Stories & Songs
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A fundraiser for About…Productions, this Los Angeles premiere offers a unique look back on 40 years of music making, and a preview of Pérez’ collaboration with About…Productions on the original theaterwork Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe. June 4, 2011 Purchase VIP Tickets: VIP Online Sales are closed. We look forward to seeing you at the theatre! It began in high school: David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez became friends and started writing songs after school. Now, 40 years later, the front men of the distinguished East L.A. rock group Los Lobos bring it full circle and treat audiences to a songwriting showcase and acoustic performance. The evening is a fundraiser that will support the development of About Productions‘ Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe and its related educational programs for at-greatest-risk youth. Get an inside look into the collaboration process between these Grammy Award-winning songwriters whose work has been covered by many music luminaries including Elvis Costello, Pop and Mavis Staples, Waylon Jennings, Tom Waits, and Robert Plant. Pérez will also highlight his collaboration with About Productions as they share excerpts from their theatrical work-in-progress Evangeline, the Queen of Make-Believe. VIP Packages are listed below. For General Admission tickets please click on image.
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OUTTA-SITE! $1000 Donation RIGHT ON! $500 Donation GROOVY! $250 Donation FAR OUT! $125 Donation Purchase VIP Tickets: EVENT SPONSORS
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About Productions’ work is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts, Los Angeles County Arts
Commission, the City of Los Angeles, Department of Cultural Affairs and the California Community Foundation.
Stages at the Culver City Senior Center
About…Productions
presents
STAGES
Sunday April 18th @ 1pm
Culver City Senior Center
4095 Overland Ave, Culver City 90232 (310) 253-6700
• FREE •
Los Angeles professional writer/actors have interviewed senior citizens
– Minnie Muldrew Stokes, Paul & Shirley Pitti— residents of Culver City,
Kimi Kawamura from Angeles Plaza & Edwin Brown from Alice Manor
about their life experiences. From these interviews theatrical pieces have been developed and will be performed in this free public performance. Stories include seniors whose on-going activities include music, dance and poetry with a few love stories thrown in for good measure.
Written by:
Laurel Ollstein, Joyce Guy, Denise Uyehara & Doris Baisely.
Performed by:
Joyce Guy, Marco Rodriguez, Bernadette Sullivan & Charles Reese.
Live music by Robert Anderson
Project Director: Laurel Ollstein
Now in its 5th year, STAGES is an on-going program of About Productions. About Productions creates original interdisciplinary theaterworks and educational programs that provoke new perspectives on history, humanity and culture. The company is dedicated to generating new work through collaboration in order to create artistic and community dialogue. This Los Angeles-based company has been producing critically acclaimed work for 20 years that have been seen extensively in Southern California, throughout the U.S. and in Canada.
For more information contact us at (626) 396-0920 or aboutpd@aol.com.
This performance is made possible in part by the Culver City Performing Arts Grant Program with support from Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Teen Playwrights Make History
Teen Playwrights Make History Come Alive as About…Productions Announces Two Staged Readings of Original Work.
Frida Kahlo's former nurse amongst 8 seniors who shared their stories
Senior Interviewee Isaura Heckman
Photo by Theresa Chavez
Actors Marco Rodriguez & Maricela Ochoa
Photo by Theresa Chavez
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17 at 1:30 p.m.
in the Chapel at Hollenbeck Palms
573 South Boyle Ave., Los Angeles, CA 90033
Free Street Parking Available
and
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19 at 7:00 p.m.
in the Margo Albert Theatre at Plaza de la Raza
3540 N. Mission Rd., LA, CA 90031
Free Street Parking Available
About...Productions is thrilled to invite you to a very special event celebrating our most recent Young Theaterworks program, THROUGH THE AGES ~ a new cross-generational program that builds literacy while giving students an opportunity to transcend generational and cultural divides. This program has brought together students from Central High School/Tri-C, East L.A. branch with senior citizens from Hollenbeck Palms in Boyle Heights and will culminate with a staged reading of theaterworks written by the students and based on their interviews with seniors. Isaura Heckman, one of Frida Kahlo's former nurses, is among the diverse seniors interviewed for the project.
