Asolo Rep Extras Presents Lypsinka As Joan Crawdord 5/9

With uncanny precision and unforgettable pizzazz, John Epperson - also known as Lypsinka - pays homage to ultimate screen-queen Joan Crawford. Using the actress' own words, The Passion of the Crawford is a fantasia on the persona of this 20th Century cultural icon. Washington City Paper has called Lypsinka "certifiably fabulous," while the Los Angeles Times dubbed her "a geyser of glamour!" Daily Variety raved: "Watching a Lypsinka show is like channel-surfing in Heaven."

Directed by Kevin Malony and featuring Steve Cuiffo as The Interviewer, The Passion of the Crawford performs at Asolo Rep for ONE NIGHT ONLY on Monday, May 9 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are on sale now through the Asolo Rep box office or online at www.AsoloRep.org.

Utilizing almost entirely recorded soundbytes of Joan Crawford, The Passion of the Crawford is not merely a Joan Crawford impersonation, but a fantasia on the persona of Miss Crawford. Lypsinka (the female brainchild of actor/writer John Epperson) and another actor (Steve Cuiffo) reproduce live interviews and speeches given by Crawford, in a humorous performance about the refraction of celebrity and the addiction to fame. The controversial, beloved, and enormously contradictory 20th century movie star Joan Crawford, in all her fascination and complexities, is the centerpiece of this unique show, created by John Epperson and directed by Kevin Malony.

Asolo Rep presents John Epperson as Lypsinka in The Passion of the Crawford as its final Asolo Rep Extra's event of the 2010-2011 season.

Featuring: John Epperson as Lypsinka as Joan Crawford and Steve Cuiffo as The Interviewer.

Director and Designers: Kevin Malony (Director), Grady Hendrix (Projections), Ramona Ponce (Costume Design), Paul Huntley (Wig Creation), Markus Fokken (Wig Styling), Robert Sorrell (Jewelry), Alexis Del Lago (Shoes), John Epperson (Sound Design) and Dan-O-Rama (Video Sequences).

The Passion of the Crawford was originally produced by TWEED TheaterWorks in New York City at SHOW Nightclub in 2004, and subsequently at The Zipper Theater in 2005.

 

JOHN EPPERSON was born in Hazlehurst, Mississippi, a long way from the exciting worlds in which Lypsinka travels: movies (Witch Hunt with Dennis Hopper, Darren Aronofsky's Black Swan, Wigstock: The Movie, Angels In America, Kinsey, Another Gay Movie, Another Gay Sequel); television (HBO specials Sandra After Dark with Sandra Bernhard, and Dragtime; George Michael's video Too Funky, PBS's The United States Of Poetry and special features on the Mommie Dearest and Whatever Happened To Baby Jane? DVDs); fashion (appearing in the Paris, Tokyo and Los Angeles shows of haute couture designer Thierry Mugler, modeling for Valentino, Pauline Trigere, Barneys New York, and launching lines of cosmetics for Prescriptives, MAC, and Isabella Rossellini); advertisements (The Gap, LA Eyeworks, Naya Spring Water, Ilford Film); theater including I Could Go On Lip-Synching!, The Fabulous Lypsinka Show, Lypsinka! Now It Can Be Lip-Synched, Lypsinka! A Day In The Life (New York Theater Workshop, two Drama Desk nominations, including Most Unique Theatrical Experience; revived in 1993 Off Broadway at The Cherry Lane Theate), Lypsinka! As I Lay Lip-Synching, Lypsinka Must Be Destroyed!, Lypsinka IS Harriet Craig!, Lypsinka! The Boxed Set (2001 Drama Desk nomination, Washington, D.C. Helen Hayes Award win for Outstanding Non-Resident Production / Outstanding Lead Actor nomination, wins for Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award, Best Sound Design and L.A. Weekly Theatre Award for Best Solo Performance); and special events (such as Doin' What Comes Natur'lly, on Broadway with Bette Midler, Elaine Stritch and Patti LuPone, and London's Meltdown Festival curated by Morrissey). Formerly a rehearsal pianist at American Ballet Theater, Mr. Epperson's theatrical career was launched in the mid-1980s when he wrote the book, lyrics and music of Ballet of the Dolls and Dial "M" For Model at La Mama ETC. 1999 brought Epperson's dramatic stage debut in Messages For Gary at The New York Fringe Festival. In 2004 Mr. Epperson appeared Off Broadway in The Roaring Girle with The Foundry Theatre. The same year he was the subject of a stage festival at DC's Studio Theatre, which included his autobiographical piece John Epperson: Show Trash, As I Lay Lip-Synching, and his play, My Deah: Medea For Dummies, the Medea tale set in The New South. Also in 2004 Epperson played The Stepmother in the New York City Opera production of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella at Lincoln Center's New York State Theater. The play My Deah opened in an Obie Award-winning production Off Broadway in October 2006 and is now published and licensed by Samuel French. His acclaimed Off Broadway show The Passion of the Crawford, a fantasia on the personality of Joan Crawford, toured to California and Washington, D.C. Lypsinka launched the 2007 Spring collection of MAC Cosmetics centered around the Barbie doll. Epperson's version of James Kirkwood's infamous play Legends! was produced at Studio Theatre in DC, Summer 2010. Epperson and Lypsinka are the subjects of an Emmy-winning television documentary for PBS. He provided the preface for the Rizzoli photo book Persona, and is the author of a new screenplay Happy Everything. Mr. Epperson has also written for The Guardian (U.K.), The New York Times, The Washington Post and Interview and The Daily Beast. The sequel to My Deah is in the works. www.lypsinka.com

