‘Citizen: An American Lyric’ at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, 2017.
The Fountain Theatre’s critically acclaimed and award-winning stage adaptation of Claudia Rankine’s Citizen: An American Lyric has been chosen as the centerpiece of a new festival celebrating the diversity and excellence of the arts in Los Angeles. The festival, called Our L.A. Voices, will be launched April 27 – 29, 2018, in downtown Los Angeles at Grand Park.
Envisioned as an annual “best of L.A. arts festival,” this free, three-day performing and visual arts showcase will bring dance, music and theatre performances as well as visual artwork by L.A. artists to Grand Park every spring. Grand Park’s Our L.A. Voices will serve as a home for L.A. artists, underlining Grand Park’s commitment to L.A.’s creative communities.
The Fountain Theatre’s production of Citizen: An American Lyric has been chosen to represent excellence in Los Angeles theatre. The compelling play about racism in America will be the culmination of both evenings on Friday April 27th and Saturday April 28th, both performances at 8pm, serving as the centerpiece for the multi-arts festival.
Stephen Sachs’ stage adaptation of Citizen: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine won the 2016 Stage Raw Theatre Award for Best Adaptation, declaring it “a transcendent theatrical experience.” TheLos Angeles Times hailed it as “powerful”, highlighting it as Critic’s Choice. The production was chosen by Center Theatre Group for its first Block Party celebration of intimate theatre in Los Angeles at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in 2017.
Director Shirley Jo Finney returns to direct the Grand Park outdoor production. Original cast members Bernard K. Addision, Leith Burke, Tony Maggio, Monnae Michaell, Lisa Pescia will be joined by Adenrele Ojo. The original design team — Yee Eun Nam (set and video), Pablo Santiago (lighting), Peter Bayne (sound), Naila Aladdin-Sanders (costumes) — also return with production stage manager Shawna Voragen.
“In the sprawling Los Angeles metropolis, Grand Park provides both a place and a reason for Angelenos to come together to experience the arts and each other in ways they never have before,” said Rachel Moore, president and CEO of The Music Center.
Grand Park is a 12-acre urban oasis nestled between The Music Center and City Hall. Operated by The Music Center, the park features fountains, outdoor dining, recreation, sprawling lawns and an outdoor stage. That stage will be the center platform for the Our L.A. Voices Arts Festival, highlighting the variety and high quality of L.A.-based artists and companies. The weekend-long event will feature music, dance, theatre, spoken word poetry and fine art. Food trucks will offer savory menus of LA cuisine.
Grand Park, Los Angeles.
“It’s an honor for the Fountain Theatre to be representing Los Angeles theatre at this exciting new arts festival,” beams Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “We’re proud to be partnering with the Music Center and Grand Park to celebrate the diversity and artistic excellence of our city.”
More Info
This entry was posted in actors, Art, Arts, arts organizations, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, racism, Theater, theatre and tagged Adenrele Ojo, arts, Bernard K. Addison, Block Party, Center Theatre Group, Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine, diversity, festival, Fountain Theatre, Grand Park, Leith Burke, Lisa Pescia, Los Angeles, Monnae Michaell, Music Center, Naila Aladdin-Sanders, Our LA Voices, Pablo Santiago, Peter Bayne, Rachel Moore, racism, Shawna Voragen, Shirley Jo Finney, Stage Raw, Stephen Sachs, Tony Maggio, Yee Eun Nam. Bookmark the permalink.
On Monday night, the Fountain Theatre won 7 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards:
Best Season 2012 – El Nogalar, Cyrano, The Blue Iris, In the Red and Brown Water
Best Production – Cyrano
Best Director – Simon Levy, Cyrano
Best Director – Shirley Jo Finney, In the Red and Brown Water
Best Lead Performance – Troy Kotsur, Cyrano
Best Ensemble – In the Red and Brown Water
Best Writing (Adaptation) – Stephen Sachs, Cyrano
Fountain Theatre Sweeps with 7 Awards on the Gala Night
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Athol Fugard, Best Production, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, David Kurs, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, Eddie Buck, El Nogalar, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Gilbert Glenn Brown, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Justin Chu Cary, LADCC, Laura Hill, Los Angeles, Maleni Chaitoo, Maya Lynne Robinson, new plays, Paul Raci, Peggy Blow, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Marshall, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur, Victor Warren
Troy Kotsur and Erinn Anova in “Cyrano”
Last night was a memorable evening for the Fountain Theatre at the 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards. The Fountain swept all major categories, winning all 6 awards it was nominated for and, in addition, being honored for overall excellence with the Polly Warfield Award for Best Season. The Fountain/Deaf West production of Cyrano won 4 awards including Best Production of the Year. The Fountain’s acclaimed In the Red and Brown Water was honored for Direction and Best Ensemble.
The Fountain Theatre won 7 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards:
Best Season 2012 – El Nogalar, Cyrano, The Blue Iris, In the Red and Brown Water
Best Production – Cyrano
Best Director – Simon Levy, Cyrano
Best Director – Shirley Jo Finney, In the Red and Brown Water
Best Lead Performance – Troy Kotsur, Cyrano
Best Ensemble – In the Red and Brown Water
Best Writing (Adaptation) – Stephen Sachs, Cyrano
“Cyrano” team: Deaf West Artistic Director David Kurs, director Simon Levy, producer Deborah Lawlor, playwright Stephen Sachs, actor Troy Kotsur.
‘In the Red and Brown Water’ cast member Iona Morris enjoys the gala.
The LADCC Awards ceremony was held at the Los Angeles Theatre Center. The LA theater community enjoyed socializing with refreshments in the spacious lobby before and after the event. The crowd was an eclectic mix of theater artists, producers and journalists. In attendance from the Fountain Theatre were Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs, Producing Artistic Director Deborah Lawlor, Producing Director Simon Levy, director Shirley Jo Finney, publicist Lucy Pollak, and members of the cast from Cyrano and In the Red and Brown Water. Deaf West Artistic Director David Kurs accepted the Best Production Award for Cyrano on behalf of the both companies.
Simon Levy accepts Best Director Award for ‘Cyrano’.
“We are grateful for the Best Season Award because in 2012 we continued our longtime artistic relationships with old friends Athol Fugard and Deaf West, ” says Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs. “And we introduced important new playwrights Tanya Saracho and Tarell Alvin McCraney to Los Angeles audiences. Most important, our 2012 season exemplified the heart of our artistic mission: to create and produce new work that reflects the diversity of Los Angeles. Our four productions in 2012 included a new play by a Latina playwright, a new play performed in two languages serving the deaf community, the newest play by South Africa’s greatest writer, and a thrilling new work by a brilliant young African American playwright. ”
Full List of LADCC Award winners
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, designers, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, American Sign Language, ASL, Athol Fugard, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, David Kurs, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, El Nogalar, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Los Angeles, Lucy Pollak, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur, world premiere
The Fountain Theatre will be honored tonight at the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards when the Fountain is presented with the 2012 Best Season Award. The 2012 Fountain season included the west coast premiere of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, the world premiere of Cyrano by Stephen Sachs, the United States Premiere of The Blue Iris by Athol Fugard, and the Los Angeles Premiere of In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The award is accompanied by an honorarium funded by the Nederlander Organization.
In addition to the 2012 Best Season Award, The Fountain Theatre has also earned 6 LA Drama Critics Circle Award nominations for its acclaimed 2012 productions of Cyrano and In the Red and Brown Water:
Best Production – Cyrano
Best Director – Simon Levy, Cyrano
Best Director – Shirley Jo Finney, In the Red and Brown Water
Best Lead Performance – Troy Kotsur, Cyrano
Best Ensemble – In the Red and Brown Water
Best Writing (Adaptation) – Stephen Sachs, Cyrano
The Fountain Theatre’s Award-Winning 2012 Season
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
More Info on the LA Drama Critics Circle Awards. Tonight’s award ceremony is at the Los Angeles Theatre Center at 7:30pm.
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, designers, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, American Sign Language, ASL, Athol Fugard, Best Season, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Los Angeles Theatre Center, Nederlander Organization, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur
Troy Kotsur and Paul Raci in a scene from “Cyrano”.
Cast members from our acclaimed co-production of Cyrano were asked to perform a scene from the play at a Deaf West fundraising event honoring Ed Waterstreet last Saturday at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City. A co-production between Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre, Cyrano ran for four sold-out months at the Fountain and has been honored with four Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award nominations for Best Production, Best Director, Best Lead Actor and Best Writing.
The funny and charming ‘balcony scene’ from Cyrano was performed by cast members Troy Kotsur, Paul Raci and Erinn Anova. The gala evening also included remarks by actresses Marlee Matlin and Deanne Bray, former Mark Taper Forum Artistic Director Gordon Davidson, Broadway director Jeff Calhoun, and Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs.
Enjoy Some Photos!
This slideshow requires JavaScript.
