THE HOTEL PLAY Opens This Saturday

The Playwrights' Arena production of "The Hotel Play," written by seven female Los Angeles playwrights and directed and conceived by Playwrights' Arena Artistic Director Jon Lawrence Rivera will open this Saturday, April 1 at 8 p.m. "The Hotel Play" will be presented in six different rooms and poolside at the Radisson Hotel Midtown at USC and will run through April 16, 2017. (Specific dates and times are below.) The world premiere marks the 25th anniversary of Playwrights' Arena.

The cast of "The Hotel Play" includes, in alphabetical order, Brenda Banda, Moises Castro, Angel Star Felix, Durant Fowler, Melissa Greenspan, Stevie Johnson, Tamika Katon-Donegal, Natasha Liu, Mariana Marroquin, Joanie Marx, Keyla Monterroso Mejia, Ryan Moriarty, Elmira Rahim, Dorothy Sinclair and Cary Thompson.

Scenic/prop design is by Christopher Scott Murillo, lighting design is by R. Christopher Stokes, costume design is by Mylette Nora, sound design is by Howard Ho and projection design is by Nicholas Santiago. Casting is by Raul Staggs and Christina Bryan is the stage manager.

During "The Hotel Play," audience members will join the class of 1992 for their 25th high school reunion. In Act I, the audience travels through six different hotel rooms and watch as estranged classmates reconnect. Memories begin to surface of the year they graduated, the year of the Rodney King riots, and in Act II the classmates come together by the hotel pool where each of their stories, past and present, are revealed.

The new piece looks back on a part of L.A.'s tumultuous history while simultaneously showing the progress that still needs to be made in the present. It is a play that is as diverse as L.A., with characters that differ in race, sexual orientation, gender identity and physical ability.

Commissioned by Center Theatre Group, "The Hotel Play" is written by an eclectic group of female playwrights, including Paula Cizmar ("The Death of a Miner"), Velina Hasu Houston ("Calling Aphrodite" and "Tea, With Music"), Jennifer Maisel ("The Last Seder"), Nahal Navidar (Eugene O'Neill Conference Semi-Finalist for "The Charlie Play"), Julie Taiwo Oni ("Tether"), Janine Salinas Schoenberg (writer for ABC's "American Crime") and Laurie Woolery (Director of Public Works at The Public Theater). Several of the playwrights for "The Hotel Play" have had a long working relationship with Playwrights' Arena with works like Cizmar's "Street Stories," Houston's "Calligraphy" and "Cinnamon Girl," Maisel's "@thespeedofJake" and Schoenberg's "Anatomy of the Gazellas."

Those in attendance will receive the full reunion experience with light refreshments and a no host bar provided during Act II. There is also a dinner package available for those who wish to add to their experience. Attendees can mention "The Hotel Play" and receive a $25 three-course, pre-fix dinner from McKay's. More information on the dinner special is available at http://playwrightsarena.org/theater/the-hotel-play/.

Playwrights' Arena was founded by Jon Lawrence Rivera and Steve Tyler in 1992. It is dedicated to discovering, nurturing and producing bold new works for the stage written exclusively by Los Angeles playwrights. The company develops new materials through several series of readings, workshops and round table discussions. Its goal is to create a place where local playwrights are encouraged to create original, adventurous, daring materials with the intent of challenging the mind, touching the heart and provoking the spirit.

Regular performances for "The Hotel Play" will run April 1 through 16, on Saturdays at 8 p.m., Sundays at 3 and 7 p.m. and Mondays at 8 p.m. There will also be two preview performances on March 31 at 8 p.m. and April 1 at 3 p.m.

Tickets for "The Hotel Play" are available at www.thehotelplay.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800-838-3006. The Radisson Hotel Midtown at USC is located at 3540 S Figueroa St, Los Angeles, CA.

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