STEVE CUIFFO (The Interviewer) is an actor and a magician. Recent credits include Steve Cuiffo Is Lenny Bruce at Joe's Pub; Rinne Groff¹s Orange, Lemon, Egg, Canary at P.S. 122; Lypsinka's THE PASSION OF THE CRAWFORD; New York Theatre Workshop's Patriot Act; The Foundry Theatre's The Roaring Girle; The Wooster Group¹s North Atlantic and Brace Up!; Donald Byrd's Byrdlesque at the New Victory Theatre, broadway. He has worked as a consultant with David Blaine. He earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. He has trained at the Stella Adler Conservatory in New York City and the British American Drama Academy in London. He is on the board of directors for the Conjuring Arts Research Center.

GRADY HENDRIX (Projections) is a film programmer and writer who lives in New York City. He has worked with TWEED TheaterWorks since 1992 and has been assisting the fabulous Lypsinka since the dawn of time. In his spare time, he enjoys taking pictures of his neighbors through a tiny hole in their bathroom wall.

KEVIN MALONY (Director) has worked as a director and producer internationally. He produced John Epperson's early musicals at the Pyramid Club and later presented Lypsinka's first theatrical engagement The Many Moods of Lypsinka. Since that time he has directed full productions and personal appearances with Lypsinka around the world and produced the

critically acclaimed Lypsinka! The Boxed Set (Helen Hayes Award 2002). He was the original producer of Bill Russell's Elegies for Angels, Punks and Raging Queens which ran on London's West End and presented the first incarnation of John Kelly's OBIE award winning Pass the Blutwurst Bitte. He co-directed Mark Dendy's Dream Analysis at Dance Theater Workshop and directed Paved Paradise Redux, John Kelly's homage to Joni Mitchell, which toured internationally. He is the founder and artistic director of TWEED TheaterWorks, a non-profit producing organization that has been a forerunner in the New York City arts community for over 20 years.

The performance will take place at 8 p.m. on Monday, May 9, 2011, in the Mertz Theatre, Asolo Rep's mainstage at 5555 North Tamiami Trail in Sarasota, FL.
Tickets: $30 to $55, depending on seating and method of purchase.
Groups: 10+ save up to 30%; call 941-351-9010 ext. 6013 or group_sales@asolo.org
Contact: Box office at 941-351-8000 or toll-free at 800-361-8388, or www.AsoloRep.org.
Dinner and a Show package available for an all inclusive price of $75. Package includes a catered gourmet dinner with wines and deserts, elegantly served on the mezzanine lobby prior to the show, plus a ticket to the performance. Call 941-351-9010, extension 4714 for reservations to the pre-show dinner.
OUT@AsoloRep event includes mezzanine seat and a cocktail reception for $40. Get details from the box office, online at www.AsoloRep.org.
Outings & Adventures has put together some great lodging packages for OUT-of-town theatregoers. Learn more at outingsandadventures.com/2010/12/20/oa-asolo-passion-crawford/

Asolo Theatre, Inc. (AKA: Asolo Repertory Theatre) is funded in part by the State of Florida, Department of State, Division of Cultural Affairs, and is paid for in part by Sarasota County Tourist Development Tax revenues, the Gulf Coast Community Foundation of Venice and the Shubert Foundation, Inc. Funding is also received through the efforts of various support groups and the generosity of individuals, corporations and foundations.

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