Download PR ISYMAE FINAL - Skylight Theatre Company

PRESS CONTACT: Judith Borne (310) 305-7888
or [email protected]
April 23, 2014
Skylight Theatre Company presents the WORLD PREMIERE of
New York Times Bestselling author, and actress, Annabelle Gurwitchs’
I SEE YOU MADE AN EFFORT
Directed by Bart
DeLorenzo
Opening May 17 at 3pm with reception to follow
th
Running at 6pm Saturdays, 3pm Sundays, and 8pm Mondays through June 8th
The Skylight Theatre Skylab is located at 1816 1/2 N. Vermont, LA, 90027
Los Angeles, CA – New York Times bestselling author Annabelle Gurwitch, known for her funny and
provocative offerings, brings her latest triumph, I See You Made an Effort (Blue Rider Press,
Penguin/Random House) to the stage for the first time in Los Angeles. NPR called her book, “seriously
funny” and “laced with sharp wit.” Kirkus named Effort one of their “Nine Books Guaranteed to make
you Laugh.”
I See You Made An Effort asks the question: Is it possible to enjoy just one night off from the horrible
and sometimes hilarious indignities that are visited upon a woman of a certain age?
According to Gurwich, "I started writing on this coming-of-middle-age story, after receiving my first
email from the AARP. Surely, there must be a mistake, I thought. I was raised on those Clairol
commercials in the 1970's that told us, "You're not getting older you're getting better." As it turns out, I
might be getting better, but I am definitely getting older too."
The original workshop in New York was done at The All for One Solo Festival. After seeing the
workshop in New York, Liz Tuccillo, author of She's Just Not That Into You, tweeted, "I laughed
hysterically and wanted to kill myself at the same time."
Annabelle Gurwitch (Writer/Actress) is the author of the books You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up along
with her husband Emmy Award winning comedy writer, Jeff Kahn, now a play receiving its fourth
national tour; and Fired!, which was also a Showtime Comedy Special. Stage appearances include the
world premiere of A Coney Island Christmas by Donald Marguiles at The Geffen Playhouse; Our Lady of
121st Street with Lawrence Fishburn, and Adam’s Rib opposite Adam Arkin and Anne Heche at LA
Theater Works; and the 20th Anniversary production of Uncommon Women and Others at Second Stage.
Her performance in the title role in Joe and Betty, by Murray Mednick, earned her a place in “The Top
Ten Performances of the Year” in both The New York Times and The Los Angeles Times. Annabelle cohosted the popular series Dinner & A Movie on TBS. Other television credits include Seinfeld, Boston
Legal, Dexter, The Shaggy Dog, Melvin Goes to Dinner, and Not Necessarily the News. Live appearances
include The New York Comedy Festival, Joe’s Pub, Carolines on Broadway, and The Moth Mainstage.
She’s written for The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Nation Magazine, and has been a long
time commentator for NPR. She is currently writing for AARP. Yes, resistance is futile.
I SEE YOU MADE AN EFFORT opens at 3pm on Sunday, May 17th and runs at 6pm Saturdays, 3pm
Sundays, and 8pm Mondays through June 8, 2015. The Skylight Theatre Skylab is located at 1816 1/2 N.
Vermont Ave, LA, 90027. Tickets are $25. Reservations: 213-761-7061 or online at
[email protected]
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I See You Made an Effort follows Leah Joke's Prison Boxing as the second production in "From Where
She Stands," the Skylight's series of offerings by women writer-performers.
Bart DeLorenzo (Director) is the artistic director of the Evidence Room Theater in Los Angeles and
recent work with the company includes Passion Play, Annapurna (revived Off-Broadway with The New
Group), Ivanov, Margo Veil, and The Receptionist, all produced with the Odyssey Theater. Recent LA
productions include the world premieres of Steven Drukman’s Death of the Author and Donald
Margulies’s Coney Island Christmas at the Geffen Playhouse; Carla Ching’s Fast Company, Roberto
Aguirre-Sacasa’s Doctor Cerberus, and Donald Margulies’s Shipwrecked! An Entertainment at South
Coast Repertory; and Voice Lessons at the Zephyr. Other credits include Cymbeline at A Noise Within,
Legacy of Light and Around the World in 80 Days at the Cleveland Play House, King Lear with LA’s
Antaeus Company, The Projectionist at the Kirk Douglas Theatre/CTG, and bobrauschenbergamerica
at [Inside] the Ford. He has received LA Drama Critics Circle Awards (including the Milton Katselas
Award for career achievement), LA Weekly awards, Backstage Garlands, and the Alan Schneider
Director Award.
