What if true love never happens? Or worse... what if it does? Theatre Planners presents the world premiere of an award-winning comedy by Sharon Sharth. Waiting for Grace opens as a guest production at the Odyssey Theatre on November 12, directed by Lee Costello.
Grace has it all. Or does she? A successful New York actor, she's always put her career first. But now she's ready for marriage and a baby. Suddenly, the clock is ticking.
A fast-paced comedy,
Waiting for Grace features characters that many women will relate to, although some may find Sharth's views controversial.
"Grace thinks she knows what her life should be, what she should want," explains Costello. "But she doesn't really know her own heart. We as women are presented with a labyrinth of emotion and expectation. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out which path is the right one for us as individuals."
"This is the story of a woman who doesn't fit into today's zeitgeist," Sharth says. "She didn't know she had waited too long, She wakes up one morning and thinks she wants to be married, and she puts all her energy into that. But is what she wants really what she needs?"
Sharth, who takes on the title role, is joined onstage by
Pamela Dunlap (
Pauline Francis on
Madmen; HBO's
Doll and Em; HBO's
Girls; premiere of
A.R. Gurneys
Love and Money at New York's
Signature Theatre) and
Lily Knight (LADCC and Stage Raw Award nominations for her role in Echo Theater Company's
A Small Fire; Edna in Odyssey Theatre's LADDC Award-winning
A Delicate Balance; Antaeus productions of
The Crucible, Peace in Our Time and
The Autumn Garden). The three were members together at New York's prestigious
Circle Repertory Theatre Company. The male members of the ensemble include Todd Babcock (
Gods and Monsters),
Jeff LeBeau (member, Open Fist and Skylight Theatre companies) and
Christopher Pennock (
Wendy Wasserstein's
Third at Actors Workout Studio, original cast of
Dark Shadows).
Waiting for Grace is the recipient of the Best New American Play Award from the Firehouse Theatre Project; the Collaboration Award from the New York Coalition of Professional Women in the Arts and Media; an Honorable Mention from the NYC New Works of Merit Playwriting Contest; and it was a semi-finalist at the
Edward Albee Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, AK. A reading at the Road Theatre here in Los Angeles starred
Gregory Harrison and
Robert Pine. Other readings have featured
Adam Arkin,
Dick Van Patten,
Brian Kerwin and
Jay O. Sanders.
The creative team includes set designer Pete Hickock; lighting designer
Donny Jackson;
Sound Designer Dave Marling; and costume designer Michael Mullen. The production stage manager is Jennifer Palumbo, and Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners produces.
Sharon Sharth's other plays include
Dates and Nuts (produced at New York's American Globe Theatre),
Penelope Rex, Monumental Chaos, Hollywood Haven and
LA Waves. Her play
Truly, Truly was part of the Pacific Resident Theatre Reading Series. She is a member of the
Dramatists Guild of America, the Actor and
Playwrights Units of
The Actors Studio, PEN USA and the Los Angeles Female Playwrights Initiative (LAFPI). Sharon has starred on and off-Broadway and in numerous film and television roles. As a member of New York's
Circle Repertory Theatre Company, she played May in
Sam Shepard's
Fool For Love with
Will Patton and went on to originate lead roles for playwrights
Lanford Wilson,
John Bishop,
Caroline Kava and
Aaron Sorkin. At other theaters, she originated roles for
John Pielmeier,
Shirley Lauro and
Ray Bradbury, including in the world premiere stage adaptation of
Fahrenheit 451. She has performed under the direction of
Marshall W. Mason,
Amy Saltz,
Don Scardino, Julie Hebert,
Steven Robman and
Randal Myler, and starred in productions at Circle Rep, Manhattan Theatre Club,
Geffen Playhouse,
Mark Taper Forum, San Diego's Old Globe, Actors Theatre of Louisville Humana Festival, Yale Rep and the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference, as well as touring internationally. She is a lifetime member of
The Actors Studio. Nominated for best leading actress awards for both
Woman In Mind by
Alan Ayckbourn and for
A Perfect Ganesh by
Terrence McNally, Sharon just won an L.A. Scenie Award for Outstanding Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in the Rubicon Theatre production of
See Rock City by
Arlene Hutton. She was previously seen at the Odyssey with
Jane Kaczmarek and
Gregory Harrison in
The Snake Can by Kathryn Graf. Films include starring roles in
Doorman with
Bradley Whitford,
Eat and Run with
Ron Silver and the independent horror short,
Damon. Sharon is also an award-winning author for children and has written sixteen books for various publishers. She is the recipient of the Young Adult Fiction Award from the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for "Wild Mind," a novel about teen suicide. She has been published in literary journals and has written many articles for aspiring writers, as well as being a regular speaker at schools, libraries and author fairs.
Lee Costello has directed numerous productions in New York and regionally. She is a member of both
Ensemble Studio Theatre/New York and
Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA. While living in New York, she was a member of the Circle Rep Lab as well as the
Women's Project and Productions, and she was a teaching artist for the Lincoln Center Institute. Her New York credits include
Extensions by
Murray Schisgal and
The Portable Dorothy Parker at
Ensemble Studio Theatre;
Cowboy Girl at New York Theatre Workshop;
Heads at La Mama;
The Adventures of She-Man at the Westbank Theatre Bar; and
Did I Vote For You?, an original play with music which received a special performance grant from the Franklin Furnace. Lee wrote and directed
The NOW Show, a multimedia send-up of late night talk shows, which sold out for its entire run at Dixon Place. Lee's short play
Hearts, Flowers andJell-O was featured as part of the 10th anniversary of the 52nd Street Project at Lincoln Center. Lee now resides in Los Angeles where she has directed for
Ensemble Studio TheatreLA, Theatre of Note, Highways, The Second City, Hollywood Fringe Festival, the
Blank Theatre and REDCAT. Currently she is the executive director of Mob Rule, Incorporated, a non-profit community outreach project.
Performances of
Waiting for Grace take place Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m., Nov. 12 through Dec. 11 (dark Thursday, Nov. 24). There will be two preview performances on Thursday, Nov. 11 and Friday, Nov. 12, both at 8 p.m. All tickets are $35 (reserved seating) except opening night (Nov. 12), for which tickets are $50 and include a post-performance catered reception with the actors, and previews, which are $25. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S.Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call
(323) 960-7788 or go to
www.plays411.com/waiting.
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