Three of Sacramento's Funniest Ladies are Bringing TREATMENT to B Street Theatre

Three of Sacramento's funniest ladies are teaming up to write and perform their original piece, Treatment on B Street Theatre's Mainstage.

Stephanie, Amy and Tara are beloved members of B Street's Acting Company and have performed in over 60 productions at the B Street Theatre alone. They have been featured on all three of the B Street stages as well as throughout Northern California with the B Street School Tour. Having worked as performers and writers throughout the region and nationally, these three are sure to make audiences laugh, cry, and laugh some more with this exciting World Premiere.

About B Street and Treatment

B Street Theatre is thrilled to present Treatment written by three of our Acting Company Members. Treatment will mark the seventh and final production in the 2016 - 2017 Mainstage Series Season.

After much success with B Street's sketch comedy troupe entitled "B Sketchy," Artistic Director Buck Busfield sought to provide the Company Members with increased opportunities to collaborate in order to create new material. "This is certainly unprecedented," says Busfield. "While we've had Company Members write sketches as well as certain plays for our Family Series, we've never ventured into having them write for the Mainstage. However, after watching the work of these ladies for many years, I know that they're the perfect artists to create an extraordinary piece of theatre that will give our audiences an experience they've not yet seen."

Treatment is unlike any piece ever produced on B Street's Mainstage.While our audiences are accustomed to dramatized, autobiographical works by local artists such as Jack Gallagher, the ladies of Treatment are putting a unique spin on their upcoming production.

Set on a girls camping trip, the three characters share laughs, fears, heartbreak and unexpected twists. While the personalities of characters Jayne, Roxanne and Patricia may resemble those of Tara, Stephanie and Amy, the three company members have worked to dramatize the story in order to create the theatrical version of an autobiographical novel.

"We wanted to fictionalize the script; however, the issues and themes are deeply personal and autobiographical," says playwright and performer Tara Sissom. "The truth is, our real-life stories are so much about B Street and our careers as actors. We realized that wasn't the story we wanted to tell. We hope the audience walks away from the experience with a deeper understanding of us as writers and people without having to completely destroy the fourth wall, but don't ever think for a second that we're not telling our own truths."

However, the playwrights want audiences to know that much of this material was generated together and through actual experiences they've shared. "We went camping together and much of what happened on those trips is part of the show. So we can truly say this production is based on real-life events" says Sissom.

Merging truths with fictitious and magical elements, these talented storytellers are creating an unforgettable evening of theatre at B Street.

Playwright & Performer - Stephanie Altholz (Role of Roxanne) - Stephanie was seen most recently in Robin Hood, Speed-the-Plow, Alice in Wonderland, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, Handle With Care, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche, The Explorers Club, Snow White and Rose Red, and Elemeno Pea. Other B Street credits include Gift of the Magi, Seminar, RX, Aliens with Extraordinary Skills, The Snow Queen, Extraordinary Things: Through the Eyes of Ann Frank, Cinderella, Junie B. Jones, Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, I Am a Camera, The Almost Perfect Party, Swiss Family Robinson and A Christmas Carol. Stephanie has been seen at Capital Stage in Reasons to be Pretty, Erratica and Clybourne Park. She has also performed in online videos with Dutchwest, College Humor and Smosh.

Playwright & Performer: Amy Kelly (Role of Patricia) - Amy is an actress, comedian, voice-over artist and impersonator. Her film credits include Nick and Tristan Go Mega Dega (2010) and West Hollywood Motel (2013) and she has starred in numerous independent cult classics that have screened internationally. Amy guest starred in the Comedy Central series Free Radio and VH1's reality series New York Goes to Hollywood. As a B Street Theatre company member, Amy's performances include Well, 39 Steps; The Snow Queen; Extraordinary Things: Through the Eyes of Anne Frank; The Young Tom Edison; Hansel and Gretel; The Conductor: Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad; Alexander and The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, Robyn is Happy; The Ladies Foursome; Dia de los Cuentos; 5 Lesbians Eating A Quiche, The Garden of Rikki Tikki Tavi, A Christmas Carol and Going West. She also writes and performs for the B Sketchy comedy shows.

Playwright & Performer: Tara Sissom (Role of Jayne) - Tara is a B Street Theatre Company Member and former intern who was seen most recently in The Christians, A Christmas Carol, Clever Little Lies, Mud Blue Sky, 5 Lesbians Eating a Quiche and The Jacksonian for the Mainstage Series. Tara recently appeared at the Brooklyn Academy Of Music in The Iceman Cometh, with Brian Dennehy and Nathan Lane, having also appeared in the same production at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago. She is a company member of the New Colony, with whom she's written two plays - Pancake Breakfast and 11:11. She received a Joseph Jefferson Award for original music composition for That Sordid Little Story. Other B Street credits are Make Someone Happy; Jack Goes Boating; Gulf View Drive, Go, Dog, Go! and Cinderella. In Chicago, Tara has appeared in Frat, Tupperware: An American Musical Fable and 11:11 with the New Colony, and Literally Sexy II, III and IV, One-Minute Play Festival and Walk of Shame with the Fresh-Squeezed Series at Victory Garden's Biograph Theatre. Regional credits include The Man Who Came to Dinner, Children of Eden and Beauty and the Beast at Flat Rock Playhouse. Tara has a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Music Theatre from Elon University.

The Director - Dave Pierini

David Pierini began working for the B Street Theatre in 1990. He started as an actor for the B Street Theatre School Tour (then called The Fantasy Theatre), then started to write and direct for the Tour. David has acted steadily in B Street productions from its inception in 1991. In 2004, B Street Producing Artistic Director Buck Busfield suggested David try to write an adaptation of the beloved children's book, The Boxcar Children. Thus began a long fruitful relationship with the B Street Family Series.

More about B Street Theatre: B Street Theatre is a non-profit, professional theatre company producing primarily new work for adults, families and children. The two-theatre playhouse on B Street in Midtown Sacramento is home to the Mainstage Series, B3 Series and Family Series, each created to feature intimate, quality theatre for audiences year-round. Recognized as one of the Nation's top professional theatres, B Street Theatre has produced more than 100 new plays, 60 of which are world, national, West Coast or regional premieres.

B Street Theatre was originally founded in 1986 for the purpose of bringing the excitement of live performance to children through the B Street Theatre School Tour. This educational outreach program serves over 200,000 students in Northern California annually.

Other B Street Theatre programs include the B Street Theatre Family Series and Family Series Student Matinees (for school field trips), the B3 Series, B Street Acting Conservatory and Studio for Young People, and the B Street Theatre Internship program for pre-professional and post-college training.

B Street Theatre has produced over 250 professional productions since 1986.

More information at www.bstreettheatre.org.

The mission of B Street Theatre is to promote education and literacy, social interaction, and cultural enrichment by engaging children and adults in the highest quality theatre arts and playwriting.

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