The staged readings will be performed by professional actors including Peter Howard and Marco Rodriguez who also served as playwright mentors to the students under the direction of AP’S Associate Director and Young Theaterworks Director, Rose Portillo and Teaching Artist/Playwright Laurel Ollstein.
Click here (flyer link) for more information.
To RSVP or for further information contact us at (626) 396-0920 or aboutpd@aol.com. To learn more about our on-going Young Theaterworks programs, visit http://aboutpd.org/education.
Senior interviewee David Rosenbloom
Photo by Theresa Chavez
Through the Ages is funded by the California Arts Council, a state agency and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency. About Productions’ work is supported in part by a grant from the California Community Foundation.
From Noir to Now
About...Productions’
BLEEDING THROUGH
EXTENDED THRU DEC 6!
GO! -- L.A. Weekly"Chavez and Portillo's expansive "surround" set...offers a unique staging that, along with the accompaniment of live musicians...immerses the audience in the noir world...angular lighting, detailed costumes, well-integrated video, and installation of historical artifacts, which the audience is allowed to explore at intermission, all enhance the ambience as well."
Click here for the full L.A. Weekly review: http://blogs.laweekly.com/style_council...
...a surround-sense THEATRICAL ADVENTURE
that's EVOCATIVE in every way...
-- BACK STAGE, http://backstage.com...
“…it’s fun just to let the story and characters wash over you – you feel like you’re back in the LA of the 1920s to 1940s.”
-- John Rabe, KPCC's Off Ramp
For full review click here: http://www.scpr.org...
“Bleeding Through was exceptional. An interactive experience of the heart and mind coming together.”
-- Nancy Mills, www.talesofdowntown.com
PURCHASE TICKETS
BOX OFFICE INFO: 800/595-4TIX (4849)
GENERAL INFO: 626/396-0920
A theatrical layering of live music, video, and interactive setting, BLEEDING THROUGH uncovers the narrative ghosts of L.A.’s Historic Angelino Heights District and the adjacent Downtown area—a neighborhood where more cinematic “murders” have occurred than anywhere else in the world. This noir-influenced theaterwork, adapted from Norman Klein’s highly praised novella, explores the shaping of a city’s memory by commonplace experiences, chronicled history and cinematic influences.
Co-written & co-directed by Theresa Chavez & Rose PortilloAdapted from Norman Klein’s novella
OCT 23 – DEC 6, 2009Thur-Sat 8PM; Sun 3PM
NO SHOW 11/26 & 11/27
OPENING NIGHT: Sat, Oct 31
$40 includes post-play Noir Costume Party
Shakespeare Festival/LA
1238 W. 1st Street
Los Angeles, CA 90026
Original Music: Vinny Golia
Featured musician: Scott Collins
Ensemble Actors:
DAVID FRUECHTING
BRIAN JOSEPH
LYNN MILGRIM
PETE PANO
ELIZABETH RAINEY
ED RAMOLETE
JAMES TERRY
and KIKEY CASTILLO
Set Design:
Akeime Mitterlehner
Lighting Design:
Francois-Pierre Couture
Costume Design:
Pamela Shaw
Videography:
Claudio Rocha
FREE STREET PARKING and HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE
TIX:
General: $25 Fri-Sun; $20 Thur.;
Students/Seniors: $20 Fri-Sun; $15 Thurs.
Groups(6+): $10
BOX OFFICE INFO:
800/595-4TIX (4849)
PURCHASE TICKETS
GENERAL INFO: 626/396-0920
Bleeding Through is supported in part by:
Cross Town Voices
About…Productions
is celebrating its 20th Anniversary!!
