Officially Impending Openings

The team assembles at the Carrie Hamilton Theatre.

On President's Day, February 19 we formally kicked off production for 2007, with the company readthrough of Matt Pelfrey's fantastic new play, An Impending Rupture of the Belly. Actors, designers, the production team and board members gathered on the remnants of the as yet unstruck set of our recent production of Grace by Craig Wright for introductions, company business, design presentations and a casual reading of the play. As a director I've taken to asking all present at first readthroughs a question designed to break the ice, get everyone to learn something new about each other's past and illuminate some central theme of the play. This time everyone was asked to share a time in their life "when they have embraced chaos". The answers were varied, funny and even shocking. I hope the play sends audiences off to the bar discussing the same, and the consequences of doing so.

Below you'll find an excerpt from our (just released) season press release. Be sure to check the blog for more than ever behind-the-scenes updates from rehearsals including podcasts from the company.

The 2007 Furious Theatre Company Season:
AN IMPENDING RUPTURE OF THE BELLY
Written by Matt Pelfrey
Directed by Dámaso Rodriguez
Opens Saturday, April 7

How far would you go to protect your family? AN IMPENDING RUPTURE OF THE BELLY concerns Clay Stilts' desire to fortify his house in preparation for both a new baby and the apocalypse he's convinced is just around the corner. Clay worries about so many things, nuclear terrorism, avian bird flu, killer earthquakes, riots, small pox crop dusters flying over Dodger Stadium. His obsessions are sidetracked when a slowly escalating battle with a neighbor who refuses to curb his dog explodes in an impulsive act of violence. In one reckless moment, Clay's world spins out of control, becoming a microcosm for a global struggle against threats to our security, both real and imagined.

CANNED PEACHES IN SYRUP
Written by Alex Jones
Directed by Dámaso Rodriguez
Opens Saturday, October 6

Alex Jones' timely and hilarious post-apocalyptic comedy, CANNED PEACHES IN SYRUP places us in a seemingly absurd and inconvenient future, where water is scarce, the sun has gone crazy and love still survives. In a post-environmental apocalyptic future, the world is divided into two tribes of nomadic humans: Cannibals and Vegetarians. Can star-crossed lovers Rog and Julie cross tribal lines?! Can Rog's taste for flesh be suppressed?! Can Julie deny her parents' "meat is murder" mantra?! And, who exactly is Blind Bastard? A lone can of peaches in syrup holds their fate...and the fate of all mankind.

LATE NIGHTS ARE FURIOUS!
A barrage of news footage fills the screen. Lights up on stage. The cast tears through the headlines of the day's newspapers skewering the top stories, jumping from the anchor desk to the radio waves and covering the everyday events in your life. This is imMEDIAte Theatre…

Furious Theatre Company continues “Furious Late Nights,” with imMEDIAte Theatre, a 60-minute improvised, multimedia comedy show based on the week’s news and pop culture events. The show, which was created and performed by the company and has been presented via word-of-mouth previews since late 2005, continues late night performances Saturday nights April 14 – May 5, 2007 at the Pasadena Playhouse Carrie Hamilton Theatre. Performance time is 10:15 p.m.

Read the full release here.

Partnership Proves Postive - Again

Frank Gehry, Carol Burnett, Sheldon Epps.

photo by Wally Skalij, Los Angeles Times

"Celebrated Los Angeles architect Frank Gehry will begin a two-phase design project for the Pasadena Playhouse that will include a new 300- to 400-seat theater to expand the Playhouse campus, as well as redesigning the interior of the Playhouse's existing balcony performance space, the Carrie Hamilton Theatre." - Diane Haithman, Los Angeles Times

Here's the "news" that was promised in my last post. Frank Gehry is doing the interior design for the Carrie Hamilton Theatre renovations that will begin at the end of the year. We'll produce in the current space for the 2007 season and yes, we'll be back in the theatre as Playhouse artists in residence once the renovations are completed sometime in 2008. Yeah, we're excited.

You can read the entire story here.

Be Furious.

Major News & Interviews

This coming Monday you can hear the Artistic Directors of the four major theatres in Los Angeles County talking about the state of theatre in California. Sheldon Epps of Pasadena Playhouse, Michael Ritchie of Center Theatre Group, Martin Benson of South Coast Repertory and Randall Arney of the Geffen Playhouse. They will all be on KPCC's "Air Talk" with Larry Mantle at 10:00 am Pacific time. You can listen live or podcast it.

We'll also have major news to report and post on Monday as well. Stay tuned.

Be Furious.

AWARDS SEASON - PART 2

Steven Leigh Morris has just published his list of LA Weekly Theatre Award noms. View the list here.

Both writers from last year's FTC productions have now been recognized with awards nominations. Yussef gets a Play Writing nomination on this list for his play Back of the Throat and Craig received a nom on the LADCC list for Grace.

It was a great reward and privilege to work with both of these writers last season and an even greater reward to see them recognized for their talents. Being a platform for new/emerging writers to successfully launch their work, or further develop their work is what we're after.

We've got two writers lined up for 2007 that we're excited about working with as well. Announcement coming next week.

Be Furious.

AWARDS SEASON

It is upon us.

There is a short announcement about the Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle noms in today's Los Angeles Times. For a complete list visit the theatre section of Calendarlive. Fun to see ourselves and Craig on the list! Congrats to all the nominees.

Be Furious.