December | 2011 | Intimate Excellent
The end of another year is upon us. With the year-end parties and New Year resolutions come the flurry from Los Angeles theater critics of “Best of 2011” lists. The Fountain is pleased to appear on several. Which Fountain plays and artists would be on your “Best of 2011” list?
Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett in “Bakerfield Mist”
The Fountain produced two plays in 2011: the west coast premiere of Tennessee Williams‘ rarely seen A House Not Meant to Stand, and the long-running world premiere of Bakersfield Mist written and directed by Stephen Sachs. Both productions drew critical acclaim and have already been honored with awards and nominations.
The Critics’ Lists: “Best of 2011”
The Huffington Post named BOTH Fountain productions to its Top LA Theater Productions list:
- A House Not Meant to Stand – “There is no better interpreter of Williams than director Simon Levy … a stunning performance by Sandy Martin.”
- Bakersfield Mist – “A dynamic two-hander … O’Hara and Ullett are sensational … It’s no surprise the play is being mounted in other theatres across the U.S. and has been optioned for the West End and New York.”
The LA Weekly cited Bakersfield Mist as one of the “Top 10 LA Theater Experiences of 2011“.
Sandy Martin in “A House Not Meant to Stand”.
On its list of “The Best in LA Theatre for 2011“, BroadwayWorld named Bakersfield Mist as a Top Production, and acknowledged Sandy Martin (House Not Meant to Stand) and Jenny O’Hara/Nick Ullett (Bakersfield Mist) as Top Lead Performances, Virginia Newcomb/Lisa Richards (House Not Meant to Stand) for Featured Performances.
Colin Mitchell at Bitter Lemons named Bakersfield Mist to his Honorable Mention list, stating it “may turn out to be one of the most successful shows to come out of the small theatre scene in Los Angeles in a very long time.”
Let’s hope that next year proves him right.
What was your favorite favorite play at the Fountain in 2011? Favorite performance by a Fountain actor? Favorite moment or strongest memory at the Fountain in 2011?
Leave your comment! And Happy New Year!
Posted in Fountain Theatre, plays, theatre
Tagged A House Not Meant to Stand, Bakersfield Mist, Best of 2011, Fountain Theatre, Jenny O’Hara, Lisa Richards, Nick Ullett, Sandy Martin, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Tennessee Williams, Theatre Communications Group, Virginia Newcomb
Our upcoming production of the west coast premiere of El Nogalar (The Pecan Orchard) by Tanya Saracho is set in modern day Mexico. Directed by Laurie Woolery, the play will be performed on an open, stylized, multi-use set where the various locations of the story — both interior and exterior — can all magically take place. It is the job of our talented and award-winning set designer Frederica Nascimento (Opus) to make it happen on the Fountain stage.
Cool, eh? Wait til you see the finished set! Beautiful and magical …
Set designer Frederica Nascimento works in theatre, opera, dance and film. Recipient of numerous awards, received her MFA from Tisch School of the Arts/ NYU with the J. S. Seidman Graduating Award for Excellence in Design. Graduated from Superior School of Theatre and Cinema, IFICT Theatre Institute, and Faculty of Architecture at the Technical University of Lisbon. A scholar with the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation, Luso-American Foundation and a member of the Portuguese Architects Association. Directors worked with include José Álvaro Morais, Manoel de Oliveira, Wim Wenders, Pina Bausch, Robert Wilson, Jane Campion, Rogério de Carvalho, João Canijo, Nuno M. Cardoso, Ruben Polendo, Annie Kaufman, Will Pomerantz, Julia Frodahl, Heather Woodbury, Phyllis Nagy, Chris Fields, Simon Levy, Ron Sossi, Ken Barnett, Larry Biederman, among others. Collaborates with Johannes Wieland Dance Company in NY and is a Usual Suspect for the New York Theatre Workshop.
El Nogalar Jan 21 – March 11 (323) 663-1525
Posted in designers, Fountain Theatre, plays, theatre
Tagged Anton Chekhov, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, Frederica Nascimento, laurie Woolery, set design, Tanya Saracho, The Cherry Orchard
Final Weekend! Only 4 More Performances!
FR-SAT 8pm, SAT & SUN 2pm (323) 663-1525 More Info
Stephen Sachs
LOS ANGELES, CA – December 13, 2011 – Bakersfield Mist, the new play by Fountain Theatre co-artistic director Stephen Sachs, has been optioned by multiple Tony award-winning producer Sonia Friedman for productions in London and New York.
Sonia Friedman Productions has signed an option to produce the play on the West End in London with plans to bring it to New York for a subsequent Off Broadway or Broadway run. The cast and director have not been set.
