Pacific Resident Theatre
presents
CONCEALING JUDY HOLLIDAY Extended Through July 29, 2012
A funny and poignant World Premiere
by Wendy Johnson.
EXTENDED THRU JULY 29!
Thurs, Fri, Sat at 8:00pm
Sundays at 3:00pm
Tickets $20 – $28
Playing in our 705-1/2 Theater Space!
Cast
Dan Cole, Melody Doyle, Terrance Elton, Marilyn Fox, Wendy Johnson, Kevin Quinn, Sarah Zinsser
Credits
Set and Design by Norman Scott
Sound Design by Edan Norman Freiberger and John Masline
Produced by Keith Stevenson
Directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos
Reviews
LA Weekly “Emceed by Tallulah Bankhead (a spunky Sarah Zinsser) … Marilyn Fox’s . . . ‘pill-popping’ scene is memorably funny … Johnson, sounds just like Holliday and plays her with wide-eyed innocence.”
“See this while you can – it’s fun, informative and sad. Great theatre, in fact.” [more] stagehappenings.com
Stage and Cinema Reviews Concealing Judy Holiday
“PRT here delivers a sensationally moving interpretation of some historical moments that deserve celebration.”
“The time is the era of the Senate Hearings during the cold war, when it was supposed that the Communists were coming out of the woodwork…There’s surprisingly a lot of fun in the face of possible tragedy…” Park La Brea Press
LA Stage Times Interview: Wendy Johnson Not Concealing Judy Holiday or herself
Wendy Johnson may not be an exact double of the late stage and screen star Judy Holliday, but she channels the same quixotic mix of deft comedic timing and deeply earnest artistry.
A funny and poignant journey through the memories, dreams and hallucinations of the 1950s Academy Award winning actress
An Interview with Playwright Wendy Johnson – LA Stage Times
Wendy Johnson may not be an exact double of the late stage and screen star Judy Holliday, but she channels the same quixotic mix of deft comedic timing and deeply earnest artistry.
Over lunch in a booth at Los Feliz’s retro-eclectic House of Pies, Johnson offers up a spot-on Billie Dawn, the Born Yesterday role Holliday originated on Broadway before trumping both Bette Davis’ Margo Channing and Gloria Swanson’s Norma Desmond for the Best Actress Oscar in the 1950 film version. Last year Nina Arianda earned a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Billie in the 2011 Broadway revival.
Wendy Johnson
Johnson is equally adept at conjuring the voices of other ditzy but life-savvy dames such as Guys and Dolls‘ Miss Adelaide, Oklahoma’s Ado Annie or Audrey, the Little Shop of Horrors’ Skid Row flower shop girl. But it is Holliday, a woman with a 172 IQ who felt trapped by the roles studio bosses and Broadway producers wanted her to play, with whom Johnson most feels a personal kinship.
Johnson spent the last decade writing and workshopping a “funny and poignant” play calledConcealing Judy Holliday that now features seven actors playing various roles with her as the titular lead. It premieres April 21 at Pacific Resident Theatre in Venice, directed by Guillermo Cienfuegos and featuring PRT artistic director Marilyn Fox. Other cast members include Dan Cole, Melody Doyle, Terrance Elton, Kevin Quinn and Sarah Zinsser.
All My Sons