One is a So Cal playwright and actor who never surfed or wore designer sunglasses, another is a director whose "day job" is that of a psychotherapist, and the third acts in and produces plays while slinging high-end condos.
These three theatrical veterans are the creative forces behind the World Premiere of Cold Lang Syne, the new holiday thriller by Gregory Blair that runs November 26 through January 2, 2011 in the Ruby Theatre at The Complex, 6472 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood.
Set on New Year's Eve, Cold Lang Syne is about the reunion of four college friends and their significant others, who come together at a holiday party-a party that takes a deadly turn. Which guests harbor secrets-and who among them is a killer?
"I'm a Southern California boy, born and bred, but I don't surf, don't wear designer sunglasses, and I think biscotti is nothing more than overpriced, stale cookies," states Blair with a laugh. "My childhood included writing stories and plays, acting, making films, creating puppet shows-anything I could think of to escape suburbia. I had a blast and my parents had headaches."
After working in community theatre and taking treks to New York to keep current with the Broadway scene, Blair suffered what he calls "college interuptus" and obtained a Masters in Education. He came to his senses and realized that teaching high school the rest of his life sounded like Dante's Inferno, so he moved to Hollywood and immersed himself in acting and playwriting.
"It was a long process, but eventually I had my first play produced, my first screenplay optioned, and my first poem, editorial and novel published," recalls Blair. "I also had my professional film, stage, television, and web debuts. Now I'm older and wiser, but still loving what I do. I guess I'm still the same wide-eyed dreamer I was way back when, and I try to put a little of that in all of my work."
Cold Lang Syne director Douglas Green came to Los Angeles by way of Kansas City, where he was born and raised. After graduating from college, Green flew to Australia on vacation. He skipped his return flight and spent five years down under working in the Australian film industry as a truck driver, prop manager and assistant director. He made his way to L.A. and attended the USC film school. Numerous film industry jobs (from editing educational films to writing movie reviews) provided the impetus to hone his directing skills by taking acting classes at The
Larry Moss Studio and the Meisner-Carville School.
Green went on to direct a succession of critically-acclaimed plays at theaters throughout Southern California, but he couldn't shake his "day job" as a psychotherapist specializing in children and teens.
"I get to incorporate my theater skills as a practitioner of Drama Therapy, in which I use the creative tools of theater - writing, mask-making, music and acting - for therapeutic purposes," explains Green. "I also teach a class in Critical Thinking Through Improvisation for developmentally challenged college students through UCLA Extension."
Green brings both his clinical and theatrical skills to the table as the director of Cold Lang Syne.
"One of the pains of going through transitions in life is our mixture of desire, both to hold on to the relationships of our past, and to move on from what was not so great about them," notes Green. "This shows up most clearly when we try to blend our current life with our past; it seems to always result in a mixture of disaster and growth. Cold Lang Syne, which on the surface seems so much fun, is underneath a searing study of this frustrating desire, and of the ever-present need to confront our past in order to be able to move forward from it. Also looking at issues about marriage and the strengths and flaws of young men's group bonds, this fits with a lot of my favorite plays, which entertain lightly on the surface while striking deep chords underneath."
One of those light/deep plays Green enjoys most was the multi-award-winning production of
Stephen Sondheim's Company that Green directed at Theatre Palisades-a production that prompted Broadway legend
Robert Morse to exclaim "I finally saw it done right." That was music to the ears of
Kyle Nudo, who starred as
Robert In that celebrated staging and is producing Cold Lang Syne.
Nudo hails from the St. Louis area, but after obtaining a B.F.A. in Musical Theatre from Millikin University, Kyle set out to see the world-and the world noticed! He has traveled to nearly all 50 states, performing many plays and musicals in some of the nation's most beautiful and famous theatres. After singing and dancing across the country from Alaska to Maine, Nudo settled in Los Angeles, where he has starred in numerous plays ranging from revivals of Into the Woods to world-premieres of Evel Knievel the Rock Opera and Internet Dating: The Musical, garnering him the tongue-in-cheek title of 'The
Kevin Bacon of Los Angeles Theatre. "
Never to be pigeon-holed, Kyle recently served the Kaiser by leading a heroic, yet ill-fated assault in the
George Clooney-helmed feature, Leatherheads. Kyle also starred in and co-wrote and co-developed the independent feature, The Wicksboro Incident ("Ask for it at a video store near you, or add it to your Netflix queue," laughs Nudo).
"I've also done various beer commercials, and I've chewed the scenery on the NBC soap opera, Passions!" admits Nudo, who hustles hi-end condos when he's not working on stage or behind the scenes. "You can also see me nimbly maneuvering a giant hamster-ball in Petco's "Kritter Krawler" TV commercial spot."
Nudo is proud of the six seasons of theater he produced for The Culver City Public Theatre. He served multiple terms on the Theatre's Board of Directors, and multiple terms as Chairman of the Executive Board. He recently developed The Public's Children's Popcorn Theatre series, and directed the wildly successful inaugural production of
The Brothers Grimm classic Rumplestiltskin. Cold Lang Syne is produced through Nudo's Ipso Facto Productions.
"I think we're the perfect team to bring Cold Lang Syne to life," says Nudo. "It's not your typical holiday play, and we're not your typical Hollywood guys."
Tickets to Cold Lang Syne go on sale November 1. Tickets are $20 general admission, and $25 for the gala opening night and a special New Year's Eve performance at 7 pm on Friday, December 31. To purchase tickets, call (323) 960-4412, or visit www.Plays411.com/ColdLangSyne.
Visit the official Cold Lang Syne website at www.ColdLangSyne.us.
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