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, deaf actor, deaf theatre, Deaf West Theatre, Deanne Bray, Ed Waterstreet, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Gordon Davidson, Jeff Calhoun, Joseph Sargent, Kirk Douglas Theatre, Los Angeles, Marlee Matlin, National Theatre of the Deaf, new plays, Paul Raci, performing arts, plays, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Switched at Birth, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur, world premiere
Troy Kotsur and Erinn Anova in “Cyrano” at the Fountain Theatre (2012).
Just announced: The Fountain Theatre has earned 6 LA Drama Critics Circle Award nominations for its acclaimed 2012 productions of Cyrano and In the Red and Brown Water. In addition, the Fountain has also been honored by the LADCC with the Polly Warfield Award for Best Overall Season in 2012.
The 2012 LADCC Award nonminations for the Fountain:
Best Production – Cyrano
Best Director – Simon Levy, Cyrano
Best Director – Shirley Jo Finney, In the Red and Brown Water
Best Lead Performance – Troy Kotsur, Cyrano
Best Ensemble – In the Red and Brown Water
Best Writing (Adaptation) – Stephen Sachs, Cyrano
The Polly Warfield Award for an excellent season in a small to mid-size theater will be awarded to The Fountain Theatre. The 2012 Fountain season included the west coast premiere of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, the world premiere of Cyrano by Stephen Sachs, the United States Premiere of The Blue Iris by Athol Fugard, and the Los Angeles Premiere of In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The award is accompanied by an honorarium funded by the Nederlander Organization.
The Fountain/Deaf West Theatre world premiere co-production of Cyrano ran for 4 sold-out months in 2012 and drew much critical acclaim. In the Red and Brown Water opened in October to rave reviews including being heralded as “Best in Theater 2012” by the Los Angeles Times. The acclaimed production has been extended and is still running at the Fountain to Feb 24th.
“In the Red and Brown Water” at the Fountain Theatre
photos by Ed Krieger
More Info on the 2012 LADCC Award Nominations
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, American Sign Language, ASL, Athol Fugard, Best in Theater 2012, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, deaf, deaf actor, Deaf West Theatre, director, El Nogalar, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, In The Red and Brown Water, LADCC, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Los Angeles Times, Nederlander Organization, new plays, nominations, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Polly Warfield, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, Troy Kotsur, West Coast Premiere, world premiere
Recently, we shared video with you of our cleared-out parking lot getting re-paved. With that job completed, we were ready for the big, exciting deliveries: the trussing and the stage.
Trussing is the aluminum support structure around the perimeter of the stage from which lighting and sound equipment are hung. The outdoor stage – which is larger than its indoor counterpart – is composed of individual modular units like those used in open-air productions that can be easily broken down, stored, and then re-assembled as needed.
Both are now in place, so viola! The outdoor stage is ready to go!
So what’s next? Lights and sound equipment. The set. The actors. Tech. And then…you, dear friends! We cannot wait to see you again. Tickets for our inaugural outdoor stage production, the LA premiere of Branden Jacobs-Jenkins An Octoroon, are on sale now. The New York Times hailed An Octoroon as “this decade’s most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America today.” Don’t miss it! Call the box office at 323/663-1525 or visit our website at http://www.fountaintheatre.com to reserve your seats under the stars.
Check out the video below and watch how it all came together:
Terri Roberts is a freelance writer and the Coordinator of Fountain Friends, the Fountain Theatre’s volunteer program. She also manages the Fountain Theatre Café and outdoor concessions.
The Los Angeles premiere of An Octoroon by Branden Jacobs-Jenkins will inaugurate the new outdoor stage at the Fountain Theatre later this spring. Judith Moreland will direct.
Winner of the Obie Award for Best American Play, Jacobs-Jenkins’ landmark play has earned ecstatic reviews nationwide. The New York Times hailed it as “this decade’s most eloquent theatrical statement on race in America today.” The Guardian declared it “brilliant” and “extraordinary.”
An Octoroon is a radical, incendiary and subversively funny riff on Dion Boucicault’s once-popular 1859 mustache-twirling melodrama set on a Louisiana plantation. A spectacular collision of the antebellum South and 21st-century cultural politics, An Octoroon twists a funhouse world of larger-than-life stereotypes into blistering social commentary to create a gasp-inducing satire.
“I’m proud the Fountain will introduce this bold play to Los Angeles audiences on our new outdoor stage,” states Fountain artistic director Stephen Sachs. “It could not be timelier. The moment has come for our nation to confront its own racist history. Branden uses satire to get to the dark core of American slavery and the racial stereotypes that continue to plague this country today.”
Earlier this year, the Fountain received approval from the City of Los Angeles to install the outdoor stage for the purpose of safely presenting live performances and other events during the pandemic. Construction is set to begin this month, with the opening of An Octoroon slated for June.
Before that can happen, a number of tasks remain on the Fountain’s to-do list to inaugurate the outdoor venue. The first step is to repave the parking lot, where the stage will be installed. Lighting, sound, and video equipment will be loaded in. New chairs will be positioned according to COVID guidelines to accommodate 84 viewers. The entire site will meet all safety requirements for artists and audience members.“Everything now depends on the COVID numbers,” says Sachs. “Once they drop to a level where the County Department of Public Health allows a gathering outdoors of one hundred people, with safety guidelines in place, we’re good to go.”
The new outdoor performance area is made possible, in part, by the generous support of Karen Kondazian, the Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Foundation, Rabbi Anne Brener, Carrie Chassin and Jochen Haber, Miles and Joni Benickes, and the Phillips-Gerla Family.
For more information about the Fountain Theatre, go to www.fountaintheatre.com
Posted in African American, Fountain Theatre, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged An Octoroon, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Carrie Chassin, Fountain Theatre, Jochen Haber, Judith Moreland, Karen Kondazian, Los Angeles, Maggi Phillips, Miles Benickes, Outdoor Stage, Rabbi Anne Brener, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre, Vladimir and Araxia Buckhantz Foundation
Actors in rehearsal for Raise Your Voice.
The Fountain Theatre is readying Raise Your Voice – Vote!, a guerrilla style, immersive theater event set to take place over the course of two days at six locations throughout the City of Los Angeles. Watch the live-stream every hour on the hour beginning at 10 a.m. PT / 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Sunday, Oct. 25 at www.FountainTheatre.com.
Conceived by acclaimed playwright and Fountain Theatre community engagement coordinator France-Luce Benson and co-directed by Benson and Lily Ockwell, Raise Your Voice – Vote!aims to build momentum and awareness about the upcoming election while bringing theater for the people to the people. The five-member acting ensemble (Victor Anthony, Jessica Emmanuel, Wonjung Kim, Theo Perkins and Rayne J. Raney) will present a series of pop up performances in six public spaces, each representative of L.A.’s cultural landscape. Each performance will feature America’s most iconic speeches about voting rights, plus dance and song. Volunteers will be stationed at every location to offer assistance with voter registration and voter education.
“We want to create an event that is inspirational, but never didactic,” explains Benson. “The performers will be in conversation with each other and with the people around them, blending in, respecting and embracing whichever community we’re in.”
Each of the performances will be live-streamed and will also be augmented by a series of surprise appearances, posts and performances on the Fountain Theatre’s social media pages in support of voter awareness.
Send Us Your Selfie on Voting
Want to engage in the Fountain’s newest project? We want you to upload a short selfie video (2 mins or less) of yourself expressing how important it is to vote. Nothing fancy. Can literally be taken on a smartphone. Just speak from your heart. Be passionate. What does voting mean to you? Why does voting matter? Do you have a personal story about voting? These video selfies will air at the top of each hour, from 10am to 6pm, on all Fountain social platforms and website.
Important:
You (we) cannot endorse a specific candidate.
Do not mention Trump or Biden by name.
Shoot your selfie horizontal, not vertical.
The purpose of the event is to use theatre as a trigger to activate the public to vote, to emphasize the responsibility of voting, to remind each other of the price some have paid to vote, to express the urgency to participate in this election and in our democracy.
Raise Your Voice – Vote! is produced by Stephen Sachs and Simon Levy for the Fountain Theatre. James Bennett is live-stream editor, and Terri Roberts is volunteer coordinator. The event is underwritten by Miles and Joni Benickes, Diana Buckhantz, Karen Kondazian, Maggi Phillips, Susan Stockel, Dorothy Wolpert, and Don and Suzanne Zachary. Event partners include volunteer organizations The Social Ripple Effect and Big Sunday.
For more information, to find out how you can volunteer and to live-stream Raise Your Voice –Vote! on Oct. 24 and Oct. 25, go to www.fountaintheatre.com.
