Tony Award Winner Paul Sand To Workshop THE PILOT WHO CRASHED THE PARTY At The Odyssey Theatre

Paul Sand Projects has announced that it will present a workshop production of THE PILOT WHO CRASHED THE PARTY: A Dangerous Satire in Two Acts, a new play written and directed by Tony and two-time Drama Desk Award winner Paul Sand. The workshop, produced by Kiera Jacob, will be presented for one weekend on April 29, April 30 and May 1, 2022 as a visiting production at the Odyssey Theatre located at 2055 S Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90025.

Sally celebrates her 50th birthday with a small but elaborate dinner party for three friends in her manor nestled in the Santa Monica Mountains. Their evening is interrupted and fully consumed by an unexpected visitor during a rare southern California rainstorm. As the long night progresses, Sally and her guests simultaneously learn more and understand less about each other as the storm brews outside, and within, the house walls. Who is this mystery guest really? Or better yet, who are these four seemingly close friends?

"It's invigorating to be rehearsing with these remarkable actors, a brilliant young producer, and a very talented creative team," says writer and director Paul Sand. "The idea for this play's themes has percolated in my brain for years, then put to paper, and now finally on a stage ready for an audience."

The workshop production's cast includes Jacqueline Wright as Sally, Lee Boek as Daniel, Megan Rippey as Laura, Irish Giron as Ilo, Sol Mason as Pilot, Debra Lane as Valerie and Caroline Quigley as Bess.

THE PILOT WHO CRASHED THE PARTY has set design by Sol Mason, sound design by Shoshana Kuttner, lighting design by Azra King-Abadi, and music performed by violinist Yennie Lam. The workshop is sponsored in part by Public Works Improvisational Theater Company.

Tickets for the workshop are $10 and will go on sale soon. To purchase tickets, call the Odyssey Theatre Box Office at 310-477-2055 or visit https://odysseytheatre.com/.

About the Creative Team

Paul Sand (Writer, Director) is a Tony and two-time Drama Desk Award winning actor, writer and director who has been working in film, television and theatre for over 60 years. "I have been so lucky to have experienced many extraordinary things in my life, in addition to meeting and learning from many creative people. I want to use this time to bring unique, exciting and engaging entertainment to audiences of all ages," Sand said. Paul has appeared in dozens of television shows, including his roles as the boyfriend of TV's funny ladies like Mary Tyler Moore (who can forget the lovesick IRS auditor?) and Carol Burnett. Paul's own MTM sitcom, Paul Sand in Friends and Lovers aired on CBS. Just a few of his co-starring roles in films and television, include HBO's hit series Curb Your Enthusiasm, The Hot Rock with Robert Redford, The Main Event (with Barbra Streisand), Taxi, The X Files, and Murder, She Wrote. In 1971, for playing 11 characters in Paul Sills' Story Theatre, Paul won the Tony Award for Best Performance for a Featured Actor in a Play. He also garnered two Drama Desk Awards for Outstanding Performance on Broadway in Story Theatre and Ovid's Metamorphosis. Paul performed in his original play Louis, From Work, which opened at the Festival of Two Worlds in Spoleto, Italy, and was directed by world-renowned director/choreographer Jerome Robbins. As the Co-founder and Artistic Director of Paul Sand Projects, Paul has created an arena where he can use all of his many gifts and passions that include not only acting, but also writing, directing and teaching.

Kiera Jacob (Producer) is an actress and Twitch streamer based in Los Angeles. She recently played Alice in the indie film, The Birthmark Killer, and just finished playing Maria and Antonio in Twitch's first-ever production of Tweflth Night, featuring an all-female cast. When she's not performing on stream, screen or stage, she's working for Paul Sand Projects in all kinds of facets; she met Paul Sand when she stage managed An Illegal Start, and knew she had stumbled onto something incredible. Since then she's gone on to perform, stage manage, produce and help develop the business under Paul's guidance. Follow Kiera on Instagram and Twitter @kiera_lp and on twitch at twitch.tv/little_percent.

Azra King-Abadi (Lighting Design) has recently designed Apartment Living at the Skylight Theatre and Poor Clare with Echo Theatre, after it failed to open in March 2020. She had the opportunity to design several streamed concerts with LA Opera Connects. Prior works include Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time and The Color Purple with Greenway Court Theatre, Women Beyond Borders with Rubicon Theatre, The Ridiculous Darkness with Son of Semele, Under Milk Wood, and Vendetta Chrome with Coeurage Theatre, Lunatics and Actors with Four Clowns, Madama Butterfly with Opera Santa Barbara, Alexander's Feast with LA Master Chorale, Wonderful Town with LA Opera, Angels in America opera with the LA Philharmonic. azrakingabadi.com

Shoshana Kuttner (Sound Design) has over 25 years of experience in theater and performance in NYC, LA and SF. From Shakespeare to Nicky Silver and everywhere in between, she shares her passion for storytelling by bringing new works to life with the feeling of sound. Shoshana is the Founder and Director of Young Actors Project, a non-profit dedicated to growing self-expression through the performing arts.

