Stephen Sachs accepts Ovation Award for Best Production of a Play for “Cost of Living”
The Fountain Theatre dominated the 2020 LA Ovation Awards Monday night, January 13th, by winning six awards, including the prestigious Best Season and Best Production of a Play. The LA Times has referred to the Ovation Awards as the “highest-profile contest for local theatre.”
Hosted by LA Stage Alliance, The Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles, created to recognize excellence in theatrical performance, production and design in the Greater Los Angeles area. Over 300 theatrical productions have competed each year in 35 different categories to be recognized as Ovation Awards recipients. These productions are evaluated by a pool of 250 vetted Ovation voters, all of whom are working theatre professionals of Greater LA.
The Fountain Theatre was honored with the following Ovation Awards:
Best Season
Fountain Theatre — Cost of Living, Daniel’s Husband, Hype Man: A Break Beat Play
Best Production of a Play — Intimate Theater Cost of Living, Fountain Theatre
Acting Ensemble of a Play Cost of Living, Fountain Theatre
Featured Actress in a Play
Xochitl Romero, Cost of Living, Fountain Theatre
Video/Projection Design — Intimate Theater
Nicholas Santiago, Cost of Living, Fountain Theatre
Ovations Honors Recipient
Music Composition for a Play – Romero Mosley, Hype Man, Fountain Theatre
Deanne Bray and Troy Kotsur, “Arrival & Departure.”
Two acclaimed Fountain Theatre premieres — Arrival & Departure and Cost of Living — have been named Best Production of a Play in 2018 by veteran LA theatre critic Travis Michael Holder on TicketHoldersLA.com. Now in its 27th year, Travis’ Ticketholder Awards celebrate the 100+ Los Angeles theatre productions reviewed by Holder in 2018 in large houses and intimate.
Our Deaf/hearing world premiere of Arrival & Departure, written and directed by Stephen Sachs, won Best Production, Best Adaptation (Sachs) and a Special Achievement Award to movement director, Gary Franco.
Katy Sullivan and Felix Solis, “Cost of Living.”
Cost of Living by Martyna Majok was also named Best Production, and Tobias Forrest was awarded Best Supporting Actor.
The following were also acknowledged as a runner-up:
Arrival & Departure
Runner-Up, Best Actor – Troy Kotsur
Runner-Up, Best Actress – Deanne Bray
Runner-Up, Best Supporting Actor – Shon Fuller
Runner-Up, Best Supporting Actress – Jessica Jade Andres
Runner-Up, Best Supporting Actress – Stasha Surdyke
Runner-Up, New Discovery 2018 – Aurelia Myers
Runner-Up, Best Direction – Stephen Sachs
Runner-Up, Best Set Design – Matthew G. Hill
Runner-Up, Best Sound Design – Peter Bayne
Runner-Up, Best CGI/Video Design – Nicholas E. Santiago
On December 12, The Fountain Theatre graciously hosted a special screening of films from the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, an annual weekend film competition where participating teams have 55 hours to create a short film.
Beyond props, locations and genre, the most important rule of the film challenge is that one participant on every team must have a disability. The goal of the film challenge is to create opportunity and generate film-making experience for the disability community in front of and behind the camera.
I created this film challenge six years ago, as a response to a problem I was all too familiar with in Hollywood – a lack of inclusion. I’m a little person, and have been an actor and comedian for most of my life. While I have been fortunate and have acted in many TV shows and films, the reality is that people with disabilities are still the most underrepresented community in entertainment today.
People with disabilities represent 25% of the U.S. population, but are seen in less than 3% of on-screen speaking roles. Some 61 million adults in the United States identify as having a disability, and still, we are not seeing ourselves being represented.
Beyond acting, I have always produced my own content as well. I believe that work leads to more work, and that if you aren’t given opportunities you need to create them for yourself. These projects have been so critical in building my career, and six years ago I was tired of seeing the same old statistics – why weren’t more people with disabilities taking their career into their own hands?
Six years later, and it’s amazing what the film challenge has become. I have partnered with Easterseals Southern California, the largest disability services provider in the state, whose mission is to change the way the world defines and views disability. Their support has helped the challenge grow each year, and I am so excited for what the future will bring. The 2019 film challenge will mark Easterseals’ 100th Anniversary of supporting this vibrant community.