“I’m thrilled beyond belief and couldn’t be happier,” says Sachs. “With the expert care and pedigree of Sonia Friedman Productions, the play is in very good hands.”
Inspired by a true story, Bakersfield Mist imagines a meeting between foul-mouthed, unemployed, trailer park-dwelling Maude Gutman, who believes the painting she bought in a thrift store for $3 is really an undiscovered masterpiece worth millions, and stuffy New York art expert Lionel Percy who arrives to evaluate the work. The comedy/drama is a fiery and often hilarious debate over class, truth, value, and the meaning of art.
The play had its world premiere at the Fountain Theatre in Los Angeles in June, produced by Simon Levy and Deborah Lawlor, where it was supported in part by an award from the National New Play Network. Directed by Sachs and starring husband and wife actors Jenny O’Hara and Nick Ullett, the Fountain production received rave reviews and extended three times. It is now scheduled to close on December 18 following a six-month run and 114 sold-out performances.
Subsequent productions in theaters around the country have received a similarly enthusiastic response from critics and audiences alike.
Negotiations for the option between Sonia Friedman Productions and Sachs’ agent, the Susan Gurman Agency, began last June, just after the opening at the Fountain.
Sonia Friedman is one of London’s most prolific and significant theater producers responsible for some of the most successful theater productions in London and on Broadway including, most recently The Book of Mormon, The Mountaintop (with Samuel Jackson and Angela Bassett), Jerusalem (with Mark Rylance), Legally Blonde: The Musical, Private Lives (with Kim Cattrall and Paul Gross), Master Class (with Tyne Daly), and Betrayal (with Kristin Scott Thomas). Friedman is the recipient of 20 Tony Awards as well as dozens of other awards including Olivier, Evening Standard and New York Drama Desk awards. Sonia Friedman Productions (SFP) was formed in 2002 and is a subsidiary of the Ambassador Theatre Group, the large and highly-regarded network of independent theatres in the UK.
Posted in Bakersfield Mist, Fountain Theatre, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged Angela Bassett, Bakersfield Mist, Betrayal, Broadway, Deborah Lawlor, Fountain Theatre, Jenny O’Hara, Jerusalem, London, Mark Rylance, Master Class, National New Play Network, New York, Nick Ullett, NNPN, Private Lives, Samuel Jackson, Simon Levy, Sonia Friedman, Sonia Friedman Productions, Susan Gurman Agency, The Ambassador Theatre Group, The Book of Mormon, The Mountaintop, Tony Award, West End
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Should a white actor play a Latino role?
The question is immediate for the Fountain. Rehearsals for our next production — opening next month in January — are underway. The play, set in Mexico, is the West Coast Premiere of El Nogalar by Latina playwright Tanya Saracho. The characters in the play are all Mexican. Our cast of five actors are Latina/Hispanic/Latino. We would cast it no other way.
The cast of “El Nogalar”.
At the Fountain, reflecting cultural diversity on our stage is at the heart of our artistic mission. We believe that the culture from which any play is drawn is core to the story it is telling and the characters that inhabit that story.
We are who we are. And we are where we come from. Our racial/ethnic/cultural/tribal/spiritual/religious DNA is core to influencing who we are and helps dictate the stories we tell. For the Fountain, our allegiance is to the truth of the voice of the playwright.
This issue has resurfaced because playwright Stephen Adly Guirgis recently spoke out against the casting of two white actors as the Puerto Rican lead characters in a professional production of his Tony-nominated play The Motherfucker With the Hat at TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT. The Hispanic Organization of Latin Actors complained to the theater, TheaterWorks, noting that the production had casting calls in New York City, a training ground for many Hispanic actors, and yet still cast two Caucasians.
Guirgis, who discussed his concerns with the play’s director, Tazewell Thompson, and executives at TheaterWorks for weeks, said in an interview that he decided to make his concerns public because the TheaterWorks executives “are in a position of accountability and yet refuse to take responsibility for mistakes in the casting.” The production has ended, but Mr. Guirgis decided it was still worth speaking up because he hoped other theaters would make the effort to cast Hispanic actors, when available, in the two lead roles.
“I know there are parts of the country where it’s harder to find a lot of Latino actors,” Mr. Guirgis said. “But this play was cast in New York City and in Hartford, and you can’t tell me that there weren’t qualified Latino actors to play characters who are Puerto Rican.”
