March | 2023 | Intimate Excellent
The Fountain Theatre is now casting for all roles in its 40th Anniversary production of Jane Chambers’ landmark play, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove. The play ran for two sold-out years at the Fountain Theatre from 1981-1983 in a groundbreaking production starring Jean Smart. The 40th Anniversary production will be performed outside June 17 to August 27 as an immersive experience on the Fountain’s outdoor stage directed by Hannah Wolf.
Storyline: Set in 1980, a group of queer women spend their summers together in a remote seaside town on Long Island. Their lesbian enclave is disrupted when Eva, a naïve straight woman recently separated from her husband, stumbles unaware into their circle and falls for the charming, tough-talking Lil. This heartfelt landmark play in lesbian history, bursting with friendship, laughter, love, and hope, brings well-rounded, three-dimensional characters to the stage to transcend stereotypes and preconceptions.
LILIAN (LIL) ZALINSKI – Late 30s/early 40s, any ethnicity, woman. The only single resident of Bluefish Cove (for the moment). Lil is dry, sarcastic, headstrong and a bit of a ladies’ lady. Her lust for women equals her lust for freedom. She’s slept with most everyone in the cove. Lil is suffering from a terminal cancer that progresses throughout the show. Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, cuddling, hand holding, and lying in bed together (role does not contain simulated sex).
EVA MORGOLIS – Late 30s/early 40s, white (the script mentions that she has blue eyes), woman. Recently divorced after 12 years of marriage. She’s nervous, curious, worries about what others think about her and likes having a plan. She starts the play heterosexual but is willing to explore her wants and desires with Lil. Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, cuddling, hand holding, and lying in bed together (role does not contain simulated sex).
KITTY COCHRANE – 40s, white, woman. “Literature’s most credible women’s libber.” She’s a former OBGYN, current feminist writer and public figure in the women’s movement. She speaks before she thinks, is possessive and takes up a lot of space in any room that she’s in. She’s publicly in the closet and is partnered with Kitty (after a failed relationship with Lil). Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, cuddling, hand holding, and lying in bed together (role does not contain simulated sex).
ANNIE JOSEPH – Late 30s/early 40s, any ethnicity, woman. Famous sculptor, Lil’s oldest friend. She’s the core of the group, steady and patient with the others. She doesn’t care what others think about her. Annie’s married to Rae and presents as butch or stud. Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, hand holding, physical closeness.
RAE – Late 30s/early 40s, any ethnicity, woman. Has two grown children from a previous marriage and went through a rough divorce when she came out. Rae struggles with feminism and her love of hosting. Married to Annie for 9 years. Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, hand holding, physical closeness.
RITA SANDERSON – 30s, any ethnicity, woman. Trained as a teacher but was outed by her father. She’s punctual, levelheaded and to the point. She’s Kitty’s secretary and lover. Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, hand holding, physical closeness.
DONNA ATTERLY – 20s, any ethnicity, bisexual, woman. Donna’s newer to the group. She’s high femme and Sue’s sugar baby. She likes to gossip, is driven by her insecurity and feels like she has something to prove to the group. Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, hand holding, physical closeness.
SUE MCMILLAN – 50s, any ethnicity, woman. She’s the eldest of the group and remembers that in every minute. She’s insecure about the age gap, her body and herself. Sue comes from old money, she spends most of her time traveling and has never worked. She’s working through her relationship/dependence on Donna. Seeking queer and lesbian women+ performers of any ethnicity to play a group of old friends. Performers must be comfortable with same gender intimacy (there will be an intimacy director), smoking, wearing bathing suits and swearing. Role contains kissing, hand holding, physical closeness.
Producer/Theatre Company: The Fountain TheatreArtistic Director: Stephen SachsManaging Director: Simon LevyDirector: Hannah WolfWriter: Jane ChambersCasting Director: Stephen Sachs, The Fountain TheatreAudition Date(s): April 7 – 10, 2023Callback Date(s): April 14 – 15, 2023Rehearsal Date(s): May 8 – June 13, 2023Preview Date(s): June 14 – 16, 2023Opening Date(s): June 17, 2023Closing Date(s): August 27, 2023
Rate of Pay: AEA 99-Seat Contract
Submit to: Actors Access, Breakdown Express, or email [email protected]
Posted in actors, audition, Fountain Theatre, Los Angeles, Queer
Tagged 40th Anniversary, actors, audition, casting, Fountain Theatre, gay, Hannah Wolf, Jane Chambers, Last Summer at Bluefish Cove, lesbian, Los Angeles, queer, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre
By Terri Roberts
Earlier this month, eager students and their chaperones from three area high schools visited the Fountain Theatre for specially arranged morning performances of our current hit show, The Lifespan of a Fact. These kids had either been participants in Fountain Voices, the Fountain’s acclaimed theatre education program, or were recruited because they were active in their established high school theatre programs. Many of them already had an interest in the arts, some were newly exposed to it, and quite a few were even considering careers as writers and/or performers. All of them were thrilled to be seeing the show.