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Livestream, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, Online, performing arts, plays, Social justice, Theater, theatre
Tagged Diana Buckhantz, Don Zachary, Dorothy Wolpert, Fountain Theatre, France-Luce Benson, immersive, James Bennett, Jessica Emmanuel, Karen Kondazian, Lily Ockwell, livestream, Los Angeles, Maggi Phillips, Miles Benickes, Raise Your Voice, Rayne J. Raney, Simon Levy, Social Ripple Effect, Stephen Sachs, Susan Stockel, Terri Roberts, Theo Perkins, Victor Anthony, Wonjung Kim
Margaret Phillips, PhD
The Fountain Theatre is proud to announce that esteemed teacher, researcher, and consultant Margaret E. Phillips, PhD, has joined its Board of Directors. Her special interests are in cultural influences on organization behavior, management development in multicultural contexts, and organization diagnosis and design for sustainability. “During my long career as an international business professor, a cross-cultural management researcher, and an organization design consultant, I have spent much of my time exploring challenging topics that incite conversation and ignite social change,” Phillips explains. “Much like the Fountain does every day using the medium of theatre. That is likely why the invitation to join the Fountain’s Board of Directors was so intriguing to me, especially coming at the time of my retirement from academia.” Her work has been published in books and academic journals and included in compendiums of key contributions to the fields of cross-cultural management and international human resources management. Her book, Crossing Cultures: Insights from Master Teachers is a resource for teachers and trainers with proven methods for developing coping strategies and problem-solving skills in the cross-cultural arena. She co-authored the comprehensive chapter on “Conceptualizing Culture” for the Handbook for International Management Research and “Contextual Influences on Culture Research: Shifting Assumptions for New Workplace Realities” in the International Journal of Cross Cultural Management. She has served on the governing boards of several organizations, for-profit and not-for-profit, with culturally diverse stakeholders. “I have been a committed supporter of the Los Angeles theatre community for over 50 years,” she states. “Yet have only recently become a fan of the Fountain after experiencing the performance of Citizen: An American Lyric at Center Theatre Group’s first Block Party, and engaged with the theater after experiencing the powerful Walking the Beat this past summer. Subsequent performances and interactions with the Fountain family have allowed me to see that the values conveyed from the stage are lived in this company. This, and of course the charm and passion of the board colleagues themselves, have enticed me to join with you all as the Fountain moves toward its 30th year and beyond. I am proud and delighted to be along on this journey.”
Maggi Phillips enjoys opening night of Between Riverside and Crazy, 2019.
Dr. Phillips has been a member of the Western Academy of Management, the Academy of Management, the Academy of International Business, the International Organization Network, and the European Group for Organization Studies. She has conducted teaching exchanges and faculty workshops for several of these organizations in multiple international settings, and has made presentations and convened symposia for all, including Designing Culturally Sustainable Organizations for the 2012 EGOS meeting in Helsinki.
Dr. Phillips received her PhD in Management from the Anderson School at UCLA, an MS in Administration from the Merage School at UC Irvine, and a BA in Psychology from UCLA’s College of Letters and Science.
Dr. Phillips’ husband, Professor Mario Gerla, PhD, a pioneer in computer networks who had supervised more than 100 Ph.D. graduates during his long career, passed away in February after a prolonged battle with pancreatic cancer. Dr. Phillips has two daughters, Marisa and Cristina.
Posted in African American, Arts, arts organizations, Board of Directors, Education, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Tagged Block Party, Board of Directors, Center Theatre Group, Citizen: An American Lyric, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Los Angeles, Maggi Phillips, Margaret E. Phillips, Mario Gerla, Pepperdine University, theater, theatre, UCLA, Walking the Beat
Three friends embark on a joyous journey of sisterhood, discovering their inner ‘duende’ through a flamenco class for middle-aged women. Heart Song, the newest comedy/drama from Stephen Sachs (Bakersfield Mist, Cyrano), opens at The Fountain Theatre on May 25 with Shirley Jo Finney (In the Red and Brown Water) directing and choreography by internationally renowned flamenco dancer Maria “Cha Cha” Bermudez.
Pamela Dunlap stars as Rochelle, a middle aged Jewish woman struggling with a crisis of faith. When Tina (Tamlyn Tomita) convinces her to join a flamenco class for “seasoned” out of shape women, Rochelle’s life is changed forever. There, she meets Daloris (Juanita Jennings) and an unforgettable circle of women (Andrea Dantas, Mindy Krasner, Elissa Kyriacou,Sherrie Lewandowski and Norma Maldonado) who propel Rochelle on a hilarious and deeply moving course of unexpected self-discovery.
“Heart Song is funny but also allows me to explore serious issues about faith, spirituality and mortality that are deeply personal to me,” says Sachs. “The play dramatizes how art, in the form of flamenco — like religion or spiritual faith — has the power to heal and transform.”
“Flamenco is a life-saver for these women,” explains Finney. “It’s about duende, finding the deeper soul, unearthing that deep inner voice that lives inside us and can heal our inner wounds.”
The Fountain Theatre, recipient of critical acclaim and multiple awards for its theater productions, is also L.A.’s foremost presenter of flamenco. The Fountain’s monthly “Forever Flamenco!” series was created by co-artistic director Deborah Lawlor, who acts as consultant on this production.
“This is the perfect opportunity to marry the Fountain’s two audiences,” says Lawlor. “With Heart Song, we celebrate both our dedication to creating and producing new plays, as well as our longtime passion and commitment to the art of flamenco.”
Tamlyn Tomita, Pamela Dunlap, and Juanita Jennings
Set design for Heart Song is by Tom Buderwitz; lighting design is by Ken Booth; sound design is by Bruno Louchouarn; costume design is by Dana Woods; prop design is by Misty Carlisle; casting is by Cathy Reinking; production stage manager is Corey Womack; and assistant stage managers are Mitzi Delgado and Terri Roberts. The Fountain Theatre production marks its world premiere. A second production will take place at Florida Rep in 2014.
Stephen Sachs’ other plays include Cyrano (2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award), Bakersfield Mist (2012 Elliot Norton Award for Best New Play, optioned for London’s West End and New York), Miss Julie: Freedom Summer (Fountain Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse, Canadian Stage Company, LADCC and LA Weekly Award nominations), Gilgamesh (Theatre @ Boston Court), Central Avenue (PEN USA Literary Award finalist; Back Stage Garland award for Best Play), Mother’s Day, The Golden Gate (Best Play, Drama-Logue), andThe Baron in the Trees. His play Sweet Nothing in my Ear (1997 PEN USA Literary Award finalist and Media Access Award winner for Theater Excellence) has been produced in theaters around the country and was made into a TV movie for CBS starring Academy Award winner Marlee Matlin and Jeff Daniels. Open Window (2005 Media Access Award winner for Theater Excellence) had its world premiere at the Pasadena Playhouse.
Shirley Jo Finney received the LADCC award for her direction of In the Red and Brown Water at the Fountain, where she also directed award-winning productions of From the Mississippi Delta, Central Avenue, Yellowman and The Ballad of Emmett Till. Her work has been seen at the McCarter Theater, Pasadena Playhouse, Goodman Theater, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Cleveland Playhouse, LA Theater Works, Crossroads Theater Company, Actors Theater of Louisville Humana Festival, Mark Taper Forum, American College Theatre Festival, Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the State Theater in Pretoria, South Africa, where she helmed the South African opera, Winnie, based on the life of political icon Winnie Mandela. Ms. Finney has been honored with Ovation, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle, Back Stage Garland, LA Weekly and NAACP awards. For television, she directed several episodes of Moesha, and she garnered the International Black Filmmakers ‘Best Director’ Award for her short film, Remember Me. In 2007 she received the African American Film Marketplace Award of Achievement for Outstanding Performance and Achievement and leader in Entertainment.
Pamela Dunlap (Rochelle) has performed at Lincoln Center, New York Theatre Workshop, New York Stage and Film and Circle Repertory Company. On Broadway: Musical Comedy Murders of 1940, Redwood Curtain, Yerma. Off Broadway: Early Girl, Sacrifice to Eros, Green Card. L.A. theatergoers have seen her at the Mark Taper, Ahmanson, South Coast Rep and L.A. Theatre Works. Regional theater includes Theatre Raleigh, Pioneer Theatre, St. Louis Repertory, Hartford Stage, Arena Stage, Pittsburgh Public Theatre and Corpus Christi Symphony. She is the recipient of an OOBR Award, an honoree of the New York Drama League, and a three-time Drama-Logue Award recipient. Mad Men fans will recognize her as Pauline Francis, Betty Draper’s new mother-in-law with the questionable baby sitting skills. TV guest appearances include How I Met Your Mother, N.C.I.S., Law and Order SVU, and recurring as Gilda Rockwell on Commander In Chief. Pamela recently completed filming on Doll and Em for British TV, written, produced and starring Emily Mortimer. Film: The Changeling, directed by Clint Eastwood; I Am Sam; War Of The Roses; The Holiday; Sixteen To Life; and Mind The Gap.
Juanita Jennings (Daloris) is known to Fountain audiences for her portrayal of Aunt Ester in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean and for her versatility in From the Mississippi Delta. She recently co-starred in South Coast Repertory’s production of Fences, and has also appeared at SCR in Jar the Floor (NAACP Theatre Award for Best Actress) and Twelfth Night. Other theater credits include productions at New York Shakespeare Festival, the Negro Ensemble Company, Mark Taper Forum, The Old Globe and Westwood Playhouse. Her many TV roles include Edna on the Tyler Perry series Meet the Browns and Dorothy Bascomb on The Bold and the Beautiful. She is a Cable Ace winner for her portrayal in the HBO mini-series Laurel Avenue.