Gary Grossman (Producer/Artistic Director) started his career in New York owning two theaters and a
theatrical lighting company by the age of 23. Gary worked at the Public Theatre, Café La Mama, and
Sheraton Square Playhouse before traveling West in the 70's to join up with the emerging theatre moment
in Los Angeles. He has produced over 300 stage plays, including more than 50 world premieres. Among
his celebrated productions are Years to the Day, Wrong Man (3 Ovation Awards), Pray To Ball (1
Ovation Award), Hermetically Sealed, Bullrusher, Sexsting, Mad Women (LA Weekly Award for Best
Solo Performance), Romeo and Juliet directed by Milton Katselas (3 LADCC Awards), Dylan (3
LADCC Awards), Influence, Open House, Dream Man, Lone Star, Balm in Gilead, Visions and Lovers,
Rabbit Hole, Beautified and La Ronde De Lunch.
Susan Dietz (Producer) is the recipient of a Drama-Logue Lifetime Achievement Award for her
outstanding contribution to Los Angeles theatre. As Artistic Director of LA Stage Company, she
produced Christopher Durang's Sister Mary Ignatius, Caryl Churchill’s Cloud Nine, Wendy Wasserstein’s
Isn’t It Romantic, and the world premiere of Penn and Teller. As Artistic Director of the Pasadena
Playhouse, she produced four seasons of plays in two theatres. Susan ran the Canon Theatre in Beverly
Hills for 21 years, where she produced dozens of plays, including the long running Love Letters. On
Broadway she produced the Pulitzer Prize-winning play TopDog/Underdog; the Tony-nominated The
Little Dog Laughed, and the Tony-winning Fela!, among others. Susan was represented last season on
Broadway with Terrence McNally’s Mothers and Sons and this season with McNally's It’s Only A Play
and Honeymoon In Vegas, the musical.
THE SKYLIGHT THEATRE COMPANY develops and produces new, exhilarating works while
nurturing and educating the writers who create them. A vibrant and expanding family of artists giving
voice to original perspectives of today's world, Skylight won 4 Ovation Awards in 2014 for The Wrong
Man and Pray To Ball (the most of any intimate theatre in LA) while last year LA Weekly named their
productions of Years To The Day, Open House and Sexsting to their Top Ten Plays list of 2013.
Skylight's first year as a company dedicated to developing new plays was 2011, their production of
Hermetically Sealed made the LA Times annual list of Top Ten Plays, and Mad Woman moved from Los
Angeles to La MaMa in New York. Since then plays developed by Skylight have played Chicago, New
York, Edinburgh, Paris and local venues. skylighttheatrecompany.com. Twitter: @SkylightThtr
Facebook: Skylight Theatre Company Instagram: SkylightTheatres
PRODUCTION TEAM:
(Set Design), Jason H. Thompson (Lighting/Video Design), and John Ballinger (Sound Design)
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CALENDAR LISTING INFORMATION:
What: I SEE YOU MADE AN EFFORT
Written by: Annabelle Gurwitch
Directed by: Bart DeLorenzo
Produced by: Gary Grossman and Susan Dietz for Skylight Theatre Company
Where: Skylight Theatre Skylab at 1816 ½ North Vermont, LA, 90027
Parking: http://skylighttheatrecompany.com/buy-tickets/directions-a-parking-info.html
When: Previews May 9th at 6pm, May 10th at 3pm, May 11th at 8pm and May 18th at 6pm
Opening at 3pm on
Sunday, May 17, 2015 with reception to follow
Schedule: 6pm Saturdays, 3pm Sundays, and 8pm Mondays through June 8th (closing night performance
at 8pm).
Closing: June 8, 2015
How: For reservations call: 213-761-7061 or online at http://skylighttix.com
How Much: $25
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ktcla
Twitter: @SkylightThtr
DESCRIPTION: Based on Annabelle Gurwitch’s New York Times Bestseller of the same name, I See You Made An Effort asks the question: Is it possible to enjoy just one night off from the hilarious indignities that are visited upon a woman of a certain age?