Yennie Lam (Violinist) is a professional violinist with years of professional live show performances under her belt. She plays both electric and acoustic violin and performs various genres of music ranging from classical to r & b, jazz, pop, folk, rock, contemporary, country, hip-hop, and electronic music. Yennie travels around the world, pushing the boundaries of contemporary music and classical, from performing live sets of electronic dance music and electrifying the stage with non-stop high energy to intimate moments where she plays renditions of America's favorite songs from old classics to popular music of today. Wherever she is, Yennie will surely bring you a lasting memory that will delight the soul.

Cast Bios

Lee Boek has been an integral part of the Silverlake based, Public Works Improvisational Theater Company, since the late '70s, where he has also been the company's Artistic Director since 2001. Lee has produced, directed, helped create, and performed in virtually all the original plays and performance art pieces produced by the company since 1979. Boek's television credits include Mama's Family, Webster, Home Improvement, MADtv and others.

Irish Giron is a multi-faceted actor of the stage and screen. He's brought to life characters like Teresa in Hristo Boytchev's The Colonel and the Birds, and Judge Littlefield and Caiphus the Elder in The Last Days of Judas Iscariot to name a few. He returns to Paul Sand Projects for his hat trick with mentor and friend Paul Sand to bring life to Ilo in Paul's original play The Pilot Who Crashed the Party.

Debra Lane's Los Angeles theatre appearances include Blue Corridor at the Odyssey, Pinafore! at the Celebration Theatre (L.A. Weekly award), The School for Wives at the Stella Adler Theatre, Ondine at the Powerhouse Theatre, Florinda at the Freud Playhouse, Song of Songs at The Fountain Theatre, Serious Money for L.A. Theatre Works and Rags at the Colony Studio Theatre. Lane can also be heard singing the theme song for TV series The Comeback with Lisa Kudrow.

Sol Mason is an Australian/American actor who works across film, theatre and television. Originally from Brisbane, Mason's happy to call LA home. He specializes in guerrilla and high concept indies, appearing in eight feature films - most notably Now is Everything by writer-director Ricardo Spinotti starring Sir Anthony Hopkins. Mason co-founded Paul Sand Projects, which has collaborated with Tim Robbins' The Actors' Gang, The Ruskin Group Theatre, and now at the Odyssey. Mason has a double BA in theatre studies and science from the Australian National University.

Caroline Quigley's theatrical credits include starring in Stephen Fife's Blue Kiss at The Ark Theatre, Molly Greville's Unmentionables at Studio One, and Sara Katzoff's Particularly in the Heartland at The Foundry Theatre. On screen, Caroline has starred in numerous films, including Donia Rogia's drama On God Vomit, Nathaniel Clute's feature The Violet Hour and Peter Lygosorsky's short iLabs Inc. Quigley is a graduate of the School of Theatre at Boston University, where she received her BFA in Acting with a Concentration in Musical Theatre.

Megan Rippey is a Baltimore-born actor living and working in Los Angeles. She received a BA from St. Mary's College of Maryland in Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and an MFA in Acting from CalArts. Recent film credits include the indie fantasy-thriller Mermaid Down (2019), the indie Western film Badland (2019), the indie action-thriller Final Kill (2019), and the leading role in the indie Western She Was The Deputy's Wife (2021).

Jacqueline Wright is a graduate of Cal Arts. She works as an actor, playwright, and screenwriter in LA and NY. She is the recipient and nominee of LA Weekly, Stage Raw, Ovations and Drama Critics' Circle awards. She originated the roles of Molly Carlson and Betty in The Patron Saint of Sea Monsters by Marlane Meyer, dir by Lisa Peterson, JonBenét Ramsey in House of Gold, dir by Gates McFadden, Barb in Blueberry Toast by Mary Laws, Carrie in Backyard by Mickey Birnbaum. Recent roles include Juliana in the regional premiere of Sharr White's The Other Place dir by Matthew McCray and The Dope Elf in The Dope Elf, written & directed by Asher Hartman.

ABOUT Paul Sand PROJECTS

Paul Sand Projects has brought creative and original works of theatre to perfectly outlandish locations across Santa Monica and Los Angeles. Inspired by the highly enthusiastic critical and audience response from Kurt Weill at the Cuttlefish Hotel, first seen at the end of Santa Monica Pier, Paul Sand Projects was born. Yearly, audiences enjoy Save the Pier!, a play that recounts the fight to save the Santa Monica Pier from demolition. Other credits include An Illegal Start staged in the Santa Monica Pier's Merry-go-Round. Paul Sand Projects aims to leave its theatrical mark in the most interesting places.

ABOUT THE ODYSSEY THEATRE

With a 50-year history as one of Los Angeles' most adventurous companies and a pioneer in the intimate theatre movement, the Odyssey continues to offer world-class live theatre experiences in its three-theatre complex. Whether it be an original new play, a bold re-envisioned classic, or something hot off the international theatre circuit, the Odyssey strives to be provocative, mind-bending and emotionally potent. As an artist-run venture, this unique company is always multicultural in both intent and practice, serving the wonderfully diverse ethnic mix of the Los Angeles community...both of artists and audiences. Paul Sand Projects is honored to be a visiting production of the Odyssey Theatre. CLICK THE IMAGES TO DOWNLOAD HIGH-RES PHOTO.

Writer and director Paul Sand | Photo courtesy of Paul Sand Projects

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