Wonderful things are happening at About…Productions! As we celebrate our 20th Anniversary, we are proud to announce new programs, new productions, and new board members.
A Mini-Festival of Original Staged Readings
3 FREE EVENTS!
Written by Young Theaterworks Student Playwrights and
Performed by Professional Actors & Student Participants
Pueblo High School
@ Company of Angels
Tues, APRIL 28 @ 7 PM
Inside the Black Box @ The Alexandria Hotel
501 S. Spring Street, 3rd Floor
Downtown Los Angeles, CA 90013
(lot and free street parking available)
Whitman High School
@ Greenway Court
Wed, APRIL 29 @ 6 PM
544 N. Fairfax Ave (near Melrose)
L.A. CA 90036
(free lot parking)
Crosstown Culmination &
Community Forum
@ Shakespeare Festival/LA
Wed, MAY 13 @ 11 AM
1238 W. 1st Street
L.A. CA 90026
(free street parking)
Both schools present their work and
participate in a post-show discussion
in the Crosstown Forum.
ABOUT… YOUNG THEATERWORKS’ CROSSTOWN VOICES
YOUNG THEATERWORKS is a transformative literacy program that introduces youth to the importance of writing, and the power of communication through artistic expression.
CROSSTOWN VOICES - gives youth from 2 continuation high schools in two separate neighborhoods a chance to transcend the urban gap, and challenge existing perspectives of themselves and their crosstown peers by coming together to share and discuss their original work and creative processes. Midway through the program, participants from both schools formally meet at a neutral site in a third neighborhood in order to begin forming connections through guided dialogue.
We would like to thank our partner classroom teachers and principals at Pueblo High School and Whitman High School. YOUNG THEATERWORKS’ Crosstown Voices ’09 is made possible in part, by a grant from the California Council for the Humanities as part of the Council’s statewide California Stories Initiative, Hot Topic Foundation, United Latino Fund and the S. Mark Taper Foundation.
NEW $20 FOR 20 CAMPAIGN
About…Productions is asking our community of supporters to join us in marking this occasion by simply making a donation of $20 to celebrate our 20 years of service to the Greater Los Angeles area. In 20 years we have reached millions with local and regional productions, exposure on national television, nationwide touring, and ten straight years of National Endowment for the Arts support. From original productions like By the Hand of the Father to Young Theaterworks to our senior program STAGES, we have worked with hundreds of renowned artists, deeply creative students, and vibrant seniors in the development of these one-of-a kind programs.Find out more about our $20 for 20 Campaign
NEW PRODUCTIONS
About…Productions is enthusiastically preparing for the 2009 premier of Bleeding Through, site-specific theater work based on Norman Klein's inventive novella. We are also excited to announce that we have begun the preliminary steps in collaboration with Los Lobos musician/composer Louie Perez on an original theater piece to premiere in 2011. Stay tuned for more updates!
SAVE-the-DATES!
Bleeding Through Work-in-progress Concert Reading
Sun, JUNE 7 @ 3PM
Shakespeare Festival/LA
1238 W. 1st Street, L.A. 90026
FREE
AND
From Noir to Now
A Garden Party Fundraiser
Sun, JUNE 14 @ 1PM and 4PM
A performance of excerpts from Bleeding Through in a private home in historic Angelino Heights.
NEW FUNDERS
About…Productions is honored to welcome our newest funders — the S. Mark Taper Foundation, the James Irvine Foundation, Hispanics in Philanthropy, and the California Council for the Humanities; and thank our consistent supporters—Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, L.A. County Arts Commission, California Arts Council, Hot Topic Foundation, and the United Latino Fund.
NEW BOARD MEMBERS
About…Productions is also excited to welcome Dr. Jill Aguilar, Deb DePuy and Maria Robles Meiers to our Board of Directors. We look forward to their leadership as AP celebrates this exciting chapter in our growth as a one of the most vibrant theater companies in the Southern California. We look forward to sharing board profiles in the coming months!
