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THE BLANK THEATRE COMPANY
NEWS RELEASE
For further info: Ed Murphy
323/871-8018
or press@TheBlank.com
STARS OF THE TWILIGHT SAGA,
GLEE, ENTOURAGE, NURSE
JACKIE, WIZARDS OF WAVERLY
PLACE, UNITED STATES OF
TARA, and MTV’S NEW HARD
TIMES OF RJ BERGER LEND
THEIR TALENTS TO 18th ANNUAL
YOUNG PLAYWRIGHTS FESTIVAL
Twelve plays by the nation’s
brightest teenaged
playwrights play the Stella
Adler Theatre in Hollywood
throughout June 2010
Hollywood, CA—Twilight Saga
star Michael Welch, Glee
star Heather Morris,
Jennifer Stone (Wizards of
Waverly Place, Harriet the
Spy), Constance Zimmer
(Entourage), Lenny Jacobson
& Mackenzie Aladjem from
Showtime’s Nurse Jackie,
Michael J. Willett from
United States of Tara, Scott
Lowell (Queer as Folk),
Jenna Leigh Green
(Broadway’s Wicked, Sabrina
the Teenage Witch) and Larry
Poindexter from MTV’s
upcoming series The Hard
Times of RJ Berger will all
be starring in The Blank
Theatre Company’s Nationwide
Young Playwrights Festival.
Twelve winning plays by
teenaged playwrights, aged
14 -19 from six different
states, will be presented by
professional actors and
directors in the month-long
Festival at The Stella Adler
Theatre in Hollywood
beginning June 3, 2010.
Among the 75 actors who will
appear in this year’s
Festival, WEEK ONE (June
3—6) will feature: Larry
Poindexter, along with Tony
Todd (Transformers 2, 24)
and Jessy Schram (TNT’s new
Spielberg series). WEEK TWO
(June 10 –13) will feature:
Jennifer Stone, Constance
Zimmer, Lenny Jacobson,
Michael J. Willett, Scott
Lowell and Deborah Van
Valkenburgh. WEEK THREE
(June 17—20) will feature:
Heather Morris, Michael
Welch, Jenna Leigh Green.
WEEK FOUR (June 24—27) will
feature: Elaine Hendrix (The
Parent Trap), Mackenzie
Aladjem, and Todd Grinnell
(Desperate Housewives, Parks
and Recreation).
Directors and mentors for
this year’s Fest include:
Three-time Emmy Award winner
Barbara Bain, Tony Award
nominee Jane Lanier, writer
David Rambo (CSI, The Lady
with All the Answers), Adam
Belanoff (TNT’s The Closer),
2010 Outer Critics Circle
Award nominee Mark Saltzman
(Tin Pan Alley Rag, Setup &
Punch), Daniel Henning
(Blank’s Founding Artistic
Director), Barry Primus, Jon
Shear, Jonathan Tolins and
Austin Winsberg. (full
schedule follows).
Winning plays were chosen by
a panel of theatre
professionals from plays
submitted by teenagers from
across the nation. Winning
playwrights are next
assigned a mentor and then a
professional director who
will help them hone their
scripts for four public
performances with
professional Hollywood
actors. In the past
seventeen years, The Blank
has produced 196 plays by
teenaged playwrights. Eleven
of those plays or
playwrights have gone on to
be presented on The Blank’s
Mainstage including Speech &
Debate by Stephen Karam, a
three-time winner in The
Blank’s YPF. Additionally,
many of the plays have been
nominated for LA theatre
awards including: an Ovation
Award for “Best
Writing—World Premiere”, LA
Weekly Award “Best One Act
Playwrighting”.
The Blank Theatre Company’s
18th Annual Nationwide Young
Playwrights Festival plays
Thursdays, Fridays,
Saturdays at 8pm and Sundays
at 2pm, June 3 through June
27, 2010 at The Stella Adler
Theatre, 6773 Hollywood
Blvd, Hollywood 90028.
Program includes 3 plays
each week. Tickets are $15.
Festival Passes-1 ticket
each week- are $50. Both may
be purchased in advance by
calling (323) 661-9827or at
TheBlank.com.
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