In Hartford, Connecticut, the mayor is Puerto Rican. Continue reading
Posted in Fountain Theatre, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged casting, diversity, El Nogalar, ethnicity, Fountain Theatre, Hartford, New York, non-traditional casting, race, Stephen Adly Guirgis, Tanya Saracho, The Motherfucker with the Hat, TheaterWorks
Are you starting to panic yet? About holiday shopping? Are you one of those people we all hate who got an early start and are already done with their holiday shopping? Or are you like the rest of us and wait until the last minute and then hit the stores in an overwhelmed frenzy?
Here’s a great gift idea for anyone who enjoys going to the theater: a Fountain Theatre gift card.
You know those gift cards you see on display in stores? Gift cards for Best Buy, Barnes & Noble, Amazon, iTunes, or whatever? You can now get gift cards for almost anything. Including the Fountain Theatre!
It’s easy! Here’s how it works: call James at (323) 663-1525.
- Load up the card for any dollar amount
- Can be used for any Fountain purchase
- Tickets to a play! A Season Subscription!
- Gift card never expires!
- Gift card will be mailed directly to you or to the person of your choice!
A unique holiday gift for any theatre lover!
Give someone the gift of great theatre. At LA’s Best Intimate Theatre!
The Fountain is thrilled to be producing the West Coast Premiere of El Nogalar by Tanya Saracho, directed by Laurie Woolery. Previews begin January 21.
El Nogalar (The Pecan Orchard) is inspired by Anton Chekhov’s classic The Cherry Orchard and charts a Mexican family’s experience as their way of life is threatened by encroaching drug cartels, violence and economic upheaval. Set in present-day Northern Mexico and infused with Spanish, Spanglish and Espanglés, it’s a comical and moving story about the choice between adapting to the changing world or being left behind.
Meet the Cast:
Yetta Gottesman is a member of the prestigious Actors Studio and LAByrinth Theater Company. She has appeared in numerous Off-Broadway plays including originating roles written by John Patrick Shanley and Stephen Adly Guirgis. She has performed extensively on stage, both in New York and regionally, with such luminary directors as Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joe Bonney and Lisa Peterson . In 2010, she received an Ovation Award Best Actress Nomination for her performance in Mariela in the Desert at The Denver Center Theater. Her TV work includes guest appearances on Nurse Jackie, Sex and the City and Law and Order: Criminal Intent.” Some of her film work includes Rabbit Hole, Lucky You, and 27 Dresses.
Justin Huen recently appeared as Oedipus in Luis Alfaro’s Oedipus el Rey at the Boston Court (Ovation Award nomination) and Hero, directed by Jon Rivera. Other: Zorro (TheatreWorks),Strike-Slip (Actors Theatre of Louisville),Stones (CTG/Kirk Douglas), Electricidad (CTG/Taper), References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot (Art/Works), Palm Feverand Bitter Homes and Gardens(Playwrights’ Arena), The Legend of Jane & Joe (Ricardo Montalbán Theater), My First Radical (Ojai Playwrights Festival). TV: Weeds, NYPD Blue.
Isabelle Ortega is thrilled to be part of this production and to be working with such a loving and talented cast and crew. Some of her favorite past credits include House of Spirits (Clara) at Mixed Blood Theater, Living Out (Ana Hernandez) at Theater Works and Mixed Blood Theater, Sonia Flew (Nina/Pilar) at LATW, Boleros for the Disenchanted (Petra/Monica) at the Pacific Playwrights Festival, Anna in the Tropics (Conchita) at PCPA, Anna in The Tropics (Marela) at Theatre Works, Displaced (Lili) at Marin Theatre, Charlie Cox Runs w/Scissors (Kiki) at Marin Theatre, Macbeth (Witch) at The California Shakespeare Festival, and Twelfth Night (Olivia) at Shakespeare at Stinson. She would like to give special thanks to Laurie Woolery for the opportunity to play.
Diana Romo began acting as a child as a member of the South Coast Repertory Young Conservatory Theater in Costa Mesa, California, where she made her stage debut in a production of Julia Edwards’ Lockdown and continued her studies there until the end of her high school career. Romo then decided to continue exploring the art of theater at the University of San Diego where she claims to have truly fallen in love and decided to pursue her career as an actress. She moved to Los Angeles in 2010 where she continues to work in the theater and where she is excited to begin her career in film.
