WICKED LIT Fest Of New Plays Returns To LA 10/21-30

Producers JoNathan Josephson, Jeff G. Rack, and Paul Millet have announced the plays, dates and location of the 2010 Wicked Literature: A Halloween Theatre Festival. The annual event features world premiere stage adaptations of classic gothic literature performed in alternative venues. Last year's festival was a sold-out walking tour through Beverly Hills' haunted Greystone Mansion - this year's festival will take place October 21-30, 2010 (7 performances only) at the Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery in Altadena, CA (2400 Fair Oaks Avenue). The evening of short works will be comprised of Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado, adapted by Paul Millet; H. P. Lovecraft's The Unnamable, adapted by Jeff G. Rack; and Charles Dickens' The Chimes, adapted by JoNathan Josephson.

"We are thrilled for the opportunity to produce Wicked Lit at Mountain View Mausoleum this fall. With the immense success of the Greystone production last year, it's clear there is great interest in the alternative venue aspect of Wicked Lit," said producer Paul Millet.

Millet is also the Artistic Director of Nom de Guerre Theatre Guild - an organization that produces Wicked Lit and is planning other special projects for future years. "The evolution of Wicked Lit from a simple idea in 2007 to a second full production in 2010 has been nothing short of remarkable," added Millet.

Rack and Josephson are also co-producers of the festival as well as writers and directors. "There is no better opportunity for us to showcase our passion for theatre, short stories, and alternative experiences all at the same time. The challenge is to make sure that our final production embodies the absolute best of what each of those fields has to offer - it's not going to be easy, but it's an exciting task to undertake," said producer JoNathan Josephson.

Producer Jeff G. Rack said, "Last year's Wicked Lit production at Greystone Mansion is a hard act to follow, but I'm confident that our audience is going to be thrilled with what we have in store for them at the Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery. I can't think of a better location for an interactive Halloween show than this."

Patrons of Wicked Lit will see three short plays over the course of an evening (Cask, Unnamable, and Chimes). Each play will be performed on a different part of the Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery campus. Attendees will be led to and from each play by a Story Guide.

The cast of Wicked Lit includes John T. Cogan, Eric Harris, Pamela Hill, William Joseph Hill, LizAnne Keigley, Shelby Kocee, Ilona Kulinska, Richard Large, Tanya Mironowski, Michael Perl, Katie Pelensky, Brian David Pope, Michael Prichard, Amy Rieckelman, and Ghislaine Sopher-Phillips.

The design team includes Art Direction/EFX by Jeff G. Rack, Costume Designer Christine Cover Ferro, Lighting Designer Ellen Monocroussos, Sound Designer Doug Newell and Make-up Designer Julie Pound.

Wicked Lit also produces an annual, region-wide play reading series - details on those events will be announced soon.

For tickets and more information for Wicked Literature: A Halloween Theatre Festival at Mountain View Mausoleum and Cemetery, go to wickedlit.org or call 818-242-7910

THE PLAYS:

Edgar Allan Poe's The Cask of Amontillado
Adapted by Paul Millet, Directed by JoNathan Josephson
Journey to the catacombs for a stirring retelling of Poe's classic tale of madness, unrequited love, and deception.

H. P. Lovecraft's The Unnamable
Adapted and Directed by Jeff G. Rack
Two teachers - one a man of science and one a follower of the occult - enter a graveyard on an ominous evening. If all goes according to plan, only one will return home.

Charles Dickens' The Chimes
Adapted by JoNathan Josephson, Directed by Paul Millet
In the spirit of A Christmas Carol (but with the bite of a ghost story), The Chimes is a haunting tale of renewal, goblins, and the ties the bind.

PERFORMANCES AND TICKETS:

October 21-30, 2010, 7 performances only
Thursday-Sunday, all performances start promptly at 8:00 p.m.
** Tickets for all announced performances are $45. **
For more information go to wickedlit.org or call 818-242-7910
SEATING IS LIMITED TO 70 PATRONS PER EVENING - ADVANCE TICKET PURCHASES ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Location: Mountain View Mausoleum & Cemetery Altadena, 2400 Fair Oaks Avenue, Altadena, California 91001. Please note: Enter the parking lot on Marengo in between Woodbury and Garfield DO NOT ENTER FROM FAIR OAKS.

AMPLE FREE PARKING
Please look at a map and allot plenty of time before driving to Mausoleum.

PLEASE NOTE:

THIS IS A WALKING PRODUCTION THAT TAKES PLACE AT NIGHT.
Dress comfortably and warm.
THIS PRODUCTION IS MEANT TO BE SCARY!

