Theatre of NOTE to Present West Coast Premiere of BANSHEE, 10/3

Theatre of NOTE continues its 2014 season with the West Coast premiere of BANSHEE,written by Brian C. Petti and directed by James R. Carey. BANSHEE will preview Friday, September 26 and Saturday, September 27, and will open on Friday, October 3 at 8pm and run through Saturday, November 1 at Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd (just north of Sunset) in Hollywood.

BANSHEE cuts to the heart of what ails a New York family headed by an impossible matriarch, Irish immigrant Kit Sullivan. Kit is disappointed with son Junior and makes no secret of it. Junior, turning 40 and having recently suffered a nervous breakdown after years of caring for his widowed mother, wants life to return to normal. He is helped by his well-meaning cop brother, Neil, and his new girlfriend, Cara. Soon the girlfriend meets the mother, Kit, and Mother has some supernatural suspicions about this young Irish woman. All might be well if Junior weren't having terrifying visions of his own. Be it the psychological trauma or the Irish legend plaguing their home, both beg the question, which is this family's true tormentor?

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

BRIAN C. PETTI (Playwright) has been produced Off-Off Broadway (Masquerade, Before the Parade Passes By, Hindenburg - the Musical) and regionally (Next Year in Jerusalem, The Measure of a Man, On the Expectation of White Christmases) by such companies as Ten Grand Productions, The American Theater of Actors, Inc. and The Duplex Cabaret. Masquerade was staged at Cherry Lane Theater in NYC and Next Year in Jerusalem was the winner of the Humboldt State University National Play Contest in California, where it received a student production. Other works include Echoes of Ireland, which was recently produced in County Cork, Ireland by the Skibbereen Theatre Society, Ten Seconds, produced by Motivational Theatre as winner of the Carlton E. Spitzer Excellence in Playwriting Award, and The Love Song of Sidney J. Stein, which was part of All Out Arts' Fresh Fruit Festival in July 2013.

JAMES R. CAREY (Director) is a director/producer/teacher with both national and international credits who has been based out of Los Angeles since the early 80s. He has served as the Producing Artistic Director of the Attic Theatrelocated near Culver City since 1987. He has overseen the production of over 300 plays and short films covering a wide range of genres including musicals, Shakespeare, and new works. His productions have won numerous awards including 14 Drama-Logue awards and several Picks of the Week. Favorite productions include the world premiere of Sam Shepard's Suicide in B Flat, the world premieres of four unknown Thornton Wilder one-acts, the west coast premiereof Frogs by Stephen Sondheim, the LA small theatre debut of Love! Valor! Compassion! and the west coast premiere ofTheresa Rebeck's Family of Mann. He was the co-founder and the first president of Theatre Row - Hollywood from 1994 to 1996 for which he received an LA Drama Critics Circle Award and a Hollywood Arts Council "Charlie" Award. As a director, he has over 100 plays to his credit including award-winning productions of The Elephant Man and All My Sons, world premiere one-acts by Lee Blessing and Jeffrey Hatcher, classics like The Cherry Orchard for Oasis Theatre andMacbeth for Kingsmen Shakespeare, and the creation of original works like Coming to Zimbabwe and Come Together, A Beatles Cabaret that have toured Africa and the Middle East. He has an MFA in Theatre Management, Cum Laude from California State University, Long Beach, and has taught at CSULB, California Lutheran University, and Pepperdine University. Since 2012, he has given up daily management of the Attic Theatre to focus on international teaching and consultant efforts, having worked in Zimbabwe, Malawi, South Africa, Italy and the UAE.

The cast of BANSHEE features: Bill Voorhees, Alysha Brady, Lynn Odell, Joe Mahon, and Norm Johnson. Understudies are Jonathon Lamer, Jenny Gillett, Suzanne Voss, and Brad C. Light.

BANSHEE features the design talents of an impressive array of Los Angeles area designers including: Set design by William Moore, Jr., Lighting design by Matthew Richter, Sound design by the Tony-nominated Cricket S Myers, Costume design by Abel Alvarado and Props design by Maggie Blake. The production is stage managed by Kelly Egan.

BANSHEE will preview on Friday, September 26 and Saturday, September 27 at 8pm and will open on Friday, October 3 at 8pm. It runs through Saturday, November 1 at Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd. (just north of Sunset) in Hollywood. Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Sundays at 7pm. Ticket prices are $25; students & seniors $20. For tickets and details, call (323) 856-8611, or visit www.theatreofnote.com to purchase tickets online and to view complete schedule.

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