Bleeding Through
About Productions'
BLEEDING THROUGH
2008 Los Angeles History Project
A Work-in-Progress Staged Reading
SUN, July 20 @ 1PM
An adaptation of Norman Klein’s
Bleeding Through
by Theresa Chavez and Rose Portillo
With additional contributions by Norman Klein
Live Music by Vinny Golia
Live Video by Aleigh Lewis
Performed by Justin Huen, Frier McCollister, Ed Ramolete,
Elizabeth Rainey, and Susie Tanner
Autry National Center’s Wells Fargo Theater
4700 Western Heritage Way, Los Angeles, CA, 90027-1462
FREE Admission and FREE Parking
INFO: www.edgeoftheworld.org
About Productions’ current work-in-progress, Bleeding Through, is inspired by and adapted from Norman Klein’s inventive novella (Bleeding Through: Layers of Los Angeles, 1920-1986). Using elements of theater, film/video, and live music, the piece uncovers the narrative ghosts, both fictional and non-fictional, of the L.A. Historic District of Angelino Heights.
Bleeding Through also explores how a city and its inhabitants remember themselves through their own personal and cinematic lenses. The project is being designed as a site-specific work to take place in an Angelino Heights home in Spring, 2009.
Young Theaterworks
About Productions presents
Young Theaterworks
Staged Readings!
Written by students from
Walt Whitman
Continuation High School
Tuesday, June 3rd @ 7PM
Fairfax High School Auditorium
7850 Melrose Ave L.A. 90046
Life Goes On
Written by students from
Pueblo de Los Angeles Continuation High School
Thursday, June 5th @ 7PM
Plaza de La Raza's Margo Albert Theater
3540 N. Mission Rd. L.A. 90031
PLUS!
The FIRST Young Theaterworks Cross-town Community Forum
Wednesday, June 11th @ 11:00AM
East West Players
120 North Judge John Aiso Street, L.A. 90012
(Little Tokyo between Temple and 1st Streets)
Students at these two LAUSD Continuation/Options Schools have worked directly with Program Director, Rose Portillo, and other Young Theaterworks Teaching Artists over the past 3-months exploring themes of neighborhood, family and community. Each school has created its own original theatrical work to be presented as a staged reading, performed by both professional and student actors, for family and friends in their respective neighborhoods on June 3rd and 5th.
In addition, on June 11th we are bringing these two schools together to share excerpts of their work as a way of building a bridge between these two distinct communities. A facilitated discussion will follow the theatrical presentation.
Young Theaterworks is a literacy-based theater program, initiated in 2001, that brings About Productions’ aesthetic into the classroom. Students are guided through a process in which they work individually and collectively to create an original script that explores personal identity, family history, culture and other issues that directly affect their lives.
A special THANK YOU to our 2008 funders for their generous support!
California Arts Council, The Disney Company, Hot Topic Foundation,
United Latino Fund, and Walt Whitman High School/LAUSD.
SHOWING OUR AGE
SHOWING OUR AGE
Everyone has a story to tell...
APRIL 9 - APRIL 27, 2008
Wed & Thurs @ 11AM
Fri & Sat @ 8 PM / Sun @ 2PM
BENEFIT PERFORMANCE on Sun, April 20
[INSIDE] the Ford
Ford Amphitheatre's INDOOR Theater
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East
Hollywood, CA 90068
FREE PARKING + HANDICAP ACCESSIBLE
TIX: $20 general, $15 student/seniors,
$10 group (6+)
Box Office/info:
323/461-3673 (Ford box office)
www.fordtheatres.org
626/396-0920 (About...Productions)
A multi-layered world of theatrical storytelling with live music and song, SHOWING OUR AGE explores the myths, realities, and fantasies of aging and the aged. A multi-talented ensemble of actors and musicians play multiple characters and bring to life the transformation of a generation and the struggles of those who care for them.
