World Premiere of ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS by Arlene Hutton to Open The Road Theatre Company 2022-23 Season

The Road Theatre Company and Taylor Gilbert, Founder/Artistic Director together with Sam Anderson, Artistic Director, announce the first show of its 2022-2023Season, a world premiere comedy, ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS, written by Arlene Hutton (The Nibroc Trilogy) and directed by Emily Chase. ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS will begin previews on Tuesday, October 18 at 8pm; will open on Friday, October 21 at 8pm and run through Sunday, December 11 at the Road Theatre, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.

A semi-finalist at the prestigious O'Neill conference in 2021, ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS is scheduled to open in New York City in March, 2023. In the basement quick change room of a Broadway theatre in the mid 1980s life is full of angst as the long-running production may close at any time and the chorus women are at war with the wardrobe department. Will the new dresser, with her own sad past and uncertain future, be able to navigate this minefield? ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS is a funny, nostalgic behind-the-scenes look at a pivotal period in the history of Broadway where women's issues and the AIDS crisis play out through the everyday lives of Equity performers and union dressers.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

Arlene Hutton (Playwright) is the author of "The Nibroc Trilogy" which includes Last Train To Nibroc, See Rock City and Gulf View Drive. Rubicon Theatre Company's production of her play Gulf View Drive, directed by Katharine Farmer, received the 2018 Ovation Award for Best Production. Both Last Train to Nibroc and As It Is In Heaven, received their Los Angeles premieres at the Actors Co-Op. Her credits include B Street Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse, Florida Studio Theatre, Kitchen Theatre, and Washington Stage Guild. An alumna of New Dramatists and member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, New Circle Theatre Company, New Light Theatre Project (and Honor Roll!), she is three-time winner of the Samuel French Short Play Festival, nine-time finalist for the Heideman Award, Francesca Primus Prize finalist, recipient of an EST/Sloan Commission and NYFA Felllowship. Residencies include the Lark, MacDowell Colony, New Harmony Project, SPACE at Ryder Farm and Yaddo. Hutton's works have been presented at FringeNYC, Off- and Off-Off-Broadway, regionally, in London and at the Edinburgh Fringe. Her scripts are published by Dramatists Play Service, Playscripts and TRW. She is currently working on a commission for B Street Theatre in Sacramento and teaches playwriting online for The Barrow Group. In another life and under another name, Hutton was a dresser for several Broadway musicals, including the short-lived Carrie, and spent ten years in the wardrobe department of SNL.

Emily Chase (Director) Just before the pandemic, Emily directed Eight Nights at Antaeus Theatre Company; it garnered two Ovation Awards (Best Actress and Best Playwright), and nine nominations (including Best Production and Best Director). Her next production at Antaeus will be Love And Information this spring. Emily directed A Little House Christmas at Sierra Madre Playhouse, and Round And Round The Garden and The Real Inspector Hound at Theatre 40. She's directed developmental workshops at the Road, including Jennifer Maisel's Third Person and Better (for the prestigious Humanitas Festival), And Know That I Am God, and countless others at Antaeus Theatre, Playwrights Union, Moving Arts, Met Theater, and Classical Theater Lab. She has directed new plays and mainstage classical works at UCLA, USC, U.C. Riverside, and AMDA, and has taught acting and voice at Antaeus Academy and A Noise Within. She was the Director of the Antaeus Playwrights Lab. An actress, she loved starring with her son (and Road Theatre alum) Elliot Decker in the film Ready, which was selected by the Cannes Short Film Corner. Emily earned her MFA in Theatre from UCLA.

The Cast of ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS will feature: Samantha Tan as "KJ," Avery Clyde as "Audrey," Amy Tolsky as "Brenda," Juan Pope as "Peter," Meeghan Holloway as "Mallory," Jacqueline Mesaye as "Nicki," Julia Manis as "Linda," Gloria Ines as "Monica," Kristyn Evelyn as "Jessica," Sorel Carradine as "Joyce," Mara Klein as "Stacie," Danny Lee Gomez as "Van," and Fox as "Olivia the Dog."

The Design Team for ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS is as follows: Scenic Design by Paul Dufresne; Lighting Design by Derrick McDaniel; Sound Design by Christopher Moscatiello; Costume Design by Michele Young. Original music by Arian Saleh. The Production Stage Manager is Maurie Gonzalez. The Rehearsal Stage Manager Lila Zamani. ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS is produced by Danna Hyams, Taylor Gilbert and Ann Hearn.

SCHEDULE AND PRICING

ACCORDING TO THE CHORUS will preview on Tuesday, October 18; Wednesday, October 19 & Thursday, October 20 at 8pm; will open on Friday, October 21 at 8pm and run through Sunday, December 11 at the Road Theatre, located in The NoHo Senior Arts Colony, 10747 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood.

Performances are Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 2pm.

Ticket prices are $39; Students and Seniors are $15.00; Previews are $15.00. Sunday Performances are Pay-What-You-Can. Special group rates available for parties of 8 or more. For tickets, please call 818-761-8838 or visit www.RoadTheatre.org to purchase tickets online or to view complete schedule.

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