World Premiere of PARALLEL WORLDS: A NEW ROCK MUSIC EXPERIENCE at Club Parallel

Parrot Poet Productions presents the world premiere of PARALLEL WORLDS: A NEW ROCK MUSIC EXPERIENCE throughout all four weekends in June. Created by Brandon Beckner with stage direction by Matthew McCray, attendees can expect a powerful live rock concert, a bold theatrical stage play, and an epic big-screen love story, all harmoniously blended with one another to take its audience on a mind-bending, musical journey through Parallel Worlds. It has been described as "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind meets Pink Floyd's The Wall."

Parallel Worlds' songs are composed by Beckner, Steve Sobel and Paola Jimenez. The production opens on Friday, June 3 and runs through Sunday, June 26, 2016. Catch performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays at 7:00pm. Doors open at "Club Parallel" one hour before showtime, as does the bar. Drinks are "on the house" with the $40 ticket purchase (served responsibly). Tickets are available online here. All ages are welcome, but parents might consider this a PG-13 show: no sexual content but some mature language. Club Parallel invades CAP Studio in the heart of Sherman Oaks for this multi-dimensional experience (13752 Ventura Blvd., Sherman Oaks, CA 91423; 818-990-2001). For more information, please visit www.parallelworldsexperience.com

"For over a decade, I've dreamed of mounting a show that would obliterate the boundaries between music, film and theater," muses Parallel Worlds creator Brandon Beckner. "With the amazing talent driving this show, I think we may even surpass my dream! My hope is that we have rewritten the rules of rock musical theatre."

On the studio floor before you is an incendiary rock and roll band, all of them masters of their craft. Their commission: To compose the music that will become the soundtrack of the film before them - a romance with a classic Hollywood ending for the characters, JB and Ella. But something goes wrong. As the band nears the end of the soundtrack session the unexplainable happens. They discover that their infighting has sabotaged the happy ending of the film. Some how, some way, a mysterious parallel has been made between the love torn lead singers on stage and the lovebirds. Through the power of their music, will the band be able to get JB and Ella back together? This is a rock show unlike anything you've ever seen - blending film, music and live performance into a brand new rock music experience.

The Band features Cassidy Catanzaro - lead vocals, Ryan Hudson - lead vocals, Julia Lage - bass guitar/backing vocals, Braden Lyle - lead guitar, Mike Odabashian - drums/percussion, and Angelica Abrams - keyboards/vocals. The film cast includes Shawn Reaves, Marci Miller, Jason Cottle, Kelly Nienaltowski and Sharon Blynn. Christine Beckner is Executive Producer, Tim Gray Co-Film Director/Co-Executive Producer, Ashley Steed Co-Producer, Scott Sampila Co-Producer, Stephanie K. Schwartz Scenic Designer, Jason H. Thompson Projection System Designer, Pablo Santiago Lighting Designer, Daniel Tator Sound Designer, Jason Graham Brand Design/Music Visuals, Keith DeCristo Director of Photography, Don Raimondi and Horst Dieter Baum Additional Photography.

Writer/Composer/Executive Producer Brandon Beckner wrote and directed his directorial debut with the independent feature Remarkable Power! starring Kevin Nealon, Tom Arnold, Nora Zehetner, Kip Pardue and Dule Hill. The film opened a nation-wide, limited theatrical run headlining Carmike Cinemas' Independent Film Series in March 2009, and appeared at over twenty-five film festivals winning several awards, including: Best Picture/Director (FirstGlance Philadelphia), Best Picture/Screenplay (HD Fest, Los Angeles), and Best Feature (ACE Fest, New York City). On the writing front, he has optioned several original screenplays and sold a one-hour pilot, Darkside, to Fox Studios. Beckner is also an award-winning editor, rock soundtrack producer and was the creator/composer of The Caravan, an original musical produced in Santa Barbara, CA and Prague, Czech Republic.

Songwriter/lyricist Steve Sobel is an award-winning filmmaker and writer who has been collaborating with Brandon Beckner for the last 25 years. His work writing the lyrics for the songs in a show with such an intricate musical landscape is one of his proudest and most unique accomplishments of his career. Sobel wrote and directed (under the pseudonym Vladamir Gyorski) the Dogme 95 film Resin, which won the Audience Award at its World Premiere at the Chicago Underground Film Festival and went on to win several other film festivals around the world.

Stage Director Matthew McCray has directed productions and workshops at Center Theatre Group, South Coast Repertory (StudioSCR), Deaf West, Boston Court, among others. In 2014 he accepted a SAGE Award and LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Direction (Ovation and LA Weekly nominations) for Our Class and was recently nominated for a Stage Raw Award for his 2015 production of Love and Information (6 noms). He is the Founding Artistic Director of one of LA's top ensemble theatre companies, Son of Semele Ensemble, now in its 16th season. Other work: The City (LA Weekly nom), Death of a Salesgirl (LA Weekly nom), Iphigenia... A Rave Fable (LA Weekly special recognition, Multi-Media design). He has also directed the musicals Rent, Legally Blonde and In The Heights (Santa Clarita Performing Arts Center). Board member: LA's Producers League. Member: SDC, AEA & SAG/AFTRA. www.matthewmccray.com @matthewmccray

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