Theatre of NOTE Presents World Premiere of I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, Now thru 8/30

Theatre of NOTE continues its 2014 season with the World Premiere of I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND, written by Erik Patterson and directed by McKerrin Kelly.

Our lives can change in an instant. One moment you're getting engaged, and a few surreal moments later you're sitting among a group of strangers in an intensive care waiting room, praying your fiancé will survive a ruptured brain aneurysm. I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND is a moving and darkly humorous look at life outside the waiting room, when you try your hand at living again...

I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND will preview tonight, July 25th and Saturday, July 26th, and will open on Friday, August 1st at 8pm and run through Saturday, August 30th at Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd (just north of Sunset) in Hollywood.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM:

Erik Patterson (Playwright) Erik Patterson's previous Theatre of NOTE productions include YELLOW FLESH/ALABASTER ROSE (Backstage West Garland Award, Best Play); RED LIGHT, GREEN LIGHT (Ovation Award nomination, Best Play); HE ASKED FOR IT (GLAAD Award nomination; Ovation Award nomination, Best Play), and TONSEISHA (currently being developed as an opera with Saltpeter Productions in London). With his screenwriting partner Jessica Scott, Erik has an extensive list of film and TV credits, including RADIO REBEL (Humanitas Prize), ANOTHER CINDERELLA STORY (Writers Guild Award for Best Children's Script), and the recently released SOPHIA GRACE & ROSIE'S ROYAL ADVENTURE. For the last four seasons, they've written for R.L. Stine's THE HAUNTING HOUR, for which they've garnered two Emmy Award nominations.

McKerrin Kelly (Director) A former member of the NOTE ensemble, her recent directing projects include BRENDAN at TheatreBanshee (Best Director Award - LA Stage Scene), where she has also helmed productions of DOLLY WEST'S KITCHEN, THE HOSTAGE(Backstage West Garland Nomination for Directing) and POWER (part of LA Critic's Circle Award for Best Season). Elsewhere, she directed the inaugural production of THE SNOW QUEEN, an original panto for Blame The Clown Productions (Best Direction Award - LA Stage Scene); THE ARCTIC CIRCLE for Klepto Theatre Workshop (Best Direction Award - LA Stage Scene); BLANK, produced by Lone Star Ensemble; DRESS BLACK at Theatre of NOTE; and numerous workshop productions with Syzygy Theatre, The Vagrancy, and LAFPI.

ABOUT THE CAST AND DESIGN TEAM:

The cast of I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND features: Keston John, Judith Ann Levitt, Alina Phelan, Kirsten Vangsness (Garcia on CBS'CRIMINAL MINDS), Phil Ward and Nicholas S. Williams.

I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND features the design talents of an impressive array of Los Angeles area designers including: Set design by William Moore, Jr., Lighting design by Bosco Flanagan, Sound design by the Tony-nominated designer Cricket S. Myers, Costume design by Kara McLeod. The production is stage managed by Heidi Marie.

I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAND will preview on Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26 at 8pm and will open on Friday, August 1 at 8pm. It runs through Saturday, August 30 at Theatre of NOTE, 1517 N. Cahuenga Blvd. (just north of Sunset) in Hollywood.

Performances are Thursdays, 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.

About Theatre of NOTE - We at Theatre of NOTE are an enduring ensemble of diverse theatre artists in the heart of Hollywood who inspire, inform, and ignite our audiences by discovering courageous voices and creating entertaining, provocative, and revelatory theatrical works. NOTE was founded in 1981 by Kevin Carr, along with Kitty Felde, Marc Gordon, Melanie MacQueen, Heather Carr and Ted Parks, as a forum for original one-act plays (N.O.T.E. stood for "New One-Act Theatre Ensemble"), and to provide a stimulating environment for new playwrights. Since its inception, NOTE has been through several transitions, but the integrity of the original idea has always remained intact. We premiere an average of four main stage productions a year, by writers such as W.H. Auden, Bertolt Brecht, Sheila Callaghan, Christopher Kelley, Tony Kushner, Jennifer Maisel, Leon Martell, Murray Mednick, Dennis Miles, John O'Keefe, Erik Patterson, Bill Robens and Jacqueline Wright.NOTE also upholds a tradition of acclaimed late-night shows, first launched in 1988, in addition to the annual, notorious, celebrity-crowd art magnet, The Hollywood Performance Marathon. We have earned consistent commendation from the Los Angeles press and national acclaim from such publications as American Theatre. In all, NOTE has accumulated almost 100 honors and nominations, including awards from the LA WEEKLY, Backstage West, L.A. Stage Alliance (Ovations), and PEN International. Thanks to over thirty years ofadvancing theatre in Los Angeles, NOTE has received generous government and corporate support, including grants from the California Arts Council, the Cultural Affairs Department of Los Angeles, the Flintridge Foundation, the Libby Holman Foundation, the Los Angeles County Arts Commission, Robinson's/May, Sedgwick James Inc., the Audrey Skirball-Kenis Foundation, Verizon, Time Warner and, most recently, The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce in recognition of our Young Writers Project, an outreach program benefiting local high school students.

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