Fountain Theatre wins Best Season Award.
On Monday night, the Fountain Theatre won 7 LA Drama Critics Circle Awards:
Posted in actors, Arts, director, Drama, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, Theater, theatre
Tagged 2012 Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Awards, Athol Fugard, Best Production, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, David Kurs, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, Eddie Buck, El Nogalar, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Gilbert Glenn Brown, In The Red and Brown Water, Iona Morris, Justin Chu Cary, LADCC, Laura Hill, Los Angeles, Maleni Chaitoo, Maya Lynne Robinson, new plays, Paul Raci, Peggy Blow, performing arts, plays, playwriting, Shirley Jo Finney, Simon Levy, Stephen Marshall, Stephen Sachs, Tanya Saracho, Tarell Alvin McCraney, The Blue Iris, theater, theatre, Troy Kotsur, Victor Warren
Snapshots from our party celebrating the magical sold-out run of the world premiere of Cyrano after the final performance on Sunday, July 29th.
Posted in actors, Arts, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, ASL, Bob Hiltermann, Chip Bent, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, David Kurs, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Deborah Lawlor, Ed Waterstreet, Eddie Buck, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Ipek D. Mehlum, Linda Bove, Los Angeles, Maleni Chaitoo, new plays, Paul Raci, plays, sign language, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, theater, Troy Kotsur, Victor Warren, Victoria Platt, world premiere
David Serlin, actor Eddie Buck, author/illustrator Brian Selznick at the Fountain Theatre following the performance of ‘Cyrano’.
Award-winning author and illustrator Brian Selznick was at The Fountain Theatre this weekend to see our smash hit production of Cyrano. Selznick is the author of The Invention of Hugo Cabret, which was made into the Oscar-winning film Hugo directed by Martin Scorsese.
What was Selznick’s special interest in seeing our signed/spoken version of Cyrano? One of the main characters in his most recent book, Wonderstruck, is partially deaf.
In a Q&A with Publisher’s Weekly, Selznick talked about his book and deafness:
Where did the idea come from to include deaf characters?
I started what became Wonderstruck while I was still working on Hugo. I had been thinking about Deaf culture after seeing this really, really good documentary, Through Deaf Eyes, which is about the history of Deaf culture. There was a line about how the deaf are a “people of the eye.” Most of the ways they communicate is visually. To me, that was the perfect reason to tell a story about a deaf person through illustrations. I had met deaf people who told me the thing they liked most about Hugo was the silence. Even when you’re reading words, you hear those words in your head but telling a story through pictures, there’s a feeling of silence about that and they really liked that.
Carol Padden and Tom Humphries from the University of California-San Diego, two of the leading Deaf scholars in the country, read my manuscript again and again and again to help me fine-tune the experience of the Deaf culture to make sure it was true to deaf people in general and to these two characters I was writing about. They were incredibly generous with their time and there was no way I could have written the book without them.
There’s also a line in the acknowledgments about being deaf in a hearing family and having to look for one’s culture outside of one’s biological family. This made me think about being gay in a heterosexual family.
Brian Selznick
Yep. That’s exactly the parallel I was thinking about. In Through Deaf Eyes, there was a young man raised by hearing parents. His parents were great, incredibly supportive, but it wasn’t until he got to college that he became aware he was part of a larger culture that had its own history he could share and be proud of. Growing up gay, there’s this exact parallel. And you don’t have to be deaf or gay to feel like you don’t belong to your own family. So many people have the experience of feeling that the family they were born into is not a good fit: An artist who is born into a family of non–artists, or a kid who is not interested in sports who is born into a family of athletes — there are a million parallels for that situation. You have the family you’re born into but you have this need to meet other people who are uniquely like you. One of the things that people told me they were most moved by in Hugo was how he creates a new family for himself. That’s a truth for so many people. You leave your family and create a family for yourself that’s often a better fit. Wonderstruck is a more direct way of exploring that same theme.
Cyrano Now to July 29 (323) 663-1525 More Info
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged Academy Award, American Sign Language, ASL, Brian Selznick, Carol Padden, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, David Serlin, deaf, deaf community, deaf culture, Deaf West Theatre, deafness, Eddie Buck, Fountain Theatre, gay, homosexual, Hugo, Los Angeles, Martin Scorsese, movie, new plays, Oscar, plays, Stephen Sachs, The Invention of Hugo Cabret, theater, Through Deaf Eyes, Tom Humphries, UC San Diego, University of California-San Diego, Wonderstruck, world premiere
This past weekend brought film/TV actors Lea Thompson, Tara Samuel, and film director Joe Sargent to the Fountain Theatre to enjoy the world premiere production of Cyrano, now extended to July 8th.