Sabina Zuniga Varela is a founding member of Teatro Nuevo Mexico, a Latino theater company and current member of the theatre troupe Las Meganenas. Ms. Zuniga Varela won the 2007 New Mexico Hispano Entertainer’s Association: Female Performer of the Year for her roles in Magdalena Cantata and Still Life at the National Hispanic Cultural Center. A 2011 graduate of USC’s prestigious MFA program roles included Masha in Kate Burton’s production of Three Sisters and Feste/Antonio in Twelfth Night directed by Andrew J. Robinson. Other favorite roles include: the title role in Luis Alfaro’s Electricidad, Rosaura in Sueño, and Martirio in The House of Bernarda Alba. She recently worked on Dulce’s Ashes, a short film by Janine Salinas.www.sabinazunigavarela.com
El Nogalar runs Jan 21 – March 11 (323) 663-1525 More Info
Posted in Fountain Theatre, plays, theatre
Tagged Anton Chekhov, Diana Romo, El Nogalar, Fountain Theatre, Isabelle Ortega, Justin Huen, laurie Woolery, Los Angeles, Luis Alfaro, plays, Sabina Zuniga Varela, Tanya Saracho, The Cherry Orchard, The House of Bernada Alba, The Three Sisters, West Coast Premiere, Yetta Gottesman
Director Laurie Woolery meets with designers and the Fountain team to discuss all production design elements — set, lights, sound, costumes — for our upcoming production of Tanya Saracho’s El Nogalar.
Director Laurie Woolery discussing costumes with designer Gary Lennon and stage manager Mitzi Delgado.
Stage manager Mitzi Delgado, director Laurie Woolery, costume designer Gary Lennon, Tech Director Scott Tuomey, Co-Artistic Director Deborah Lawlor.
Lighting designer Lonnie Alcaraz and set designer Frederica Nascimento go over the set model.
Lonnie Alcaraz and Laurie Woolery
Costume designer Gary Lennon.
The unpainted set model for “El Nogalar”.
El Nogalar Jan 21 – March 11 (323) 663-1525 More Info
Robert Pine
What a wonderful evening! I saw Jenny and Nick last night in your play and I was absolutely blown away by every aspect of the work. Your actors were magnificent, the set was wonderful and the play was just fabulous, full of laughs, intellect, wit and feeling. It contained everything to provide a very special evening. Thank you. I’m sure it has a long and prosperous life ahead of it. Congratulations. – Robert Pine
Peter Van Norden
GO see Stephen’s brilliant and beautifully felt play, BAKERSFIELD MIST at The Fountain Theatre. Moving, funny and oh, so human. Lovely performances under Stephen’s guiding hand, and a great script that every theatre across the country should be jumping at the opportunity to do! Bravos to all involved! – Peter Van Norden
Bakersfield Mist (323) 663-1525 More Info Final 4 Shows to Dec 18
Daniel Bortz
Just a quick note to say how much my daughter and I enjoyed your play, Bakersfield Mist. Since I love art, especially art from 1900 on, and especially the Abstract Expressionists, and Pollack. You had me before it even started. For my daughter it was her first “official” grown-up play. I just wanted to take a moment to let you to know I thought it was terrific, the theatre was full and the actors rocked it. May it travel far and wide. – Daniel Bortz (Dec 5)
Going to the theater can be a pleasure and such is the case with Bakersfield Mist currently at the Fountain Theatre. There aren’t enough adjectives to describe this production. But here are a few: Incredible script, brilliant acting, a performance that would easily win the hearts of the most demanding theatergoer. Move it to the Geffen or The Taper. The show demands to be seen. Thank you one and all. All the best. – Ronnie Greenberg (Dec 5)
Ellie Herman
What a lovely, thought-provoking, beautiful play!! My God, the performances were wonderful– Jenny O’Hara had us laughing from the beginning and near tears at the end. I was absolutely in suspense throughout about the painting–was it or wasn’t it?–and loved the resolution, which I didn’t expect at all. I am so impressed by the complexity and depth of [the writing]. So concise and with so much meaning packed into such a small space. So much to think about and talk about for a long time. I woke up happily thinking and wondering about some of the arguments in the play. All in all a wonderful evening–thank you! – Ellie Herman (Dec 3)
Thank you! Thank you! My sister and I really enjoyed Bakersfield Mist! What a great play, good writing and excellent acting by 2 great performers. We really enjoyed it. I can see why it has been extended again and again. – Karen Hougaard
David Levinson
Just a quick note to say that we (finally) saw the play last night (after four sold-out attempts) and loved it. The play was both very smart and moving and, I thought, really well-plotted. I also thought it was really funny. Jenny and Nick were both wonderful but, what was also great was that it has two terrific parts for older actors that should keep the play running for a long time to come, which I hope it does. – David Levinson (Dec 4)
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Final Two Weeks for Bakersfield Mist! Only 8 more performances! (323) 663-1525 or box office
Posted in Bakersfield Mist, Fountain Theatre, theatre
Tagged Abstract Expressionism, Bakersfield Mist, Fountain Theatre, Geffen Playhouse, Jackson Pollock, Jenny O’Hara, Mark Taper Forum, Nick Ullett, plays, Stephen Sachs