Tamlyn Tomita (Tina) starred in the Fountain’s very first production, Winter Crane (Drama-Logue Award). Other stage work include The Square and Don Juan: A Meditation (Taper, Too), Summer Moon (Seattle’s A Contemporary Theatre and South Coast Repertory), Day Standing on its Head (Manhattan Theatre Club) and Nagasaki Dust (Philadelphia Theatre Company). She is best known for the films The Day After Tomorrow,The Joy Luck Club and Karate Kid 2. Other film credits include Picture Bride, Come See the Paradise, Four Rooms, Living Out Loud and Gaijin 2. Soap opera followers know her as Dr. Ellen Yu on Days of Our Lives and Glee fans have seen her as Julia Chang.
Maria Bermudez (Choreographer) is one of the foremost flamenco dancers in the world today. Born in Los Angeles, she now resides in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, the “cradle” of flamenco. Her outstanding and critically acclaimed performances include The Hollywood Bowl, The John Anson Ford Theater, The Fountain Theater, The Los Angeles Music Center, and The Bilingual Foundation of the Arts in Los Angeles, Central Park and The Joyce Theater in New York City, the Teatro Palacio das Artes in Brazil, Pena Cernicalos, Los Gallos, and Teatro Lope de Vega in Spain, guest appearances with the Santa Cecilia California and numerous venues throughout the world. Most recently she formed Chicana Gypsy Project which draws on her Mexican-American heritage and her immersion into Gypsy culture. Her life and career has inspired the award-winning documentary film, Streets of Flamenco .
Housed in a charming two-story complex, the Fountain is one of the most successful intimate theaters in Los Angeles, providing a creative home for multi-ethnic theater and dance artists. The Fountain has won over 200 awards, and Fountain projects have been seen across the U.S. and internationally. Highlights include In the Red and Brown Water (“Best in Theater 2012” – Los Angeles Times); Cyrano, an adaptation of the Rostand classic for hearing and deaf actors by Stephen Sachs (LADCC Award, “Outstanding Production”), a six-month run of Bakersfield Mist, also by Sachs, optioned for London and New York; the Off-Broadway run of the Fountain’s world premiere production of Athol Fugard’s Exits and Entrances; and the making of Sachs’ Sweet Nothing in My Ear into a TV movie. The Fountain has been honored with a Certificate of Appreciation from the Los Angeles City Council for “enhancing the cultural life of Los Angeles.” The Fountain was recently honored with seven Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle including the Polly Warfield Award for Best Season 2012.
Heart Song opens on Saturday, May 25, with performances Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays @ 8 pm and Sundays @ 2 pm through July 14. Preview performances take place May 18-24 on the same schedule. Tickets are $34 (reserved seating), except previews which are $15. On Thursdays and Fridays only, seniors over 65 and students with ID are $25. The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue (at Normandie) in Los Angeles. Secure, on-site parking is available for $5. The Fountain Theatre is air-conditioned and wheelchair accessible. For reservations and information, call 323-663-1525 or go to www.FountainTheatre.com.
Posted in Acting, actors, Arts, arts organizations, Dance, dancer, director, Drama, flamenco, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, singer, Theater, theatre
Tagged Andrea Dantas, Bakersfield Mist, Broadway, Bruno Louchouarn, Cathy Reinking, Chicana Gypsy Project, Corey Womack, Cyrano, Dana Woods, Days of Our Lives, Deborah Lawlor, duende, Elissa Kyriacou, faith, flamenco class, flamenco dancing, flamenco guitar, flamenco music, Forever Flamenco, Gem of the Ocean, Glee, HBO, Heart Song, Hollywood Bowl, How I Met Your Mother, In The Red and Brown Water, Jerez de la Frontera, Juanita Jennings, Karate Kid 2, Ken Booth, Lincoln Center, Mad Men, Maria Bermudez, Mark Taper Forum, Meet the Browns, Mindy Krasner, Misty Carlisle, Mitzi Delgado, NCIS, Norma Maldonado, Off-Broadway, Pamela Dunlap, Pauline Francis, Sherrie Lewandowski, Shirley Jo Finney, sisterhood, South Coast Repertory, spirituality, Stephen Sachs, Streets of Flamenco, Sweet Nothing in my Ear, Tamlyn Tomita, Terri Roberts, The Ballad of Emmett Till, The Bold and the Beautiful, The Day After Tomorrow, The Joy Luck Club, Tom Buderwitz, Tyler Perry, women
Terrylene and Freda Norman. Sweet Nothing in my Ear, Fountain Theatre, 1997.
By Stephen Sachs
Whatever happened to empathy in this country?
A candidate for President mocks a person with physical disabilities on national television — and still gets elected. Undocumented children are pulled from their parents and locked into cages. Hateful tweets fly between rich celebrities. Insulting attacks are vomited on TV talk shows. Demeaning personal smears splatter across the blogosphere. Women are shamed, minorities are assaulted. Those with the power to do good seem indifferent to the suffering of others. Fewer care to consider what it’s like to walk in another person’s shoes, to entertain the notion that others may feel the way they do for reasons that are understandable and valid from their point of view. Common respect for another human being seems as rare today in public life as a sighting of Bigfoot.
What can you do? How can you counteract today’s lack of empathy?
Turn off cable news. Switch off your smartphone. And go to the theatre.
Not because the display of human behavior from the stage will be any prettier. Don’t forget, the fundamental element of drama is conflict. Even so, no matter how tragic, a good play is a pathway to empathy. That’s because theatre doesn’t just manufacture empathy, it depends on it. Without empathy, theatre not only fails, it doesn’t exist. Here’s why:
Every play that has ever been written asks the same fundamental human question:
“What is it like to be someone else?”
That’s it.
During a recent Sunday panel discussion on NBC’s Meet the Press, political columnist Matt Bai stated, “This is a presidency entirely without empathy.” Trump, he added, “seems to be a person who is entirely without empathy. Whatever his strong suits or weak suits, he does not have the ability to feel personally and deeply the suffering of others.”
Empathy is a skill that everyone could do well to develop and maintain whether President or not, and theatre, an art where the purpose is to explore what it means to be human, is an excellent teacher. Its in-the-moment human interaction makes theatre one-stop shopping for empathy.
In the performance of a play, the current of empathy runs two-fold. The actors pretend they are somebody else while the audience imagines what it must be like to be them. This remarkable double-shot of empathy brings mutual benefit: the attention of both actor and audience is focused on someone other than themselves. The fears, passions and needs of another human being become their own. Performers achieve this skill through years of training. Audiences have empathy thrust upon them.
In a 2012 study, researchers Thalia Goldstein and Ellen Winner assessed empathy levels in elementary and high school students who had received one year of theatre. They found that those who had studied acting for the year showed the most significant growth in empathy scores.
In the past 20 years, psychologists and neurologists have started to look at how empathy actually works, in our brains and our hearts. Fritz Breithaupt, a professor at Indiana University who studies empathy, says one thing he found is that “one of the strongest triggers for human empathy is observing some kind of conflict between two other parties.”
Sound familiar? Conflict is the essence of drama?
All of the hateful me-first narcissistic rhetoric of today doesn’t just give empathy a back seat, it tosses it out of the car entirely. The feeling now seems to be: Why should I put myself in the shoes of someone who is not me? Why waste my empathy on those not deserving? On someone older or younger? More rich or poorer? From another country? Another color? Gender? Sexual preference? The new rule seems to be: Reserve your empathy only for those who are like you which, by definition, isn’t empathy at all. In this twisted thinking, a lack of empathy is a show of power, self-reliance, a way to make a stand against the imagined danger of “the other.”
I believe our humanity is enhanced if we can learn to see the world through the eyes of a migrant child. A homeless woman. A person of a color not our own. And we are blessed with the opportunity to imagine what someone else might be thinking or feeling by going to the theatre.
People often confuse the words “sympathy” and “empathy”. Sympathy describes feelings of pity and sorrow for someone else’s misfortune. Empathy puts you in their shoes. Which is also the difference between a good play and a great play. A good play makes you feel sorry for a character. A great play makes you see life through their eyes.
On day one of first rehearsal of any play, in any city in any state in this nation, an actor or actress of any age, gender, race or sexual identity will open the first page of their script for the first time, find the role they are playing, and ask themself the same question: Who is this person?
And the door of empathy opens.
Stephen Sachs is the Co-Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre.
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwriting, stage, Theater, theatre
Tagged conflcit, drama, Ellen Winner, empathy, Fountain Theatre, Fritz Breithaupt, Indiana University, Matt Bai, Meet the Press, NBC, Stephen Sachs, Thalia Goldstein, theater, theatre, Trump
by Stephen Sachs
Our house divided? It can seem. There are days and nights like these when only what is wrong is what one sees.
