“LOST IN YONKERS” at Theatre 40

“PEN” at Theatre 40

Theatre 40 Opens Its 2008-2009 Season With

 “LOST IN YONKERS”

BY NEIL SIMON

 The World’s Favorite Writer of Comedy!

"If Broadway ever erects a monument to the patron saint of laughter, Neil Simon would have to be it."

--TIME Magazine

“LOST IN YONKERS,” NEIL SIMON’S first play to win a PULITZER PRIZE (also the recipient of a TONY and DRAMA DESK AWARD), will open THEATRE 40’S 2008-2009 season on July 26^th in their Reuben Cordova Theatre on the Beverly Hills High School campus.

"LOST IN YONKERS " is a play rich with humor and sensitivity, about two brothers, Jay and Artie, who are learning to adapt to whatever life has to throw at them.  After their panicked and widowed father leaves them at the home of their domineering grandmother and peculiar aunt to pursue work, the two boys are doomed to live a very strict lifestyle until their amateur gangster uncle appears to stir things up a bit.   Many critics consider the play to be Simon’s best work and the pinnacle of his career.  The play was very timely.  Although it is set during WWII, Simon published the play as America was entering the Gulf War in the Middle East circa 1991. With history repeating itself, the main themes – including survival, the importance of one’s family, and acceptance – still seem timely.  The play is technically a comedy – the darker material is still handled with Simon’s light, just-funny-enough touch, allowing the audience to laugh their way through things that may be too painful otherwise. "The best play Simon ever wrote." N.Y. Post.

NEIL SIMON needs no introduction.  He is the world’s most successful playwright.  He has had dozens of plays and nearly as many motion pictures produced.  He has been showered with more Academy Award and Tony nominations than any other writer, and is the only playwright to have four Broadway productions running simultaneously.  His plays have been produced in dozens of languages, and have been blockbuster hits all over the world.  His true success, however, is in his unique way of exposing something real in the American spirit.  Throughout his four plus-decade career, Simon has drawn extensively on his own life and experience for materials for his plays.  Possibly his greatest contribution has been the ability to create humor from the lives and trouble of everyday people.  In addition to Lost In Yonkers, he was awarded a Best Play Tony for The Odd Couple and Biloxi Blues and has been Tony-nominated over 15 times in various categories. 

HOWARD TEICHMAN, who will direct LOST IN YONKERS, was born in Toronto, Canada and immigrated to Chicago. His career in theatre began at Second City as a writer/creator/performer of a World Premiere children’s show called Commedia. He toiled many years in the theatre to emerge in Los Angeles as a theatre director of note. Recently, Howard received an LA Weekly nomination for Best Comedy Director for his Theatre 40 production of Daniel Goldfarb’s Broadway hit Modern Orthodox.  Prior to Modern Orthodox, Mr. Teichman directed the critically-acclaimed Theatre 40 production of Richard Martin Hirsch’s World Premiere Atonement.  In 2006 Howard directed Neil Simon’s Rumors to rave reviews at Theatre 40 and in 2005 Howard wrote, directed, and starred in Simcha, an acclaimed production that was chosen as “Pick of the Week” and a ‘GO.’ His other directing credits include; Howard Teichmann’s The Solid Gold Cadillac, Leon Katz’s The Three Cuckolds, Oscar Wilde’s Salome (Garland Nominee) for Buffalo Nights Theatre Group, and Diana Amsterdam’s Fast Girls. Howard adapted and created Orphans of the Storm, the French play by A.Dennery and Eugene Corman, which many years before, became a movie starring Lillian and Dorothy Gish. He also produced Jeremy Lawrence’s Tony award-winning production Jelly’s Last Jam. He is proud to be one of the leaders of Theatre 40’s Writer’s Workshop where along with Hindi Brooks he produced “Shortages” An Evening of Short Plays and also directed Alice Lunsford’s “Catch of the Day.” Teichman also produced “Benchmarks” a festival of Ten-Minute Plays. Howard has directed a number of Hindi Brooks’ plays at different venues throughout the Los Angeles area. Howard’s next project will be The Fugu Plan based on a true story about how the Japanese government saved over six thousand Jewish lives during World War II.  Howard holds a B.A. and an M.F.A. from UCLA in Theatre Arts. His production of From Door To Door has just completed a month’s run at Electric Lodge in Venice with plans to move the play to another venue early next year.

The cast: LARY OHLSON (Louie); MARIA SPASSOFF (Bella); NAN TEPPER (Grandma); AMY TOLSKY (Gert); SCOTT FACHER (Eddie); and others.

Technical Staff for LOST IN YONKERS includes: Set Design: JEFF G. RACK; Costume Design: CHRISTINE COVER-FERRO; Lighting Design: ELLEN MONOCROUSSOS; Stage Manager: NOEL BALACUIT and Producer: DAVID HUNT STAFFORD.