ABOUT WICKED LIT:

The scope of Wicked Literature: A Halloween Theatre Festival is to create and produce new stage plays based on classic gothic literature. Since 2008, Wicked Lit has presented over 40 readings of new plays at theatres, libraries, schools, and festivals all over Southern California and has proudly worked with communities throughout Los Angeles, Orange, and Ventura counties. In addition to the annuAl Halloween reading series which began in 2008, Wicked Lit launched its inaugural theatre festival production in 2009 at the haunted Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Wicked Lit: A Halloween Theatre Festival is thrilled to announce this exciting new play series for 2010.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM:

JONathan JosephSON (Playwright/Producer/Director). Jonathan's original plays have been read and produced at The Actor's Theater of Louisville, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Remmy Bumppo Theatre Company (Chicago), Lightsout Theatre Company (Chicago), The Chance Theater (Anaheim), Pasadena Playhouse Balcony Theatre/Carrie Hamilton Theatre, The Syzygy Theatre Group, The Great Plains Theatre Conference (Omaha), N4th Art Center (Albuquerque), The Dana Point Theatre Company, and The Westchester Playhouse. His plays have been named as Finalists for the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference and twice for the National 10-minute Play Contest's Heideman Award at ATL. Past Wicked Lit plays include Washington Irving's The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and Mark Twains' A Ghost Story. In addition to playwriting, Jonathan has also directed at The Chance Theater and is the Founding Producer of Our New Play Spectacular at the University of California, San Diego which is slated for its 8th annual incarnation in 2011.

PAUL MILLET (Playwright/Producer/Director). As a director, Paul's credits include The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and The Fall of the House of Usher (also playwright) for the 2009 production of Wicked Lit at Greystone Mansion; Incorruptible and Southern Comforts at Theatre 40 in Beverly Hills; Driving Miss Daisy, The Curious Savage and The Prisoner of Second Avenue at the High Street Arts Center in Moorpark, and the two original one-acts, Alpha Best and Best Chance, Chance Best for Variations on a Theme at The Chance Theater in Anaheim. Recently Paul directed the original play A Song for Me for the New Voices Playwrights Theatre in Santa Ana. As a former member of the Eclectic Company Theatre (ECT) in North Hollywood, Paul directed the critically acclaimed productions of Don't Dress for Dinner, Spike Heels, A Weekend Near Madison, the world premieres of Exmagare and The Unsinkable Bismarck, as well as the late night serial Ambition. He also directed a production of Vaclav Havel's The Memorandum at Vox Humana in Century City CA, which earned him notice from both the Czech General Consulate to the United States, and the Czech Ambassador to the United Nations. The world premiere of his play The Bang & The Clatter was produced at ECT in Spring 2003. Other notable Los Angeles credits include Landscape of the Body, Kiss of the Spider Woman, the world premiere of Delia's Song as producer, and the late night variety show The Tony Morlando Show, as writer, producer and stage manager.

JEFF G. RACK (Playwright/Producer/Director) adapted and directed Robert E. Howard's classic terror tale, Pigeons From Hell, at the Greystone Mansion in 2009. Last October, he directed the L.A. premiere of Jeffrey Hatcher's Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde for Theater 40, continuing his association with the Beverly Hills theater, having directed the west coast premiere of PEN, and The Mystery Plays there as well. Jeff is also their resident designer. He was thrilled to direct two of Rod Serling's original Twilight Zone episodes for Theatre West in Hollywood to rave reviews from critics and audiences, including high praise from Carol Serling. Jeff was also a finalist in The 2008 Rod Serling Short Feature Scriptwriting Competition with his entry, No Totos. Jeff recently traveled to Italy to do research for a screenplay he just completed for Prince Lorenzo De' Medici, and has written two other feature screenplays. He has written adaptations of classic literature for books on tape, including Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. He is also one of the creators, head writer, and artistic director of the Ghostwalk, a hugely popular annuAl Halloween event, now in it's sixteenth year, that combines history with live theatre, in the streets of Santa Paula, CA. While living in Ventura, Jeff adapted and directed an eye-popping production of Alice in Wonderland for the stage,and wrote, produced and directed two Live 40's era Radio Show Recreations with the Grand Guignol Players, Tales to Tremble By based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and The Shadow. Probably best known to Los Angeles theater patrons for his award-winning set designs, Jeff has designed and built over 150 productions from Santa Barbara to Edinburgh, Scotland, and recently received an L.A. Weekly Award for his work on Frank
Zappa's Joe's Garage.

 

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