Where once we felt safe, we are now afraid. Shootings. Bombings. Racial tension. Violence. Fear. Aggression. Terror. Polarization. The chasm in our country separating the haves from have-nots, the soaring from the struggling, grows wider. Officers we pay to protect us are shooting us. Public servants we elect to represent us serve themselves. A candidate spews hateful division as his poll numbers grow.
There’s a kind of insanity seeping in. A dis-ease. An unravelling. An anxious self-protection splits us further and further apart.
Disconnection can seem everywhere.
Here in Los Angeles on my own artistic landscape. As Actors Equity Association tries to force its new plan that imposes conflicting rules and opposing financial burdens on a vast mixture of intimate theaters in LA — pitting membership companies against sub 5o-seat houses against staff-driven theaters — I fear fragmentation and division on the horizon for our intimate theatre community as we are disjoined from one 99-Seat Plan for all to segregation, separate and not equal.
Can we come together? Stay together? Or will we fragment and divide?
Then I consider an audience. Any audience.
In our world of theatre, the wide variety of individuals who gather to see a play on any given night in any theatre in this country — no matter the number of people or their diversity of race, ethnicity, age, gender, social standing, neighborhood — are referred to as one entity. They are the audience. Singular. Not plural. Composed of unique and separate individuals who, together, become one thing.
Like the motto of our nation: Out of many, one.
I see it happen all the time in my theatre on Fountain Avenue. The pre-show bustle of patrons before a performance. Folks dash into the lobby, check their smartphones, launch last-minute texts, chatter brightly with each other, get a drink, go to the bathroom. They come from all over the city. From varied neighborhoods, all manner of jobs, vastly different lives. Yet, when curtain time is called, they somehow find their seats together. A Highland Park bus driver sits next to a Century City attorney sits next to a Sherman Oaks nurse sits next to a Koreatown hairdresser.
The lights then go down. The smartphones are silenced, programs are stashed, eyes and ears are trained forward. A hush blankets the crowd. A light warms the stage. An actor makes the first entrance. The play begins.
And it happens.
The outside world evaporates. And this seated mass of human individuals slowly, steadily transforms as they are pulled deeper into the story unfolding before them on stage. One hundred people will see the same performance and see one hundred different plays at the same time, but there is also a shared thing, a unity that happens. An audience becomes a living thing, a dynamic organism that laughs and breathes and interconnects with itself energetically for its brief time together between lights up and lights down. Out of many, one.
And what do we call the area where the audience sits? We don’t call it the sitting area, or thezone or thesector. We call it the house. In the theatre, the audience sits in our house.
And for these shared hours, these shimmering minutes, this gathering of separate people agree to enter into the sacred pact to become an audience, together. The house begins divided. It ends as one.
The purpose of meaningful theatre is to tell stories that illuminate what it means to be a human being. And by its very nature, because it is performed by human beings — live, in the moment, in front of other beings — it puts a human face on issues that confound us all. It humanizes our conflicted ideas about ourselves, each other and our world. Race, religion, poverty, politics, sex and social challenges are embodied on a stage in personal stories of loss and triumph about specific human beings. In a play, ideas, themes and concepts are distilled into the needs and journeys of people.
When an audience is pulled into the world of a meaningful play and emotionally invests in the struggles of the characters on stage, the artificial divide between audience and actor mysteriously falls away and the characters become real. We feel we know them, we care about their outcome. And the alchemy of empathy begins. “They” become “us”. We identify. That character is me.
Empathy is the ability to understand and share the feelings of another human being. The capacity to feel what another being is experiencing from within the other being’s frame of reference.
A good play can do that.
Healing and transformation begins with the understanding that there is no other, the other is me. A meaningful night in the theatre can create the connection of empathy in ourselves that allows us to wake the next morning with a new awareness of each other, as sisters and brothers. Each of us unique and separate. And, at the same time, not so different.
As an audience, as a city, as a nation.
We are, out of many, one.
Stephen Sachs is the co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of the Fountain Theatre.
Posted in actors, Art, Arts, arts organizations, creativity, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, Theater, theatre
Tagged actor, actors, Actors Equity Association, artist, arts, arts organizations, audience, connection, division, empathy, Fountain Theatre, intimate theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre, unity
With only 80 seats in four rows, the Fountain Theatre, named “the foremost venue of flamenco in Los Angeles” by the LA Weekly, is the perfect place to view flamenco. Each show features a roster of world-class dancers, singers and musicians drawn from the rich pool of Flamenco artists in Southern California, with additional guest artists brought from San Francisco, Albuquerque and Spain.
This month artistic director/dancer Timo Nuñez will be joined by dancers Clara Rodriguez and Briseyda Zarate; singer Jesus Montoya; guitarist Gabriel Osuna; and percussionist Joey Heredia.
Passionate. Exhilarating. World class flamenco in an intimate setting.
Forever Flamenco Sunday, Nov 10 8pm (323) 663-1525MORE
This entry was posted in Arts, arts organizations, dancer, flamenco, performing arts, singer, Theater, theatre and tagged Briseyda Zarate, Clara Rodriguez, Dance, Deborah Lawlor, Flamenco, flamenco dancing, flamenco guitar, flamenco music, Forever Flamenco, Fountain Theatre, Gabriel Osuna, Jesus Montoya, Joey Heredia, Los Angeles, theater, theatre, Timo Nunez. Bookmark the permalink.
Posted in African American, artist, Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, hip hop, Los Angeles, Music, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged Fountain Theatre, friendship, hip hop, Hollywood, Hype Man, Idris Goodwin, justice, Los Angeles, new play, PLAY, playwright, racism, theater, theatre, West Coast Premiere
Fountain Family: We will not be silent.
Have you heard of Rabbi Joachim Prinz? Probably not. In August of 1963, he and Martin Luther King, Jr. were among the ten leaders of the March on Washington. Preceding King to the platform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial before King declared his dream to the world, Prinz delivered a stirring speech against silence in the face of injustice. It was an expression of his life-long commitment to equality and tolerance.
“Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept,” he said. “When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned many things. The most important thing that I learned under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not ‘.the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.”
This past weekend, more than 50 years later, women across the nation marched on Washington once again. And on the Thursday prior to marching, on the eve of the Presidential Inauguration, the Fountain Theatre made a pledge. It would not be silent.
Streaming live on Facebook, the Fountain joined 728 other theaters in all 50 states who gathered outside theaters nationwide to create a “light” for these dark times ahead. The Ghostlight Project offered theater artists and patrons the opportunity to renew a pledge to stand and protect the values of inclusion, participation, and compassion for everyone, regardless of race, class, religion, country of origin, immigration status, (dis)ability, gender identity, or sexual orientation.
The Fountain Theatre joined theaters across the country to reaffirm and declare our commitment and solidarity to provide safe, brave spaces that will serve as lights in the coming years. List of participating theaters in ALL 50 STATES
What is a ghostlight? When our theaters go dark at the end of the night, we turn on a “ghost light” – offering visibility and safety for all who might enter. This is our theatrical tradition and the inspiration for this national event. Like a ghostlight, the light we created on January 19th represents our commitment to provide safety, a safe harbor, for everyone. To resist intolerance at all levels.
Fountain folk were asked to make signs, affirming “I Am” and “I Fight For”. Take a look.
On Thursday night, a crowd of Fountain Family members — actors, directors, stage managers, patrons and supporters — gathered outside the theatre at exactly at 5:30pm to join the live feed on Facebook. A statement was read by Fountain Co-Artistic Director Stephen Sachs, and the group switched on the portable lights they were asked to bring, in symbolic gesture of adding light into the coming darkness.
The ceremony continued inside. Morlan Higgins played guitar and sang a song by Woody Guthrie. Stephen Sachs listed three Fountain productions of plays that dramatized the issues of tolerance, equality, and inclusion. My Mañana Comes brought to life the struggle of immigration, The Ballad of Emmett Till shed light on racism, and the The Normal Heart articulated the fight against AIDS and social prejudice in the gay community. Stephen then introduced cast members from these productions, each performing selections giving voice to these themes. It was very powerful and moving.
Quoting Rabbi Prinz, Sachs then announced the Fountain Theatre’s pledge that it “will not be silent.” He then instructed the group to once again switch on their portable lights, as he turned on the Fountain ghostlight that stood on stage, as a beacon of hope.
The Fountain ceremony ended with everyone joining Morlan on guitar and singing together the lively gospel song, “This Little Light of Mine”. Afterwards, the group gathered upstairs in the cafe for excited conversation, pizza and beer.
It was an inspiring and joyous evening. Like the light we shine, we will carry our pledge forward into the new year, and the years forever after. We will not remain silent.
