CTG's 'PRETTY FILTHY' Opens Tonight at Abrons Arts Center in NYC

The Civilians' "Pretty Filthy," A New Musical About The Other Hollywood," with music and lyrics by Michael Friedman, book by Bess Wohl and directed by Steve Cosson, is set to open tonight, January 31 and play through March 1, 2015, at the Abrons Arts Center in New York City.

The piece was commissioned by Center Theatre Group in 2009 and developed through workshops, residencies and public presentations, including "A Pretty Filthy Evening" in 2011 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre.

Armed with their notepads and recorders, The Civilians crossed the mountain range that divides Hollywood from the "other Hollywood" -- the San Fernando Valley, world capital of porn. The Civilians' crew conducted interviews and visited sets to get an insider's glimpse into a world that is far more than the sum of its (very) visible parts.

The creative team learned firsthand that the words of one interviewee, the legendary Nina Hartley, were quite true: "sex on camera is far less sexy and far more ridiculous than you might think." The Civilians' time in the Valley captured a singular time in our culture; this digital era that has radically transformed the business of sex. "Pretty Filthy" is ultimately a story about trying to make a life and a living in an ever-changing world - a task that is all the more complicated when your work is so intimately tied to customer "satisfaction."

The Civilians is the center for investigative theatre supporting the development and production of new theatre from creative inquiries into the most vital questions of the present. Twelve original shows have been created from community residencies, interviews and extensive research. Center Theatre Group also presented The Civilians' "This Beautiful City" in 2008 at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. "This Beautiful City" was a co-production with the Vineyard Theatre, New York.