PRESS RELEASE MONKEY MIND

MONKEY MIND

Press Contact: Bertha Rodriguez [email protected] 415-225-5537
MONKEY MIND
Hollywood, CA, April 30, 2019. Monkey Mind is a family rock musical about a bright, precocious teen driven to thoughts of suicide because of an over active mind. This lesson of life becomes an uplifting and fun experience. Monkey Mind opens June for the Hollywood Fringe Festival at The McCadden Place Theatre – 1157 N. McCadden Place, Los Angeles, CA 90038.
We watch Lacy, a typical bright teen age girl, wrestle with her MONKEY MIND (played by characters who sing and dance around her on stage). Life’s troubles drive her to near suicide until a music teacher teaches her the power of “staying in the now” and controlling her out of control brain which ends up saving her life. BECAUSE the interaction of the Monkeys with Lacy is funny, this show never gets too serious except for the climax. The lyrics are filled with great sense of humor!
Written by Terri Weiss, Directed and Choreograph by John Coppola, Music Director: Ron Burnett, Costumes: Rob Saduski, Composer: Gerardo E. Herrera Benavides, Lyrics: Bill Berry. Cast: Darcy Rose Byrnes, Cameron Gilliam, Karla Swarens, Corey Fromoz, Jose Mata, Fernando Christopher, and Tori Cott
PERFORMANCES: 90 minutes
Saturday June 8 2019, 5:00 PM Friday June 14 2019, 5:00 PM Sunday June 16 2019, 7:00 PM Saturday June 22 2019, 8:00 PM Sunday June 23 2019, 11:00 AM Saturday June 29 2019, 6:30 PM Sunday June 30 2019, 1:00 PM
WHERE: McCadden Place Theatre – 1157 N McCadden Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90038 TICKETS: $10.00 – https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/4954
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qydB-8K7oUNSHa_-KUaKvD9IY_uosLMsYOx4Q-NDpr4/edit# 1/2

Admission: All ages, however, parents who have strict rules about any profanity or the subject of suicide should not bring their children.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Terri Weiss (Writer/Producer) became obsessed with the basic idea of the show over ten years ago and has studied, written and worked on this idea to finally get it to it’s present form. Terri (professionally performed as Terri Baker), felt the urge to write musical theatre several years ago when she realized her singing students had a real problem focusing on their lessons being distracted from ‘living in their heads” with mind chatter. Terri, an alcoholic with 33 years sober, learned to control her own mind using a simple method that she’s passing on.
Terri completed MONKEY MIND and had a successful workshop of it at New Musicals Inc. located in North Hollywood in 2013. Terri’s life was literally struck short when in 2014 she was hit by a SUV. After multiple operations, Terri faced the possibility that she’d never walk again. After months in the hospital and rehab centers, Terri moved back to her house and was determined that she would overcome her injuries and not dwell on the physical limitations. Today, 76 years old, is thrilled that she experiences no aches or pains and is grateful for all the rods in her body. Determined more than ever, Terri decided to tackle her play with increased passion and commitment to getting the play up and running. She decided her show needed more contemporary music and when a young composer from Peru, Gerardo Herrera, showed up at her doorstep one day to rent a room in her home, she decided it was fate and reworked the show.
Terri’s career spans decades from appearing on Broadway, in FADE OUT FADE IN with Carol Burnett and understudied Betsey Palmer in SOUTH PACIFIC at Carnegie’s Judsen Hall, to film where she worked with luminaries such as Jack Benny, Toni Randall and Jane Fonda. Terri sang, on the road, for 7 years, sometimes as the soloist for Lionel Hampton’s orchestra. She studied voice with all the majors of her day and studied dance with Martha Graham and Matt Mattox.
John Coppola (Director, Choreograph) was born into a filmmaking family and a native of Brooklyn, New York, John Coppola is a multi-talented director, producer, teacher and actor whose career has taken him from the footlights of Broadway to the soundstages of Hollywood. John began his acting career over twenty years ago, attending Yale’s prestigious Dramat Purple Crayon. He first appeared on Broadway in Neil Simon’s Brighton Beach Memoirs, followed by Biloxi Blues, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, American Buffalo, and the European revival tours of Hair and West Side Story. John currently lives in Los Angeles, where he is in demand as one of Hollywood’s top acting coaches. As one of the co-founders of the Studio C Artists Institute, he offers his unique style of teaching and private coaching to a thriving group of students, established actors, and celebrities.
For press comps, photos, and additional information, please contact: Bertha Rodriguez – [email protected] – 415-225-5537.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1qydB-8K7oUNSHa_-KUaKvD9IY_uosLMsYOx4Q-NDpr4/edit# 2/2