Posted in Arts, arts organizations, Fountain Theatre, government, immigration, Jewish, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, race, racism, Social justice, stage, Theater, theatre
Tagged African American, equality, Facebook, Fountain Theatre, gay, Hitler, I am, I fight for, immigration, justice, Lincoln Memorial, Los Angeles, march, Martin Luther King, Morlan Higgins, My Manana Comes, Rabbi Joachim Prinz, Stephen Sachs, The Ballad of Emmett Till, The Ghostlight Project, The Normal Heart, theater, theatre, This Little Light of Mine, tolerance, we will not be silent
In this final segment of our Conversations with Black Artists series, we talk with director Shirley Jo Finney, and actors Gilbert Glenn Brown and Theo Perkins. We are grateful to all of the wonderful performers and creatives who have been so generous with their time and shared their thoughts about issues around race and their relationships with the Fountain Theatre. We hope you have enjoyed getting to know them a little better, as well.
Shirley Jo Finney
Director:From the Mississippi Delta, Central Avenue, Yellowman, The Ballad of Emmett Till, Heart Song, In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, Citizen: An American Lyric
1. When/how did you first come to the Fountain Theatre?
My first directing job at the Fountain was in1997, with From the Mississippi Delta by Endesha Ida Mae Holland.
2. How has your experience been working here?
I find the Fountain Theater supports their artists.
3. What Fountain shows that you’ve worked on hold particular meaning for you, and why?
All of them. Each of the shows are socially relevant and have impacted my artistic awareness as well as my expansion as a human being. It is the creative journey with the actors that hold the most meaning for me and not a particular show.
4. Last summer’s civil unrest brought an increased focus on racism, both in general and within the theatre world. We also saw the emergence of the BIPOC movement. How have these issues impacted you and your work in the theatre?
Not so much.
For me, the emergence of BIPOC is a continuation of the Civil Rights Movement of the 60’s and 70’s. That movement changed laws and stopped a war. The cultural and black arts movement of that time laid the foundation for the raised fist we are experiencing now. I am a child of that time and my foundation as a creative was shaped by that time. It is the work I am called to do. Each generation is defined by their time.
5. Why is Black History Month important
It brings a microscopic lens of awareness to a culture that historically has been erased. There would not be a need for a month if it were an intricate part our education system.
6. What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects?
I hope many more active and healthy years!
I have adapted creatively during “the time of Covid.” It has opened up a whole new world of Zoom lectures discussing my journey and body of work as a director. I also am relishing the world of Zoom productions using the “mashing” of stage and digital to create story.
Gilbert Glenn Brown
Actor: Direct From Death Row: The Scottsboro Boys, In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, The Painted Rocks at Revolver Creek
1. When/how did you first come to the Fountain Theatre?
My very first audition and show with Fountain Theatre was early on when I first arrived to Los Angeles from NY and that was Scottsboro Boys.
2. How has your experience been working here?
My experience at the Fountain in one word… community. Truly the closest experience I’ve had in LA to a NY theatre experience. I feel that a sense of community in theatre is necessary. I enjoy being part of it, and the Fountain is able to foster that to an incredible degree,
The commitment to presenting productions that not only entertain, but transform, educate, and energize is so key. It breaks down walls, opens eyes and allows dialogue. The Fountain does that extremely well. I consider the Fountain my LA theatre home.
3. What Fountain shows that you’ve worked on hold particular meaning for you, and why?
I have to say that every single show I’ve had the honor of being a part of at the Fountain has been transformational for me. Every opportunity I’ve had to step onto that stage and look out into that small, yet giant, space, has changed me and allowed me to grow as an artist and as a human being. As an artist, that’s what you want – because if it moves you in that way, it will no doubt move the audience as well.
I have had the opportunity, at the Fountain, to be directed by some of the best: the incredible Shirley Jo Finney, the wonderful Simon Levy and the late, legendary Ben Bradley.
4. Last summer’s civil unrest brought an increased focus on racism, both in general and within the theatre world. We also saw the emergence of the BIPOC movement. How have these issues impacted you and your work in the theatre?
Honestly, it has reinforced my conviction to continue doing exceptional, meaningful work as an artist. The projects I gravitate toward speak to the conditions of the world and ask the important questions, then set the stage for dialogue to occur.
There is a space for entertainment, for laughter, for fun – all that and more are a part of life and living. They exist even in classic tragedies, as they do in everyday issues and everyday life – but the responsibility of looking at all sides, of presenting the pleasure and the pain, falls on the artist. The unrest has always been there. The causes for that unrest have always been there. It’s just that now, due to social media/technology, that unrest is being broadcast and streamed 24/7 in real time and in living color. That doesn’t make it any easier, but it does make it more apparent.
Look at George Floyd, or the Capitol riots! Watching those events happen, live, presents the opportunity to either step up and be an active participant, or just sit back and watch. And that is something the Fountain stands on: Yes, of course, sit back. Please watch what’s happening. Go ahead and be uncomfortable by what you see on stage. Let it sink in, and let it transform you in some way. Let that experience provoke discussion, challenge your way of thinking or the way you see the world. That is the amazing opportunity that theatre presents.
5. Why is Black History Month important?
Black History? Well, I’ve been educated and enlightened to see that it’s not just “Black” History or just a month. It’s really World History. It’s really American History. The truth is that much that exists now wouldn’t exist at all without Black input, and, for that matter, without the input of many other cultures, races, religions, etc. America is an amalgamation of all that’s been added to the mix. There really shouldn’t be a limit to the reality of the impact that any culture has had on life in America. If we were to really embrace that truth, that inclusivity, what would, or could, America be?
6. What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects?
Right now I’m working on the CW/DC show Stargirl. I will be seen as Martin Luther King Jr. opposite Jennifer Hudson in the Aretha Franklin biopic Respect, due out this August. And I’m always creating, writing and being part of projects that address what I see is missing from the world.
Theo Perkins
Actor:In the Red and Brown Water, The Brothers Size, Raise Your Voice – Vote!
1. When/how did you first come to the Fountain Theatre?
Shortly after graduating from UCLA, I received an audition for In the Red and Brown Water. This was my first introduction to the Fountain Theatre.
2. How has your experience been working here?
Transformative. The intimacy of the space really expanded my approach to performance in amazing ways. I’m proud to say the Fountain Theatre is my theater home.
3. What Fountain shows that you’ve worked on hold particular meaning for you, and why?
This is tough one. Each production is close to me to this day. I’d say, In the Red and Brown Water. Not only did it introduce me to Tarell McCraney’s work, but I also gained a tribe of amazing humans, all of whom I still talk to today.
4. Last summer’s civil unrest brought an increased focus on racism, both in general and within the theatre world. We also saw the emergence of the BIPOC movement. How have these issues impacted you and your work in the theatre?
Well, I believe it served as a reminder of how important it is to have diverse voices in our theaters. Not only in terms of playwrights, but in all departments. The events of this summer shined a light on the years of inequity within our community. And it has pushed us all to do and to be better.
5. Why is Black History Month important?
It’s an intentional acknowledgment of the undeniable contributions African-Americans have made in this country. It’s a reminder that our history should be honored. And studied. And used to inspire younger generations.
6. What’s next for you? Any upcoming projects?
During the quarantine, I wrote and produced a film project that will come out this Spring. Look out for it! Also excited to re-launch Elizabeth Youth Theatre Ensemble’s social justice program, Walking the Beat, both in New Jersey and in Los Angeles at the Fountain Theatre. Both productions will actually be virtual.
Darius R. Booker, Morgan Camper, and Derek Jackson in “Gunshot Medley”
by Dionna Michelle Daniel
“I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.”
This sentence has stuck with me since the first time I read Claudia Rankine’s book, Citizen: An American Lyric. That sentence has been a jumping-off point and inspiration for the current play that I am currently developing.
I first encountered Claudia Rankine’s Citizen while a BFA at the California Institute of the Arts. That year, I was taking a class on hybrid writing with a bunch of MFA creative writers. Although I felt slightly out of place from my comfort of theater knowledge, I was determined to get my minor in creative writing. Even though Rankine’s Citizen functions as a hybrid text, at the time it wasn’t on the course reading materials. However, that didn’t stop it from being spoken about almost every other class. This was also around the time when there were the headlines of the black woman reading Citizen at a Trump rally. In the video, you see angry Trump supporters tap the woman on the shoulder, signaling that it is rude for her to not be complicit in Trump’s nonsense. It is rude for her to read. The woman’s response is one of the most epic things you will every see. She shrugs of the bitter rally attendees and continues to read her book. From that point on, it was clear to me that this book was a symbol of resistance and strength. I had to get my hands on a copy.
It’s funny how life happens. I began working at the Fountain Theatre in the Fall of 2017 and had no idea that Stephen Sachs had adapted a stage adaptation of the book. As a fan of this brilliant book and also a theatre nerd, I was excited to see this work brought to life and inhabited in the bodies of actors. I got my chance to see the performance at Grand Park on April 29th and needless to say, I was beyond moved. There is something about hearing those words spoken and coming from a black body that makes the text sink in that much deeper. The actors, all giving a beautiful performance, showed the pain & confusion that happens when constantly faced with microaggressions and systemic oppression. And when the lines, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background” were spoken, I was overwhelmed by the weight of this sentence. Felt the weight right in my chest.