The industry is taking notice, our supporters are growing and we’re seeing our participants getting hired for recurring roles on TV shows. Casting directors and producers are reaching out to us about the participants, because they recognize the importance of inclusion and the talent in this community.
Fountain Outreach Coordinator Jeffrey Arriaza
At the Fountain Theatre, we screened the four winning films from the 2018 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge and three films featuring actors from the Fountain Theatre’s acclaimed Cost of Living.
In the panel that followed, past participants consistently referenced the strong community that the challenge builds. While the challenge lasts one weekend out of the year, the real impact is seen when participants continue to work together year round. Attendees at the event stuck around and caught up long after the last film played, and even after the theatre closed for the night.
Nic Novicki
The Fountain Theatre is a perfect partner, because they also recognize the importance of stories from underrepresented communities. Together, we can inspire change in entertainment and create opportunities for all.
We hope you participate in the 2019 film challenge! Learn more here.
Katy Sullivan and Felix Solis in ‘Cost of Living’.
The Fountain Theatre’s acclaimed west coast premiere of Cost of Living by Martyna Majok has been named by Los Angeles Times theatre critic Charles McNulty as “Best in Theater in 2018.” McNulty writes, “The Fountain Theatre’s production of Majok’s “Cost of Living” confirmed just how indispensable 99-seat theaters still are to a healthy theater ecology.”
“Martyna Majok’s searing drama,” McNulty continues, “about the relationship between disabled persons and their caregivers was bravely essayed by the Fountain in a production directed by John Vreeke that revealed just how acutely this Pulitzer Prize-winning drama exposes some vulnerable truths at the heart of the human condition.”
Cost of Living features Tobias Forrest, Xochitl Romero, Felix Solis and Katy Sullivan. The run ends this Sunday, December 16.
The Fountain Theatre believes students and young people must have the opportunity to engage and consider meaningful human issues through the experience of live theatre. We love having students in our audience. They are the artists, arts patrons and arts leaders of tomorrow.
We’re always delighted when teacher Alan Goodson brings his students from Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising to the Fountain Theatre. They recently enjoyed our funny and poignant West Coast Premiere of Martyna Majok’s Pulitzer Prize winning play, Cost of Living. Here are some of the reactions written by the students:
“Overall, the play was an excellent representation of everyday life, not just for one with disabilities, but for those who crave to be pulled out of loneliness. The way that Majok portrayed the play through the eyes of two characters in wheelchairs, as well as their caretakers, was an excellent way to grab the audience’s attention. It was an on-edge performance, with exceptional acting skills. While showing someone with disabilities can be a touchy subject for most, it’s important for others to see that they aren’t the only ones in life that may need a little extra love, or caretaking.”
Tobias Forrest and Xochitl Romero in “Cost of Living”
“Whether it be bathing, eating, or taking part in social life, Cost of Living is a reenactment of what millions of people go through. This thought-provoking piece allows the audience to be vulnerable, uncomfortable, and also gives people a chance the be thankful for the simple things that are often taken for granted.”
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“Cost of Living was a production that completely changed my perception of those that are disabled. I believed that many were strong, and had to carry on with their lives after an incident happens, or even from birth. However, I didn’t realize the actual struggle that these people had to face in daily life, when it comes to daily, normal activities. I not only had sympathy for them, but I also saw their strength and courage and how it can be hard to accept help from others, especially when they see others carrying on their lives normally, when they physically are not able to do so. If the play was able to change my views, it’s able to change many others’ as well.”
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“I believe the director and actors were able to show and bring to life that feeling of what the characters cost of living was. Personally, I can relate to the production in that I have a disability that at times hinders my ability to live life to my fullest. I try not to let it, but at times there is nothing I can do about it being my cost of living.”
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“The play is about disabilities with people, not the other way around. The message of the play is that the biggest disabilities we can have are the ones that every person encounters at some point—loneliness and fear. The worst disabilities are not about having someone bathe or shave you, it’s the ones that make us human and make us all alike in some way. Personally, I found myself somewhere in this play, as I’m sure many others did. It captured me from the very first scene, and made me feel for each character and I related it to struggles in my own life.”
