Skylight Theatre Company to Present the World Premiere of FOREVER HOUSE

Skylight Theatre Company presents the World Premiere of FOREVER HOUSE Written by Tony Abatemarco and Directed by Elizabeth Swain Opening Saturday, January 23, 2016 at 8pm reception to follow 8:30pm Fridays, 8pm Saturdays, and 3pm Sundays through Feb 28, 2016 The Skylight Theatre is located at 1816 1/2 N. Vermont, LA, 90027

A new twist is emerging in this post-equality moment, and it has hatched a world premiere comedy...with foreboding. Now, with social respectability and a first mortgage...what could possibly go wrong for this thirty-something gay couple?

Jack and Ben are buying their first home, a "forever" house, which happens to be where Jack was born. But, from the day they close, a host of unleashed demons seem to invade their lives, testing the strength of their bond and bringing new meaning to the limits of square footage. Forever House is a play about the challenges of commitment.

After years of being outside and defining ourselves as 'other,' we're faced with the same things everyone else has to face. Respectability. Growing up, united and suburbanited. "Now what? Renegade no more, we're challenged to assimilate, buy a house, raise a family, and fit in. Maybe it was easier being an outlaw," says playwright Tony Abatemarco

Tony Abatemarco (Playwright) received the first Ted Schmitt Award for "Innovation in Small Theatre" from Theatre LA and the first George Stevens Directing Observership from SDC and the Directors' Guild. As a playwright, he has won both LA Weekly & DramaLogue awards (Brain Hotel, Four Fathers). His play, Beautified, had its world premiere at the Skylight Theatre, 2012. Tony is a recipient of an Ovation Award and has received three nominations for the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award. Tony has directed on Broadway (Julie Harris in Lucifer's Child), The Arts Theatre in London's West End (Robyn Peterson's Catwalk Confidential), regionally and in Paris.

Elizabeth Swain (Director) directs for Antaeus Theatre Company where her work includes The Malcontent and several Classicsfest shows such as Medea, The Lucky Chance, Our Country's Good, King John and The Master Builder. She directed A Midsummer Night's Dream and Macbeth for Cal State Long Beach, and for NY State Theatre, Hamlet for TWAS NYC, and Master Harold and the Boys for Cape May Playhouse. Elizabeth has appeared in several Broadway and Off Broadway productions, regional theaters and tours.

FOREVER HOUSE runs 8:30pm Fridays, 8pm Saturdays, and 3pm Sundays through February 28, 2016. The Skylight Theatre is located at 1816 1/2 N. Vermont Ave, LA, 90027. Tickets are $30 - $34. Reservations: 213-761-7061 or online at http://skylighttix.com

Gary Grossman (Executive Producer) is the Producing Artistic Director for Skylight Theatre Company. He started his career in New York owning two theaters and a theatrical lighting company by the age of 23. Gary worked at the Public Theatre, Café La Mama, and Sheraton Square Playhouse before traveling West in the 70's to join up with the emerging theatre moment in Los Angeles. He has produced over 300 stage plays, including more than 50 world premieres. Among his celebrated productions are Dontrell, Who Kissed the Sea (Steinberg/National Theatre Critics Citation), Years to the Day, El Grande CIRCUS de Coca-Cola, Wrong Man (3 Ovation Awards), Pray To Ball (1 Ovation Award), Hermetically Sealed, Bullrusher, Sexsting, Mad Women (LA Weekly Award for Best Solo Performance), Romeo and Juliet directed by Milton Katselas (3 LADCC Awards), Dylan (3 LADCC Awards), Influence, Open House, Dream Man, Lone Star, Balm in Gilead, Visions and Lovers, Rabbit Hole, Beautified and La Ronde de Lunch.

Skylight Theatre Company discovers, develops and produces new, exhilarating works that expand mainstream theatre while nurturing and educating the people who create them. A recipient of the prestigious Steinberg National Theatre Critics Citation (Dontrell, Who Kissed The Sea - Nathan Alan Davis), Skylight's resident PlayLab writers have been recognized with productions nationwide, a national 2014 USA Ford Fellowship in Theater and Performance (Sigrid Gilmer), and locally as a finalist for the 2015 Humanitas/CTG Playwriting Prize (Louisa Hill). Skylight won 4 Ovation Awards in 2014 for The Wrong Man and Pray To Ball (the most of any intimate theatre in LA). LA Weekly included the Skylight's productions of Years To The Day, Open House and Sexsting on their Top Ten list of plays for 2013. Skylight's first year as a company dedicated to developing new plays began in 2011, their production of Hermetically Sealed made the LA Times annual list of Top Ten Plays, and Mad Women moved from Los Angeles to La MaMa in New York. Since then, plays developed by Skylight have been performed in Chicago, New York, Washington D.C., Oregon, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and internationally in Scotland and France.

OUR CAST:

Michael Rubenstone (Jack) was recently seen in End of the Rainbow (ICT Long Beach), The Skin of our Teeth (Williamstown Theatre Festival), Romeo and Juliet (Pittsburgh Public Theatre), Fat Pig (Hudson Theatre), Butter (Ensemble Studio Theatre/LA), South of Delancey (Fremont Center Theatre). TV credits include: The Goldbergs, Revenge, Happy Endings, The Mentalist, Common Law, Breaking In, Jericho, Private Practice.

James Liebman (Ben) played the role of Sven in Joking Apart (NY), Dorn in The Seagull (NY), David (best actor nominee) in the original play Rabbit The Dog (NY), and Fitzwilliam in Pride and Prejudice (LA). He recently appeared in the Daytime Emmy Award-winning web series MiPromise and was seen in the award-winning short film The Dangle.

