as TACT, Clubbed Thumb and Page 73. He has directed for regional theaters and actor-training programs across the country. As an actor, Drew's stage credits include the Broadway premiere of Wendy Wasserstein's, An American Daughter.

"Like many others, I imagine, I owe my love of 'It's A Wonderful Life' to the fluke of fate that allowed the film's copyright to lapse in the 1970s. I distinctly remember watching back-to-back-to-back-to-back screenings of the film over a 24-hour period, with each viewing deepening my admiration and appreciation of the piercing humanity of the film and its performances," says director Drew Barr. "Steve Murray's This Wonderful Life not only celebrates the great gift of this once nearly-forgotten film, but also affords us an opportunity to explore the profound and poignant connection between memory, empathy, and consciousness-a connection that neuroscience has yet to fully understand, but is part of what makes theater so important in our lives."

Leo Marks: (the entire Town of Bedford Falls, and Various Angels) received an Obie award for Heather Woodbury's Tale of 2Cities: An American Joyride on Multiple Tracks. He is a member of LA theater companies Rogue Machine, Antaeus, Evidence Room, Pacific Resident Theater, and was a founding member of New York's Elevator Repair Service Theater. During the previous epoch of live theater, Leo Marks appeared in world premieres including Red Ink at Playwrights Arena, Mysterious Circumstances at Geffen Playhouse, Everything That Never Happened and The Missing Pages of Lewis Carroll at Theatre at Boston Court, How To Write A New Book For The Bible at Berkeley Rep and Seattle Rep, A Perfect Wedding at the Kirk Douglas Theater, The Language Archive and Smokefall at South Coast Rep, Somewhere in the Pacific at Playwrights Horizons; and Lincolnesque at The Old Globe. Other performances include Hamlet in Jessica Kubzansky's acclaimed production; Cymbeline (D.C.'s Shakespeare Theater); Time and the Conways (Old Globe); Love and Information (A.C.T.'s The Strand); All the King's Men (Intiman); The Royale (Cleveland Playhouse); Huck Finn and The Comedy of Errors (Actors Theater of Louisville), Defiance (Pasadena Playhouse), Roz and Ray (Alley Theater New Works), and Dead End (Ahmanson). Film/TV credits include the lead in the award-winning indie feature film The Maestro, now streaming on Amazon Prime, and in the upcoming recurring role in Season Two of HBO's Perry Mason. Leo's new play, The Future Perfect, will be produced in the near future.

The Production Team includes Rick Martin for Set/Lighting/Projection Design and Christopher Moscatiello for Sound Design.

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