“LOST IN YONKERS” opens July 26, 2008, plays in Repertory with “PEN” and closes August 28th; Monday through Saturday at 8:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 2:00 PM.  Ticket prices are $20.00 Monday through Friday.  All Saturday and Sunday performances are $22.00.  Students and members of the 4A’s are half-price on Stand-by basis at the door.  THEATRE 40 is a professional Theatre Company performing in The Reuben Cordova Theatre on the Campus of Beverly Hills High School at 241 Moreno Drive – adjacent to Century City just off Little Santa Monica Blvd.  The Theatre is air-conditioned, there is disabled access and ample FREE indoor parking.  For RESERVATIONS: 310-364-0535.  Website:  www.theatre40.org.  Credit Cards accepted.

ATTENTION: THERE WILL BE NO MATINEE PERFORMANCE ON SUNDAY JULY 27TH AND NO 8 PM PERFORMANCE ON THURSDAY AUGUST 14TH

WEST COAST PREMIERE OF

“PEN” BY DAVID MARSHALL GRANT

COMING TO THEATRE 40

The West Coast Premiere of “PEN” by DAVID MARSHALL GRANT will be one of the productions opening THEATRE 40’S 2008-2009 Season, playing in Repertory with “Lost In Yonkers.”  Grant’s eloquent psychological drama opens at Theatre 40’s Reuben Cordova Theatre August 2^nd on the Beverly Hills High School campus.

In “PEN” three people are caught in an untenable situation – mother is confined to a wheel chair, there is a bitter aftermath of a marriage gone sour and a son who is desperate to escape from the home that has him ‘penned’ by his mother’s neediness.  But there is a fantastical twist that turns this tale into a modern fable – Grant allows the impossible to happen.  The pen of the title – a zero-gravity design with which the mother can work her crossword puzzles while lying down – becomes the agent through which the impossible occurs.  “The one-liner’s shoot forth nonstop; some funny, others leaving a bloody track on their target.” The New York Times

DAVID MARSHALL GRANT is an actor who is most notable for his portrayal of Joe Pitt in the first Broadway production of Tony Kushner’s Angels In America, a role that earned him a 1994 Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Featured Role. His first paying job out of college was as Richard Gere’s lover in the Broadway play Bent.  In addition to his role as Russell on Thirtysomething, he has appeared on numerous television shows and in films, most notable The Devil Wears Prada  as Anne Hathaway’s father and Alias as the man who killed Michael Vartan’s character.  He began his career as a writer in 1998 with SNAKEBIT which premiered at in New York’s Grove Street Theatre then transferring to the Century Theatre.  The play was nominated for the 1999 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play and was also nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award.  His second play, Current Events, was produced by Manhattan Theatre Club in 2000.  “PEN,” which is his most recent play, opened in 2006 at Playwrights Horizons.  He is on the staff of the ABC drama Brothers & Sisters as a screenwriter, story editor and series producer.

JEFF G. RACK, Director, has worked in many different areas of the entertainment industry.  His last directing stint for THEATRE 40 was the very unique and chilling The Mystery Plays.   He recently won an Ovation Award for the Open Fists’ production of PAPA, which is now touring Turkey. He also directed two of Rod Serling’s original Twlight Zone episodes for Theatre West to rave reviews from critics and audiences.  Rack is mostly well-known in the LA Theatre world for his award-winning set designs on over one hundred productions.  He is also involved in Production Design, Sculpting and EFX work for the film industry.  Jeff’s other stage directing credits include a mind-bending production of Alice in Wonderland and the live 40’a era radio shows Tales To Tremble By based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and The Shadow.  He is one of the creators, writers and artistic directors of the “Ghostwalk,” a hugely popular annual Halloween event, which is performed at different historical locations in Santa Paula, CA.

“PEN” opens August 2, 2008, plays in Repertory with “LOST IN YONKERS” and closes August 31st; Monday through Saturday at 8:00 PM and Saturday and Sunday Matinees at 2:00 PM.  Ticket prices are $20.00 Monday through Friday.  All Saturday and Sunday performances are $22.00.  Students and members of the 4A’s are half-price on Stand-by basis at the door.  THEATRE 40 is a professional Theatre Company performing in The Reuben Cordova Theatre on the Campus of Beverly Hills High School at 241 Moreno Drive – adjacent to Century City just off Little Santa Monica Blvd.  The Theatre is air-conditioned, there is disabled access and ample FREE indoor parking.  For RESERVATIONS: 310-364-0535.  Website:  www.theatre40.org.  Credit Cards accepted.

ATTENTION: THERE WILL BE NO MATINEE PERFORMANCE ON SUNDAY JULY 27TH AND NO 8 PM PERFORMANCE ON THURSDAY AUGUST 14TH

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