Actors' Theatre Presents Transgender Comedy-Drama LOOKING FOR NORMAL

Santa Cruz County Actors' Theatre continues its 2019 season with the full-length staged production of Jane Anderson's LOOKING FOR NORMAL, directed by Tandy Beal. The play opens April 12 and runs through April 28 at the Center Stage Theater in downtown Santa Cruz.

Jane Anderson's Looking for Normal is a domestic comedy-drama about Roy and Irma, who have been married for twenty-five years. They have two children. They're respected members of their church and their community. But, when they go to their pastor for marriage counseling, Roy confesses that he identifies as a woman and wants to transition genders. The play explores the complexities of marriage, family, and deconstructs the very notion of love.

"Although most of us will not face the enormity of changing genders, each of us will face times when profound transformation has to happen, or we lose ourselves," explains director Tandy Beal on the power of the show. "How we muster courage, martial our fears, and be who we are at our core, make the universal center of this play. I'm Delighted to be with an excellent cast as we navigate the layers."

Actors' Theatre's production will feature Bay Area actors Jerry Lloyd as Roy, and Kristin Brownstone as Irma. The supporting cast includes Lillian Bogovich, Solange Marcotte, Tara McMilin, Nik Terbeek, Frank Widman, Avondina Wills, and Jay Wolf.

Director Tandy Beal is a well-known mutli-faceted performer, director, choreographer, writer and dreamer. She has collaborated with artists such asJohn Adams, Tim Burton, Lou Harrison, Art Lande, Bobby McFerrin, Carl Sagan, Jon Scoville, and Frank Zappa. She was the Artistic Director for Pickle Family Circus (10 years) and Moscow Circus (two years in Japan). Her Company has toured four continents, funded by US State Department & Japan/US Friendship Commission. Her off-the-map career includes shows for NASA's SETI Project; Bobby McFerrin worldwide tours for 30+ years; LucasFilms, Pixar, Coca-Cola, SGI, Oracle; Korean National Treasure Aeju Lee; Jean Stapleton; Zappa's 65 life-sized puppets.

Acting off-Broadway Beal has been see with: Nikolais Dance Theatre, guest performances with Atlanta & Oakland Ballets, Momix, Ririe-Woodbury, RDT, Remy Charlip and in France, with Carolyn Carlson. Film /TV credits include Emmy Award-winning PBS special with McFerrin; Tim Burton's Nightmare Before Xmas; Thomas Moore's TV series Everyday Spirituality; PBS Roots in the Aether (with Gordon Mumma); staging Voicestra on Arsenio Hall & Today; video on Hildegard von-Bingen for AFI; dances for national TV in Japan, Hong Kong and Switzerland; featured in SF Performing Arts Library video, Four Dance Icons of the West. Commercials for Nissan and Bonny Doon Winery.
Beal's program ArtSmart reaches 20,000 school children annually.

A multi-award-winning writer and director, Jane Anderson has created thought-provoking television, theater, and film. Her plays have been produced Off-Broadway and in theaters around the country. She wrote and directed Normal, the film version of Looking for Normal, for HBO which starred Jessica Lange and Tom Wilkinson. The film garnered six Emmy nominations (including best writing, best directing, and best made-for-TV film), three Golden Globe nominations, and Directors Guild and Writers Guild nominations for best directing and writing.

Anderson also wrote HBO's ground-breaking The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom, for which she received an Emmy, a Penn Award and Writers Guild Award for best teleplay. Her other television films include When Billie Beat Bobby (starring Holly Hunter and Ron Silver) and The Baby Dance (starring Laura Dern and Stockard Channing) for which she received a Peabody Award, a Golden Globe nomination and three Emmy nominations for best writing, best directing, and best made-for-TV film. More recently she wrote The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio starring Julianne Moore and Woody Harrelson. She has numerous TV credits including Mad Men and The Wonder Years.

Tickets: $32 General | $29 Senior/Student. Purchase at www.sccat.org or www.brownpapertickets.com

More Info: www.sccat.org

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