Written by LAUREL OLLSTEIN with contributions from Doris Baizley, Joyce Guy, Rose Portillo, Denise Uyehara + Steven Wolfson
Co-directors THERESA CHAVEZ + LAUREL OLLSTEIN
Musical Direction ROBERT ANDERSON
Original Music ROBERT ANDERSON + MELODY BUTIU
Lyrics STEVEN WOLFSON + LAUREL OLLSTEIN
Featured actors: MELODY BUTIU, RALPH COLE, Jr., RAMON HILARIO, ROSE PORTILLO, KEVIN SIFUENTES, + BERNADETTE SULLIVAN
Featured musicians: ROBERT ANDERSON, NOAH NEEDLEMAN, & ADRIAN TORRES
SHOWING OUR AGE is an original theaterwork and an extension of our STAGES program that provides seniors the opportunity to work with writers who then transform their stories into live theater.
Stages Staged Readings
Grace and Jack Fujimoto
photo credit: Stacy Halper
Fri, Nov 30, 2007 @ 1PM
Sun, Dec 2, 2007 @ 1PM
Culver City Senior Center
STAGES provides L.A. seniors with the opportunity to work with writers who then transform their stories into live theater.
Sunday Solstice Salon- June 24th
About...Young Theater works presents: What if?
About...Young Theater works presents: If Only You Knew...
Showing our Age
EXPERIENCE
our newest work-in-progress
SHOWING OUR AGE
SATURDAY, March 17, 2007 @ 2PM
-OR-
SUNDAY, March 18, 2007 @ 7PM
[INSIDE] the Ford
John Anson Ford Amphitheatre's INDOOR Theater
2580 Cahuenga Blvd. East, Hollywood, CA 90068
FREE ADMISSION! FREE PARKING!!
INFO: aboutpd@aol.com or 626/396-0920
"SHOWING OUR AGE" is an original theaterwork
and an extension of our STAGES program.
STAGES provides seniors the opportunity to work with writers
who then transform their
stories into live theater.
The staged reading
will highlight stories from our STAGES program
adapted into a script written by LAUREL OLLSTEIN
with live music written by ROBERT ANDERSON
Co-directed by THERESA CHAVEZ and LAUREL OLLSTEIN
Featured actors include
MELODY BUTIU, RALPH COLE, Jr., JIM HAYNIE, JOHANNA McKAY,
ROSE PORTILLO and MARCO RODRIGUEZ
Contributing writers include
Doris Baizley, Joyce Guy, Christian Lebano, Rose Portillo, Denise Uyehara
and Steven Wolfson
365 Days/365 Plays
Experience About Productions' 365 PLAYS on the plaza at the John Anson Ford Amphitheatre!
Written by Suzan-Lori Parks
Directed by Theresa Chavez, Frier McCollister and Rose Portillo
FRI, March 2 and SAT, March 3 @ 7PM
John Anson Ford Amphitheatre
2580 Chauenga Blvd. East
Hollywood, CA 90068
FREE ADMISSION AND FREE PARKING!
365 Days/365 Plays is the largest theater festival in American history, taking place from November 2006 to November 2007 in 16 cities across the country. For one year beginning in 2002, author Suzan-Lori Parks wrote one short play a day. Center Theatre Group, the largest and most prestigious theater presenter in the western States, is organizing the Los Angeles portion of the festival in partnership with nearly four dozen theater groups and artists throughout the L.A. area.
WEEK 16 (Leap Year week!):
1. NEW YORK TAXI; 2. PROJECT TEMPEST; 3. SHE BIT ME; 4. WHAT WERE YOU WEARING FOR BLACK HISTORY MONTH?; 5. ANOTHER PLAY WITHIN THE EPIC PLAY "HOUSE OF JONES"; 6. BURNING; 7. LUCKY DAY; 8. THE PLANK
About...Young Theaterworks ~ Tuesday Jan. 30th.