Lea Thompson can be currently seen on the ABC Family TV series Switched at Birth. She starred in her own TV series Caroline in the City and starred opposite Michael J. Fox in the Back to the Future movies.
Tara Samuel co-starred on the TV series Sue Thomas: FB Eye. Joe Sargent is an Emmy-winning TV and film director, including the deaf-themed TV movies Sweet Nothing in my Ear and Love is Never Silent.
Cyrano Now to July 8th (323) 663-1525 More Info
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, ASL, Back to the Future, Caroline in the City, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, Eddie Buck, Fountain Theatre, Ipek D. Mehlum, Joseph Sargent, Lea Thompson, Los Angeles, Love is Never Silent, Maleni Chaitoo, Michael J. Fox, plays, Sue Thomas, Sue Thomas: F.B. Eye, Sweet Nothing in my Ear, Switched at Birth, Tara Samuel, Troy Kotsur, Victor Warren
On May 10, the cast and company of Cyrano enjoyed a Q&A Talk Back with the audience immediately following the performance. Joining the cast was director Simon Levy, playwright Stephen Sachs , and ASL Masters Tyrone Giordano and Shoshannah Stern. The cast answered questions from the audience on a wide range topics, including a discussion of the themes of the play, the rehearsal process, the ASL translation of the script, and the joy of performing the play as an actor.
A wonderful time was had by all, and the excited conversations continued in the theatre long after the official Q&A was over. Enjoy the photos!
Cyrano Now to July 8th! (323) 663-1525 More Info Buy Tickets
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, ASL, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Eddie Buck, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Ipek D. Mehlum, Los Angeles, Maleni Chaitoo, Martica de Cardenas, new plays, Paul Raci, plays, Shoshannah Stern, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, theater, Troy Kotsur, Tyrone Giordano, Victor Warren, world premiere
Troy Kotsur and Erinn Anova
The Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre have announced a four-week extension of Cyrano, a signed/spoken adaptation of “Cyrano de Bergerac” that has been re-set in modern-day Los Angeles. The Fountain/Deaf West co-production will continue Thursdays through Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm through July 8.
Written by Fountain Theatre co-artistic director Stephen Sachs (Bakersfield Mist) and directed by Simon Levy, Cyrano stars Deaf West actor Troy Kostsur in the title role as a brilliant deaf poet hopelessly in love with Roxy, a beautiful hearing woman. But Roxy doesn’t understand sign language and instead loves Chris, his hearing brother. Can Cyrano express his love to Roxy with his hands? Or must he teach Chris to woo her, to “speak his words” for him? American Sign Language (ASL) becomes the language of love in this new spin on a classic love story.
Troy Kotsur and Paul Raci
Over a dozen reviewers have weighed in, earning Cyrano a score of “100% Sweet” on Bitter Lemons, the website that aggregates reviews of Los Angeles theater. “CRITIC’S CHOICE… inspired and inspiring! —Los Angeles Times; “CRITIC’S PICK…clever and deeply moving… bridges the gap between [deaf and hearing] worlds with poignancy and a huge dose of humor.” — Back Stage; “Skillful and impressive… terrific performances.” —LAist; “5 STARS… a poignant, inventive, riotously funny and marvelously satisfying masterpiece!”—Santa Monica Daily Press; “Nothing short of amazing… a dazzling accomplishment.” —Talkin’ Broadway; “A gem… fascinating on so many levels.” —Buzzine; “Superlative… an evening not to be missed.” —StageHappenings; “GO! [a] glorious swirl of words floating around the stage.” —LA Weekly; “An extraordinary production of a terrific play” —Latin Heat; “A sheer and exceptional pleasure.” —LifeInLA.
Cyrano continues through July 8 at The Fountain Theatre. For reservations and information, call 323 663-1525 or click here.
photos by Ed Kreiger
Posted in actors, Arts, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, poem, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, ASL, Bakersfield Mist, Broadway, Critic's Choice, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Eddie Buck, Erinn Anova, Fountain Theatre, Ipek D. Mehlum, Jeff McLaughlin, LA Weekly, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, love story, Maleni Chaitoo, National Endowment for the Arts, new plays, Paul Raci, plays, rave reviews, Simon Levy, Smash hit, Stephen Sachs, theater, Troy Kotsur, Victor Warren, world premiere
Troy Kotsur and Erinn Anova (photo by Ed Krieger)
by Philip Brandes
Texting and email may have replaced quill and ink in “Cyrano” — Stephen Sachs’ contemporary re-envisioning of Edmond Rostand‘s classic drama — but the problematic nature of communication remains a constant. If anything, the theme gains new dimension and impact through the collision of hearing, deaf and online cultures in this inspired and inspiring adaptation’s debut co-production from the Fountain Theatre and Deaf West Theatre companies.
