Sacred Fools Present MONSTER MASH At The Hollywood Fringe Festival

Along with managing the Broadwater Theater Complex as a host venue for this 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival, Sacred Fools Theater Company is contributing three monster-themed shows into the mix. The spooky trio of plays run the gamut from singing vampires and ghouls to unholy teenage transformations to Frankenstein's creation seeking love in the Jane Austen era.

In order of opening, the three shows are: Jane Austen's Emma Frankenstein, written and directed by Jenelle Riley with Music Direction and Arrangements by Allison Sulock; Crunch by Katie Eiler, directed by Bo Powell and Dracula's Taste Test by Marz Richards, directed by Cj Merriman with Music Direction by Ryan Johnson.

"This year we wanted to provide more opportunities for our members by producing some of their work at the Fringe," said Aviva Pressman, one of Sacred Fools' three Artistic Directors. "Because our members are offbeat creative types (weirdos) we had our pick of monster shows, and decided this theme would be fun, fringy, and Foolish."

About Jane Austen's Emma Frankenstein (Opening June 9)

Monsters, music and a comedy of proper Regency manners! The winner of the 2017 Serial Killers playoffs returns with a full-length musical production. Looking to capitalize on the success of such mash-ups as Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Jane Austen brings us the story of the Woodhouse sisters and their search for love with the Frankenstein family.

Writer and director Jenelle Riley is a two-time Emmy Award winner for hosting and producing the PBS Actors on Actors series. She also won the 2011 Serial Killers playoffs with A Kind of Love Story, which she then adapted into a full-length version for Sacred Fools' 16th Season in 2012. The production was nominated for a half-dozen LA Weekly Awards, with Riley taking home the award for Comedy Direction. She wrote the films Crazy Love and Warning Labels and wrote and directed the short Grand Gestures. She is the frequent host of SAG-AFTRA Foundation conversations and has interviewed everyone except Meryl Streep.

The cast of Jane Austen's Emma Frankenstein features Cody Clark, Emily Clark, Dana DeRuyck, Julia Griswold, Bryan Krasner, Mike Lanahan, Rob Lecrone, Siaka Massaquoi, Tifanie McQueen, Andrew Joseph Perez, Graham Skipper, and Lauren Van Kurin.

About Crunch (Opening June 9)

Three best friends from high school, run aground on terrible jobs and instability in their early twenties, try to keep their adolescent love for each other alive while caring for a fourth friend who has become a powerful, ravenous, cave-dwelling entity. Even worse, the neighborhood gay bar is a total ghost town and the Target is closed. Crunch explores the intimacy and pressures of female friendship, the complexity of looking for justice when there's no clear place to put blame, and 101 fun and easy ways to cling to heterosexuality by your fingernails. Crunch was previously produced at this year's Son of Semele Company Creation Festival.

Playwright Katie Eiler graduated from the Tisch School of the Arts in 2016, receiving the John Golden Playwriting Prize from the Dramatic Writing department. She has had work featured at Serial Killers at Sacred Fools; a staged reading of a short play, Balm, at the Samuel French Bookstore Short Play Series; and a staged reading of her play Ill Humors by the Bats company of actors from the Flea Theater in New York.

Director Bo Powell is a three-year directing and producing veteran of the Hollywood Fringe Festival, a member of Sacred Fools and will be traveling to Toronto, Canada this year to be part of Director's Lab North. He also recently served as Assistant Director and Prop Designer for this Spring's Sacred Fools mainstage show Akuma-shin.

The cast of Crunch features Jax Ball, Jessie Bias, Marian Gonzales, Mona Lutfi and Dani Power.

About Dracula's Taste Test (Opening June 10)

The legendary vampire lord Dracula has awakened in the 21st century and presents this show at Fringe. Joined by his musical director (the Phantom of the Opera), Dracula hosts his friends and battles fiends. Special guest monsters join the cadaverous cabaret, guiding the audience from seance to sing-a-long with perhaps some murder along the way. Fun! Prizes! You'll wish you were undead.

This is the latest collaboration by Writer Marz Richards and Music Director Ryan Johnson, having worked together on multiple serials and interludes for Serial Killers and other late-night extravaganzas, as well as being members of the band Renfield. Johnson was also the Music Director for Sacred Fools live version of the cult classic Forbidden Zone: Live in the 6th Dimension, a production starring Richards as Satan. Their most recent effort is the EDM group known as Yankee Bandit, who provides the finale for Dracula's Taste Test.

Director Cj Merriman is one of the producers of Sacred Fools long-running (13 seasons and counting) late-night sensation Serial Killers. She also does quite a bit of choreography (for Sacred Fools: Miravel, for Loft Ensemble: She Kills Monsters, Now or Neverland, and Romeo and Juliet). She has also appeared in multiple Sacred Fools shows, including The The Behavior of Broadus, Watson, The Magic Bullet Theory and Skullduggery.

The cast of Dracula's Taste Test includes Brendan Broms, Ryan Johnson, Crystal Keith, Carrie Keranen, Bryan Krasner, Marz Richards, Jeff Sumner and Brian Wallis.

The Broadwater Plunge

We're also excited to announce the addition of The Broadwater Plunge, a new bar in the heart of Theatre Row catering to the theatergoing crowds opening in June in the Broadwater Theater Complex. For more information, visit www.thebroadwaterla.com, for media inquiries about the establishment, please contact Colin Baugh at Emblem PR, at colin@emblempr.com.

Quick Summaries:

WHAT: Jane Austen's Emma Frankenstein by Jenelle Riley, runtime 65 Minutes

WHEN: Saturday, June 9 at 8:00pm

Wednesday, June 13 at 7:00pm

Sunday, June 17 at 1:30pm

Saturday, June 23 at 8:00pm

WHERE: The Broadwater Main Stage, 1076 Lillian Way, LA CA 90038

TICKETS: $15

Press RSVP: Publicity@sacredfools.org

Public RSVP: Hollywood Fringe Festival Tickets for Jane Austen's Emma Frankenstein are available via this link. Tickets may be available at the door, but Fringe shows often sell out so there's no guarantee of availability and buying tickets in advance is highly recommended.

WHAT: Crunch by Katie Eiler, runtime 90 Minutes

WHEN: Saturday, June 9 at 11:00pm

Sunday, June 10 at 9:30pm

Wednesday, June 13 at 9:00pm

Saturday, June 23 at 4:30pm

WHERE: The Broadwater Black Box, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., LA CA 90038

TICKETS: $15

Press RSVP: Publicity@sacredfools.org

Public RSVP: Hollywood Fringe Festival Tickets for Crunch are available via this link. Tickets may be available at the door, but Fringe shows often sell out so there's no guarantee of availability and buying tickets in advance is highly recommended.

WHAT: Dracula's Taste Test by Marz Richards, runtime 60 Minutes

WHEN: Sunday, June 10 at 7:30pm

Wednesday, June 13 at 5:30pm

Sunday, June 17 at 6:00pm

Thursday, June 21 at 10:00pm

WHERE: The Broadwater Black Box, 6322 Santa Monica Blvd., LA CA 90038

TICKETS: $15

Press RSVP: Publicity@sacredfools.org

Public RSVP: Hollywood Fringe Festival Tickets for Dracula's Taste Test are available via this link. Tickets may be available at the door, but Fringe shows often sell out so there's no guarantee of availability and buying tickets in advance is highly recommended.

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