On Friday, March 3rd, 44 students from Hollywood High School and 15 students from Helen Bernstein High School were bussed to the Fountain to see Lifespan. A week later, on March 10th, approximately 60 students arrived from Compton Early College High School. Pre-show snacks and lunch were provided in the Fountain’s charming upstairs café, and the kids chatted excitedly about both seeing the show and the Q&A with the cast (Inger Tudor, Jonah Robinson, Ron Bottitta) and director (Simon Levy) that followed the performance.
Ali Nezu, Magnet Coordinator for the New Media Academy and the Performing Arts Magnet at Hollywood High School was also excited for the opportunity. “It’s just been a blessing to have such an amazing group of artists and board members and community people that just love and respect the arts and that understand how desperately we need the arts to create social change,” she said. “And the learning that happens in a situation like this, and the engagement level of the students in the content and their own growth is just so much more than in a situational classroom. So I love that we are inspiring students to experience that but then inspire them and empower them to do that in their own lives moving forward.”
“It’s just been a blessing to have such an amazing group of artists and board members and community people that just love and respect the arts, and that understand how desperately we need the arts to create social change,” says Ali Nezu, Magnet Coordinator for the New Media Academy and the Performing Arts Magnet at Hollywood High School.
“I really appreciate how Fountain Voices teaches students how to get into someone else’s shoes,” enthused Ebony Haywood, who teaches English and Theatre at Compton Early Collage. “To understand how someone else is thinking, to how do you put this story together? How do you present, and represent, this story on stage? It’s like an exercise in being human.”
Sherrick O’Quinn, the Fountain’s Theatre Education Manager, agrees. “Fountain Voices is instrumental in giving kids an opportunity to realize and find their voice,” he says. “The programming we are providing is giving them the tools to learn how to be change agents of the future by using the theater arts to communicate their own stories that can change lives, hearts, and minds. Whether it’s learning how to use playwriting or visiting our theater to see a show, we’re creating accessibility to the arts when we’re seeing students increasingly not being given those opportunities – especially in underserved communities.”
To learn more about Fountain Voices, contact Sherrick O’Quinn at [email protected].
To purchase tickets to see The Lifespan of a Fact, now extended to April 30th, call 323/663-1525 or visit www.fountaintheatre.com.
Posted in Arts, Arts education, community engagement, connection, creativity, Drama, Education, Fountain Voices, Hollywood, Los Angeles, performing arts, The Lifespan of a Fact
Tagged actors, Ali Nezu, Compton Early College High School, Ebony Haywood, Fountain Theatre, Helen Bernstein High School, Hollywood High School, Inger Tudor, Jonah Robinson, Los Angeles, performing arts, plays, Ron Bottitta, Sherrick O’Quinn, Simon Levy, theater, theatre
This Thursday, March 16, the Fountain Theatre launches another new entry in its celebrated lineup of dance and music offerings. Intermezzo: Chamber Music at the Fountain is a bi-monthly series curated by vioIinist/violist Connie Kupka, formerly with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, together with cellist David Speltz, previously a member of the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra under Sir Neville Marriner and principal cellist of the California Chamber Orchestra under Henri Temianka. Speltz has also worked with such Hollywood luminaries as John Williams and Barbara Streisand.
In the first performance in the series, Kupka and Speltz will be joined by violinist Adam Barnett-Hart for an evening of Schubert (string trio on Bb in one movement), Mozart (duo for violin and Viola in G major) and Beethoven (string trio in C minor.)
“Our new chamber music series is a rare opportunity to experience music played by world-class musicians up close and personal,” says Fountain Theatre Artistic Director Stephen Sachs.
Guest artist Adam Barnett-Hart is the founding first violinist of the Escher String Quartet, and a season artist of the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center.
Listen to Connie and David discuss Intermezzo on KXLU 88.9 FM.
As a soloist, Mr. Barnett-Hart made his debut with the Juilliard Symphony at 19, performing the Brahms concerto in Alice Tully Hall. He has since performed with such orchestras as the Colorado Symphony, the Wichita Falls Symphony, the Riverside Symphony, the Colorado Music Festival Orchestra, the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra, and the Jefferson Symphony. He began studying with Pinchas Zukerman after graduating from the Juilliard School, where he completed his bachelor’s degree with Joel Smirnoff. Prior to attending Juilliard, he studied with James Maurer, Paul Kantor, and Donald Weilerstein.
Join us on Thursday, March 16, for the inaugural performance Intermezzzo in our intimate indoor stage. Additional performances will takes place on Thursday, May 18 (indoor stage) and Thursday, May 20 (outdoor stage.) All shows are at 8pm. Masks are recommended, but are not required.
Posted in Chamber Music, Fountain Theatre, Indoor Stage, Intermezzo, Los Angeles, Music, performing arts
Tagged Adam Barnett-Hart, California Chamber Orchestra, Connie Kupka, David Speltz, Escher String Quartet, Fountain Theatre, Intermezzo, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra, Stephen Sachs, theater, theatre