Performed simultaneously in spoken dialogue and American Sign Language by a mixed ensemble of hearing and deaf actors, Sachs’ moving adaptation transposes Rostand’s archetypal heroic outsider into a gifted coffeehouse poet whose inferiority complex is rooted in his deafness rather than his perfectly normal nose. Troy Kotsur excels as this modern Cyrano, who fears that talking with his hands poses an unbridgeable gulf between himself and Roxy (Erinn Anova) the hearing-only poetry fan he worships from afar. Learning that his beloved is in turn infatuated with his rock musician brother, Chris (Paul Raci), who has always been his “voice” in the hearing world, Cyrano returns the favor by composing romantic texts and emails to Roxy on Chris’ behalf (smartly rendered in videography by Jeffrey Elias Teeter).
Sachs’ adaptation skillfully maps Rostand’s principals to their updated versions. Torn between pride and loneliness, Kotsur’s Cyrano resists identifying with either the hearing or deaf communities — or the modern world, for that matter — and evokes the heartbreaking weight of the realization that self-sacrificing vicarious passion is not all it’s cracked up to be. Raci is by turns hilarious and poignant as clueless loser Chris, and Anova invests Roxy with the sensitivity and sense of isolation she unknowingly shares with Cyrano.
The few arguable limitations here lie in adhering a bit too faithfully to some creakier aspects of Rostand’s original (particularly the opening brawling sequence), but the performances quickly catch fire in Simon Levy’s well-paced and precisely focused staging. Besides offering a refreshing take on a classic, the signed/spoken presentation offers hearing folks the opportunity to appreciate sign language’s unique emotional expressiveness.
Cyrano Now – June 10 (323) 663-1525 More Info Buy Tickets
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, new plays, performing arts, plays, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, ASL, Critic's Choice, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Eddie Buck, Edmond Rostand, email, Erinn Anova, Facebook, Fountain Theatre, Ipek D. Mehlum, Jeff McLaughlin, Jeffrey Elias Teeter, Los Angeles, Los Angeles Times, Maleni Chaitoo, National Endowment for the Arts, new plays, Paul Raci, plays, playwriting, Simon Levy, Starbucks, Stephen Sachs, Troy Kotsur, Twitter, Victor Warren, world premiere
Ipek Mehlum
Maleni Chaitoo
Ipek Mehlum, Maleni Chaitoo, Martica de Cardenas, Erinn Anova
Victor Warren
Cyrano Now – June 10 (323) 663-1525 More Info Get Tickets
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, ASL, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Eddie Buck, Fountain Theatre, Ipek D. Mehlum, Ipek Mehlum, Los Angeles, Maleni Chaitoo, new plays, Paul Raci, plays, playwriting, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Victor Warren, world premiere
Troy Kotsur and Erinn Anova in “Cyrano”.
Troy Kotsur
Until Troy Kotsur.
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, Fountain Theatre, new plays, performing arts, plays, poetry, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, Cynthia Citron, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, Deaf West Theatre, Eddie Buck, Fountain Theatre, Jeff McLaughlin, Los Angeles, Maleni Chaitoo, new plays, Paul Raci, plays, Simon Levy, Stephen Sachs, Troy Kotsur, world premiere
The excitement of Opening Night on Saturday of our world premiere of Cyrano was given an added thrill by the attendance of Film/TV actress Marlee Matlin. Marlee is a longtime supporter of both Deaf West and the Fountain Theatre. She is a member of the Advisory Board at Deaf West, and she starred in the CBS TV-movie version of the Fountain Theatre play, Sweet Nothing in my Ear, written by Cyrano playwright Stephen Sachs.
The Cyrano cast was delighted to have Marlee with them on Opening Night. “She’s a sweetheart,” says cast member Eddie Buck. “I got compliments from her. She absolutely looks gorgeous.”
Actor Daniel Durant describes the encounter with Marlee as “a very big moment to meet and talk with such a great role model.”
Marlee Matlin at the Opening Night of "Cyrano" at the Fountain Theatre.
Cast members Eddie Buck, Ipek Mehlum, Maleni Chaitoo, and Daniel Durant enjoy the support of Marlee Matlin on Opening Night.
Marlee Matlin
Marlee and Daniel Durant.
Actress Ipek Mehlum and Marlee Matlin share a laugh.
More Opening Night Photos on our Facebook Page!
Cyrano Now Playing to June 10 (323) 663-1525 More Info
Posted in actors, Arts, Deaf, Fountain Theatre, performing arts, plays, playwright, theatre
Tagged American Sign Language, ASL, Cyrano, Cyrano de Bergerac, Daniel Durant, deaf, deaf actor, Deaf West Theatre, Eddie Buck, Fountain Theatre, Ipek D. Mehlum, Maleni Chaitoo, Marlee Matlin, sign language, Stephen Sachs, Sweet Nothing in my Ear
