Evan Pappas to Direct Workshop Production of J'OY VEY in La Jolla

Acclaimed musical theatre actor and director Evan Pappas is in La Jolla, CA, this week for a workshop production of J'OY VEY, a new holiday play by Lojo Simon and Anita Simons. The production stars veteran San Diego actors Jill Drexler and Rhona Gold. Pappas directed a reading of the play earlier this year in New York with Marianne Tatum (Jenny Lind in Barnum) and Rosalind Harris (Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof). Pappas' most recently directed LIBERTY, A Monumental New Musical, which played a limited engagement at Theatre 80 in New York.

J'OY VEY is a comic two-hander about two grandmas during the Christmas/Chanukah season. Gammy Leigh has big plans for her holiday overnighter with her grandbabies, including a surprise visit from Santa. She isn't alone with her twin grandbabies for five minutes when Bubbie Arlene unexpectedly shows up at the door armed with Chanukah gifts galore and a know-it-all attitude that even the most mellow Gammy can't abide. Thus begins a fierce competition for the title of World's Best Grandma and a battle of wills that leads the ladies to debate everything from breastfeeding to childrearing to the merits of Arlene's ex-husband, Mark.

The workshop is being co-produced by ART WOW and the Center for Jewish Culture, and is being held at the Lawrence Family JCC Jacobs Family Campus, 4126 Executive Drive, in La Jolla. Audiences are invited for two workshop productions on Dec. 4 and 6 at 7:30 PM. Tickets are available by calling (858) 362-1348.

San Diego audiences may remember the political drama HEARTLAND penned by Simons and Simon (no, they are not related), which made its debut at Mira Costa College in Oceanside in 2008, under the direction of Eric Bishop. HEARTLAND has won several national awards, including first place in the Dayton Playhouse FutureFest. Both J'OY VEY and HEARTLAND were workshopped at Scripteasers in San Diego. HEARTLAND is now available in book form on Amazon.