This message of this book and the stage adaptation correlates to the work that I am trying to flesh out in my own writing. Currently, I am developing a Part 2 to my play Gunshot Medley. The second part will take place in the present day and I’ m most interested in the idea of what happens to the black psyche after being faced with the trauma of seeing so many killings of black men on our phone screens. When does it stop? When can we heal? And if we look at the black body as a vessel, how much can it hold before it snaps and breaks?
Dionna Michelle Daniel is the Outreach Coordinator at the Fountain Theatre
Posted in Art, artist, Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, poetry, race, racism, Theater, theatre
Tagged African American, CalArts, California Institute of the Arts, Citizen: An American Lyric, Claudia Rankine, Darius R. Booker, Derek Jackson, Dionna Michelle Daniel, Fountain Theatre, Grand Park, Gunshot Medley, Morgan Camper, Stephen Sachs, Trump
Karin, Aliza and Victor
by Dionna Michelle Daniel
Our Fountain Family is at the core of our theatre. This week, I had the privilege to sit down with a few of our patrons before the Monday night performance of our hit production, The Chosen. Our conversations were not only enriching but made me proud of our thriving LA theater community.
At the beginning of the night, I spoke with Fountain first-time patrons Debbie and Cathy. They expressed how they are usually season ticket holders at the Mark Taper Forum and generally like to view larger productions in the LA area. However, when they heard that Chaim Potok’s The Chosen was being performed, they bought tickets. “It’s one of my favorite books,” Cathy exclaimed.
The exceptional reviews for The Chosen have been bringing more first-time patrons to our door. So has the universal message of acceptance that is at the core of both the book and stage adaptation. The play has also been very inspirational and heartwarming for LA’s Jewish community, bringing some back to the beauty and wisdom of tradition. While speaking with patrons, I met a group of Sephardic theatre goers who were also equally excited to see Chaim Potok’s work adapted for the stage. Here is a snippet of my conversation with Fountain patrons Karin, Aliza and Victor.
Q: Is this your first time at the Fountain?
Victor: No, we were here many years ago. This has been here a long time, no? Maybe like 30 years ago.
Q: Do you like to see theater in LA?
Victor: Yes yes, we love [theatre] …. We used to [go] all the time at the Ahmanson and buy their [season subscription] but not this year.
Aliza: Well you have a community that is goes to theater. You have a community for everything [in LA.]
Victor: One of the things that I like about Los Angeles is that there is theater. You know, I’m from Mexico City. We are from Mexico City. (Pointing to himself and Aliza) She is from Buenos Aires, (Pointing to Karin) Mexico City is the place for theatres, ya know. So I am used to the theatre. That’s why one of the reasons I like to be here in Los Angeles is because this is where things are happening. When I moved to California, first I moved to Del Mar and I found it quite boring.
Q: Where is that?
Victor: Del Mar is north of San Diego. Even San Diego itself is no comparison to Los Angeles. Of course, this is no comparison with New York. I wish I were in New York and I’m not in New York so at least I’m in Los Angeles.
Debbie and Cathy
Q: What brought you tonight to The Chosen?
Victor: Our friend Karin invited us!
Karin: The president of our synagogue, we’re Jewish, told me. We like Flamenco so we told them that they play Flamenco there. He said, “We saw The Chosen there!” So we bought tickets.
Q: Have you read The Chosen?
All: Yes! Of course!
Q: How has your overall experience been so far since getting to the theater?
Victor: I just arrived here and very excited. I like very much plays. As I was telling you, we buy the yearly pass for the Ahmanson Theater. It’s a completely different experience. I think here it’s more the kind of people who are really interested in theater.
Aliza: The good thing in LA is the people. You will have people from India, from Mexico from South America from Europe! You have a mix of cultures and it’s the same in the theater. You will have theaters for certain groups. Every area has its own community!
Q: And will you be back for Forever Flamenco at the Fountain?
Victor: (gesturing to his wife Aliza) We have children who are twins and yesterday was their 18th birthday. And I told Aliza, I wanted to go to a restaurant to see Flamenco. I didn’t know it was here. Because I wanted to see something Flamenco. We are Sephardic, ya know. Sephardic from Spain. There was a Sephardic show in one of the synagogues in Beverly Hills but I wasn’t able to take my children. I want them to see, so we’ll be here!
If you’d like to share your own experience at The Fountain Theatre on our Fountain Folk blog, please contact Outreach Coordinator, Dionna Michelle Daniel at [email protected]
Posted in Art, Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Jewish, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, stage, Theater, theatre
Tagged audience, Chaim Potok, community, Dionna Michelle Daniel, Flamenco, Forever Flamenco, Fountain Theatre, Hollywood, Jewish, Los Angeles, outreach, patrons, The Chosen, theater, theatre
By Dionna Michelle Daniel
Last week’s blog post, I asked our Fountain friends and community to send in their own stories about how confronting “The Other” led to a deeper understanding and compassion. Below are a few responses we received. On the day we mark the 50th anniversary of the loss of Dr. Martin Luther King, we hope these stories on empathy and compassion inspire you.
Marrock Sedgwick, LGBTQ Activist & Filmmaker
“I had some people come up to me after seeing my film that had some kind of spiritual reckoning within themselves making them tell me they will do better by LGBT people. That felt pretty damn good.Most of the time when I confront the other I just get told to ‘F’ off.” – Marrok Sedgwick
Manon Manavit, Director & Theatre Artist
Manon Manavit
“A man selling hotdogs in New York gave me a hot dog for free because he was ‘promoting peace between muslims and Jews’ it was so beautiful I cried..he was Palestinian” – Manon Manavit
Saurav Jammalamadugu, Actor
“There was a moment where my family and I were on a train to Portland from San Jose and on the train, we were riding first class which meant we had access to a pretty fancy parlor car. Anyway, the lady who was serving us breakfast had to note and constantly point out “how strange it was” that my parents didn’t eat meat for religious purposes. So to calm the tension, I explained to her that we were Hindu, and that some people in our religion think that it’s harmful to eat something that’s killed but, I’d like a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. To which she again remarked how odd it was but after she walked away with our order seemed to realize that it was just people being people.” – Saurav Jammalamadugu
Thank you to all who responded, if you would like to share your story please email me at [email protected]! Your stories matter.
Dionna Michelle Daniel is the Outreach Coordinator at the Fountain Theatre.
Posted in artist, Arts, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, immigration, Los Angeles, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, performing arts, Theater, theatre
Several summers ago, I had one of the strangest morning commute experiences of my life.
I was working as a spoken word mentor to youth at Authoring Action Organization in Winston-Salem, NC. Every morning I’d ride my bike to the closest bus stop which was near the super Wal-Mart, wait around for the 7:40 bus, and travel across town to work. North Carolina summer mornings are particularly beautiful with the sun rising over a completely green landscape, the thickness of the humid air and the dew still sprinkled among the grass. Those bike rides became my daily ritual.
One morning I arrived at the bus stop to be met by a man completely covered head to toe in tattoos. The subject matter of his tattoos were of the white supremacist variety. He was completely bald and on the back of his head sat a large swastika. His arms and chest were also decorated in the Confederate flag. Not only did I feel uncomfortable as a black young woman who I had to be alone with this man, waiting for a late bus, but then it got even stranger when he decided to engage in small talk with me. He went on to talk about his past, how everyone he grew up with was a racist, how he became a skinhead, how he went to jail and how he realized his beliefs were awful after truly meeting and empathizing with people of color. He went on to say that he kept the tattoos as a reminder of his transformation and that people can change.
The bus eventually came and as I struggled to put my bike on the rack, he helped me out and then we parted ways. Why this man felt the need to tell me these things so early on hot humid morning, I have no idea. What I do know is that if this same man tried to have this conversation with me today, I’m not sure I would have engaged or listened.
After Trump was elected, I unapologetically deleted a slew of old Facebook friends. A lot of the ones deleted where old middle & high school classmates that I knew growing up in rural North Carolina. Now my Facebook feed is completely curated to a more liberal, anti-Trump demographic with the occasional far-right article that somehow finds it way onto my news feed. At that time, it was great to delete all of those people from my life. However, I’m sure they still say problematic things and are complicit to hate speech. The only thing that changed after deleting them was that I don’t have to view their rhetoric.
“Gunshot Medley” by Dionna Michelle Daniel
As an artist and activist, I am interested in humanity’s capacity to change. I’m interested in transforming hearts & minds in a way that has lasting impact like the former skinhead I met at the bus stop. That’s why I believe that for real change to begin the divide has to be bridged and discourse must happen. I’m not saying that we should re-add every problematic person we deleted from Facebook after the 2016 elections. Neither should we try to humanize every racist, misogynist, xenophobe or any other person who doesn’t believe in a more diverse future. What I do believe is that if we keep ignoring one another, we will definitely keep the divide polarized. Beginning some sort of dialogue is the best way to bridge the gap. And the best way I know how to contribute to this conversation is through theatre.