Elyse Mirto (Gloria/Francine) appeared in A Flea in Her Ear (Broadway World nomination), Figaro, and The Guardsman at A Noise Within. Other local stage credits include Conviction at The Rubicon (Ovation nominee), Steel Magnolias a Laguna Playhouse and Twelfth Night, Hamlet and Much Ado at Kingsmen Shakespeare. Off Broadway: White's Lies, New World Stages. Any Day Now, Manhattan Theatre Source (Best Actress - New York Innovative Theatre Award), Next Year in Jerusalem, Workshop Theatre Company (NYITA nominee). Elyse has worked with Chicago Shakespeare Rep, and at the Goodman theatre. Selected TV credits include Scandal, NCIS and The Last Ship.

Joel Swetow (Bill/Pete) has appeared in countless plays from New York to Los Angeles. Favorite roles include Ned Weeks in The Normal Heart, Estragon in Waiting for Godot, Malvolio in Twelfth Night, Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, Marc Antony in Antony and Cleopatra, Matt Friedman in Talley's Folly, and the title role in Tartuffe. He has recurred and guest starred on numerous of TV shows such as Awkward, Selfie, Amazon's upcoming Mad Dogs, Charmed, Burn Notice, Alias, and 3 of the Star Trek series. Joel has had leading roles in many films such as Alice in Wonderland, and The Lord of Illusions His voice can be heard in reams of animated projects, such as The Lorax.

Dale Raoul (Evelyn) began her professional career at the Old Globe in San Diego and has appeared at the Pasadena Playhouse, Indiana Repertory, Arizona Theatre Company, New Mexico Repertory, LATC, the Ivy Substation, the Whitefire and more. Numerous TV and film roles include seven seasons on HBO's hit series TRUE BLOOD.

OUR PRODUCTION TEAM:

John Iacovelli (Scenic Designer) received the LADCC Lifetime Achievement Award in Scenic Design and he has a Prime Time Emmy for the broadcast of the Broadway production of Peter Pan starring Cathy Rigby, which originated in La Mirada. Memorable productions include shows at the Mark Taper Forum, The Pasadena Playhouse, South Coast Rep, The Geffen Playhouse and The Matrix Theatre. John has three decades of experience designing for Film and TV including for the movie Honey, I Shrunk the Kids! and Babylon 5, among many others.

Jeff McLaughlin (Lighting Design) recently designed for Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek, The Blue Iris (NAACP nominee), Bakersfield Mist (Ovation nominee), A House Not Meant to Stand (Ovation and LA Weekly Award nominee) and The Train Driver (Ovation and LA Weekly Award nominee) all at The Fountain Theatre. Other stage credits include Grace and Glorie (Ovation winner) at The Colony; Rudolph the Red-Nosed Rein-Doors at The Falcon; Sexsting at The Skylight; Years to the Day at Beverly Hills Playhouse; Recent Tragic Events (LADCC Award nominee), The Long Christmas Ride Home (Ovation nominee), Pray to Ball (Ovation nominee), and A Skull in Connemara (Ovation and LADCC winner) at Theatre Tribe. Commercial clients include Kellogg's, Tropicana and Huawei. Corporate clients include P&G and Wella-Sebastian. Television credits include Octane Academy and Interior Motives.

Peter Bayne (Sound Designer) works extensively at The Fountain Theatre (The Brothers Size, Broomstick, In the Red and Brown Water, A Normal Heart, The Blue Iris, Cyrano, On the Spectrum, Bakersfield Mist, Opus, Coming Home, El Nogalar, Shining City), A Noise Within (The Tempest), South Coast Repertory (James and the Giant Peach), The Antaeus Company (The Malcontent, The Liar, The Colony Theatre: Year Zero), The Actor's Gang (Break The Whip, Katie the Kurst). Rogue Machine (Lost Girls), Theatre of Note (Copy), and The Elephant Theatre Company (Unorganized Crime, Twilight of Schlomo, Parasite Drag, 100 Saints You Should Know, and Revelation). Peter is active as a composer in film and TV, and produces and performs dance music and rock and roll.

Terri A. Lewis (Costume Designer) recently worked on Picnic (Ovation Award Nomination), Henry IV, and Top Girls (Ovation Award Nomination, Stage Raw Nomination) for The Antaeus Theatre Company. Past productions include Class,Bunny, Bunny, Billy and Ray, Laurel and Hardy, Souvenir, and Everybody Say Cheese! for the Falcon Theatre; On Golden Pond, Grace and Glory, and Educating Rita for The Colony Theatre.

Nicholas Santiago (Video Design) studied scenic and video design at UCLA's MFA design program and theatrical design at Grinnell College. He is beginning his fifth year at Crossroads school of the Arts & Sciences teaching Entertainment Design and serving as one of the resident designers. Since moving to LA he has worked for numerous Universities and theatre companies including USC (Trojan Woman, Fortinbras, On The Town), Cal State Long Beach (Penelope, Rosencranz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Tartuffe, Lab), Saddleback College (Next to Normal), Dos Pueblos High School (In The Heights), Pomona College (Tartuffe, A Doll's House)

FOREVER HOUSE runs 8:30pm Fridays, 8pm Saturdays, and 3pm Sundays through February 28, 2016. The Skylight Theatre is located at 1816 1/2 N. Vermont Ave, LA, 90027. Tickets are $30 - $34. Reservations: 213-761-7061 or online at http://skylighttix.com

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