Theatre as a Learning Tool is the Fountain Theatre’s educational outreach program, making theatre accessible to students and young people throughout Southern California.
Have you ever met and talked with a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright? Now’s your chance. New York-based playwright Martyna Majok, author of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize winning drama Cost of Living now playing at the Fountain Theatre, visits this weekend to host two special events at the Fountain to engage audiences and interact with local theatre artists and professionals.
SAT NOV 10 • 8pm
Post-Show Q&A with Audience – Join Martyna and the cast of Cost of Living in a lively discussion immediately following the performance. Buy Tickets
MON NOV 12 • 5pm
An Insider Meeting – Engage in a open dialogue with the Pulitzer Prize winner. Discuss playwriting and the business of working in the theater. LA theatre artists, professionals and general theater-lovers welcome. FREE. Must RSVP here. Followed by the Pay What You Want performance of Cost of Living at 8pm.
Xochitl Romero and Tobias Forrest in “Cost of Living”
Achingly human and surprisingly funny, Cost of Living is about the forces that bring people together and the realities of facing the world with physical disabilities.
In a Nov 2 feature in the Los Angeles Times, theatre journalist Kathleen Foley states, “Defying easy sentiment and conventional expectations, Majok shatters stereotypes with her characters, who are drawn with such truth and specificity that they evoke a frisson of voyeuristic unease. Showered with awards and accolades over the decades, the Fountain has become the West Coast home to world-class playwrights. Scoring the West Coast premiere of Majok’s extraordinary drama is yet another in a long line of coups for this venerable company, while veteran director John Vreeke’s involvement also bodes well for this production.”
To buy tickets to the Q&A performance SAT Nov 10click here.
To RSVP to the Insider Meeting MON Nov 12 at 5pm click here or call (323) 663-1525
Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize, Cost of Living by Martyna Majok is a funny and poignant play about human connection. The West Coast Premiere at the Fountain Theatre stars Tobias Forrest, Xochitl Romero, Felix Solis and Katy Sullivan, directed by John Vreeke.
The Fountain parking lot was transformed for the VIP evening.
Much about last Saturday night’s VIP performance of Cost of Living at the Fountain was out of the ordinary. Our exclusively invited guests drove up to the Fountain to discover a team of valet parking attendants waiting to park their cars for them. The performance of Martyna Majok’s funny and poignant play starred two fabulous actors with disabilities in lead roles — a first for our theatre. And the classy post-show reception was vibrantly staged in the outdoor parking lot, not in our upstairs cafe, to allow full access for our guests in wheelchairs.
What remained consistent that evening was the excellence of the work on stage and the support of our Fountain Family. The theatre brimmed with many of the generous Fountain donors, underwriters and producers who made our west coast premiere of this Pulitzer Prize winning play possible.
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Executive Producers Barbara Herman and Susan Stockel were joined by Producing Underwriters Diana Buckhantz, Lois Tandy, and Miles and Joni Benickes. Other guests included Fountain Board members Karen Kondazian, Dick Motika, Jerrie Whitfield, as well as Marc and Aliza Guren, Cecile Keshishian, actor Alan Mandell, Beth Stoffmacher from the National Arts and Disability Center, and Peter L. Thompkins.
The delicious food was provided by Alligator Pear Catering. Long strands of newly installed lighting twinkled across the Fountain parking lot. The decorated outdoor setting provided a classy and delightful ambience for our invited guests and the Cost of Living company. Although this was the first time we transformed our parking lot into an outdoor soiree, judging by Saturday night’s success it won’t be the last.
Get a sneak peek at the set design for our West Coast Premiere of the Pulitzer Prize winning Cost of Living by Martyna Majok. The scenic design by Tom Buderwitz includes sliding walls that reveal a bathtub and a shower, plus video panels to evoke time and place.
Achingly human. Surprisingly funny. Cost of Living is a haunting, compelling play about the forces that bring people together and the realities of facing the world with physical disabilities. Opens October 20.
People with disabilities represent 25% of the U.S. population, but are seen in less than 3% of on-screen speaking roles. Some 61 million adults in the United States identify as having a disability, and still, we are not seeing ourselves being represented. 