At the Fountain, our current season is dedicated to inclusion and awareness of people who are generally marked as “other”. Our current show, The Chosen, focuses on two boys forming an unlikely friendship that all started because of their love of baseball. This summer, we will open an original work by Stephen Sachs called Arrival & Departure, which beautifully recognizes and brings attention to the Deaf community. That will be followed by the west coast premiere of Cost of Living, Martyna Majok’s poignant play dramatizing two characters with physical disabilities.
Our mission is to share diverse stories, break down barriers and bridge the divide. Now it’s your turn to tell me your story. I want to know about an experience when you bridged the gap and shared a moment/bonded with a person who was different from you. Please email your story to me at [email protected] and perhaps we can share it here on the Fountain Blog.
Dionna Michelle Daniel is the Outreach Coordinator at the Fountain Theatre.
Posted in African American, Art, artist, Arts, Arts education, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, Outreach Program, performing arts, plays, playwright, race, racism, Theater, theatre
Tagged Arrival & Departure, artists, Authoring Action, Cost of Living, Dionna Michelle Daniel, Facebook, Fountain Theatre, Gunshot Medley, Los Angeles, Martyna Majok, Nazi, outreach, playwright, Stephen Sachs, The Chosen, theater, theatre, Trump
On March 6th, I had the pleasure of participating in the book launch at The Public Theater for the anthology Contemporary Plays by Women of Color edited by Roberta Uno. Not only was a scene from my play, Gunshot Medley, performed that afternoon but I also performed onstage with my actors Derek Jackson & Morgan Camper.
Gunshot Medley stretches across the Antebellum American south through present day to weave a rich history of the Black-American experience, responding to the historical expendability of Black bodies and the lives lost to hatred, racism, and police brutality. I first wrote the play in response to the Charleston church shootings and the debate surrounding the insensitive usage of the Confederate flag. The play, combining spoken word and live music, sheds new light on the American slave narrative while paying homage to the real Betty, Alvis, and George, three historically documented slaves that died in North Carolina before the emancipation proclamation was signed.
After the selected scene performances, such playwrights included in the anthology as Lynn Nottage, Marissa Chibas, Nikkole Salter, Vickie Ramirez and I signed books in The Public Theater’s lobby. The energy in the room was magnetic and powerful with so many women taking up that kind of space.
None of this would have been possible without the genius of Roberta Uno (Director of Arts in a Changing America). Roberta edited the 1st and 2nd editions of the anthology, the 1st edition being published a little over 20 years ago with such playwrights as Anna Deavere Smith and Elizabeth Wong. I even remember discovering the 1st edition in my undergraduate library while perusing the shelves, hoping to find work that represented me. As a young undergraduate actress at the California Institute of the Arts, I was thankful to have instructors such as Nataki Garrett and Marissa Chibas who aided in helping me find material I could relate to.
However, I know this is not the case for every young person of color (POC) actor and actress who is currently seeking a degree in acting. So often, I’ve heard my fellow black actors at other institutions talk about not knowing any contemporary black material they can do scene work from. They say that their instructor is usually giving them material from August Wilson’s body of work. Although August Wilson’s work is beautiful and presents the African-American experience in such a deep and profound way, it appears we have forgotten there are other great black writers out there. And, of these overlooked black playwrights, it is the women who are most forgotten.
At the book launch, Roberta Uno spoke about how she acquired a lot of the material for this current anthology. She said she spoke to many theaters and artistic directors asking for their rejection piles. It was clear to her that in this rejection pile was where most of the work submitted by women playwrights resided.
On the bright side, it seems that the theater world is embracing more female playwrights and stories. While I was in NYC that week, I witnessed Soho Rep’s production of Aleshea Harris’s play Is God Is. Not only did I have a mind-blowing experience, but I was in awe and so proud of this all-black cast telling such an epic tale by a young black female playwright.
“Is God Is” at Soho Rep.
Is God Is is a fascinating piece of theater because it mixes so many genres: Afro-Punk, Spaghetti Westerns, and experimental theatre all into one cohesive piece. I read the play on my flight to NYC and Harris’s use and experimentation with language completely breaks new ground. Even the way that the actors embodied this text was refreshing and eye-opening. It really inspired me as a young playwright to see other black female writers getting recognition for pushing the boundaries of what a play “can” or “should” be. Harris was actually the first winner of The Relentless Award, which was established to honor actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. The American Playwriting Foundation’s website says, “The Relentless Award is the largest annual cash prize in the American Theater awarded to a playwright in recognition of a new play.”
Also, in the past year, women of color playwrights have been killing the game in other avenues. Dominique Morisseau’s Ain’t Too Proud broke Berkeley Rep’s house record in 2017 and currently, CTG and LATC have produced all three plays in Quiara Alegeria Hudes’s Elliot trilogy. It is quite evident that times are changing. And in the words of Maxine Waters, it appears women of color playwrights are indeed, #ReclaimingOurTime!
Dionna Michelle Daniel is a playwright and the Outreach Coordinator at the Fountain Theatre.
Posted in Art, artist, arts organizations, Drama, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, playwright, playwriting, racism, stage, Theater, theatre
Tagged Alesha Harris, Arts in a Changing America, Contemporary Plays by Women of Color, Derek Jackson, Dionna Michelle Daniel, Dominique Morisseau, Gunshot Medley, Is God Is, Lynn Nottage, Marissa Chibas, Morgan Camper, Nikkole Salter, Philip Seymour Hoffman, playwrights, Public Theater, Quiara Alegeria Hudes, Roberta Uno, SoHo Rep, The Relentless Award, Vickie Ramirez, Women of color
Dionna Michelle Daniel
Greetings! I am Dionna Michelle Daniel and I am excited to announce that I have joined The Fountain Theatre as the new Outreach Coordinator. At The Fountain, I will be focusing on educational programming and community engagement.
In May, I graduated from the California Institute of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting and a minor in Creative Writing. I am coming to the Fountain after a month-long run at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival of my new play Gunshot Medley. Gunshot Medley stretches across the Antebellum American south through present day to weave a rich history of the Black-American experience, blending poetry and song to respond to the historical expendability of Black bodies and the lives lost to hatred, racism, and police brutality. At the Fringe it received four 5 out of 5 star reviews and ultimately became a crowd favorite.
While at The Fountain, I will also be working as a youth instructor teaching creative writing at the Boyle Heights Arts Conservatory through CAP. Building a nurturing community for young artists and educating students is one of my personal missions, so I am excited to embark on helping expand The Fountain’s educational program, Theatre as a Learning Tool.
Theater that is rooted in social activism has always been a passion of mine. I believe that art, especially live performance, has the potential to dramatically change hearts and minds. Theater has the ability to plant the seeds of empathy, inquiry, and discussion. From those seeds, real social change begins.
Posted in Art, artist, Arts, Arts education, arts organizations, creativity, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, new plays, non-profit organization, performing arts, plays, playwright, race, racism, Theater, theatre
Tagged arts, Boyle Heights ArtsConservatory, CalArts, California Institute of the Arts, Dionna Michelle Daniel, Edinburgh, educational outreach, Fountain Theatre, Fringe Festival, Gunshot Medley, Los Angeles, Outreach Coordinator, social change, theater, theatre, Theatre as a Learning Tool
The Fountain Theatre will be honored tonight at the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards when the Fountain is presented with the 2012 Best Season Award. The 2012 Fountain season included the west coast premiere of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, the world premiere of Cyrano by Stephen Sachs, the United States Premiere of The Blue Iris by Athol Fugard, and the Los Angeles Premiere of In the Red and Brown Water by Tarell Alvin McCraney. The award is accompanied by an honorarium funded by the Nederlander Organization. 
Playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Actors in rehearsal for Raise Your Voice.
This month artistic director/dancer Timo Nuñez will be joined by dancers Clara Rodriguez and Briseyda Zarate; singer Jesus Montoya; guitarist Gabriel Osuna; and percussionist Joey Heredia.
“Neighbor is not a geographic term. It is a moral concept,” he said. “When I was the rabbi of the Jewish community in Berlin under the Hitler regime, I learned many things. The most important thing that I learned under those tragic circumstances was that bigotry and hatred are not ‘.the most urgent problem. The most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence.”
By Dionna Michelle Daniel
One morning I arrived at the bus stop to be met by a man completely covered head to toe in tattoos. The subject matter of his tattoos were of the white supremacist variety. He was completely bald and on the back of his head sat a large swastika. His arms and chest were also decorated in the Confederate flag. Not only did I feel uncomfortable as a black young woman who I had to be alone with this man, waiting for a late bus, but then it got even stranger when he decided to engage in small talk with me. He went on to talk about his past, how everyone he grew up with was a racist, how he became a skinhead, how he went to jail and how he realized his beliefs were awful after truly meeting and empathizing with people of color. He went on to say that he kept the tattoos as a reminder of his transformation and that people can change.
