OUT OF THE BLUE TO PREMIERE AT 2019 HOLLYWOOD FRINGE FESTIVAL
OUT OF THE BLUE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2019
Press Contact:
Peter Massey
[email protected]
818-203-3416
OUT OF THE BLUE
An honest and humorous look at the emotional journey we take from our middle-years to becoming seniors of society.
Los Angeles, CA, May 7, 2019. OUT OF THE BLUE is a new play written and performed by Peter Massey, premieres June 11-29 as part of the 2019 Hollywood Fringe Festival at the Los Angeles LGBT Center (Davidson/Valentini Theatre), 1125 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles CA 90038. It tells the comedic and heartfelt story of a diligent husband’s crawl down the Hallway of Mid-Life, heading for the door marked Senior. Guided by an astrologer-therapist, he cures old age with New Age.
Why this play? Just Google “senior” and hit “images”. What do you get? Happy people playing outdoors in designer casual clothes and HD sunshine. Is that reality? In OUT OF THE BLUE, our hero has not such an easy time. The story begins when his brain makes an unexpected shift and new thoughts appear that have never, ever been there before. A curtain opens on his next stage of life, and there’s nothing but blackness. He wants change but can’t leave his high-stress job for fear his world – and that of his aging husband – will explode around them both. The pressure puts him near suicide. He must fill in the empty blackness that lies before him if he wants to bring hope back to his life and his marriage.
He searches for help and stumbles on an aging wise-woman who magically blends psychology and astrology. With her guidance and the help of ancient Planets, Signs and Houses, he fills in the blackness of his future, mines the birth-marked resources buried in his horoscope, and embraces whatever may come in the last third of life.
The story is spiked with comedy from start to finish, because the ironies of life only increase with time and experience. It delivers the raw anger of aging, the grief of releasing the last promise of youth. It’s also a heart-centered romance, as the protagonist gains a precious new friend and rediscovers the strength of the man he married.
Written and performed by Peter Massey, Directed by Debra De Liso
WHERE: Los Angeles LGBT Center (Davidson/Valentini Theatre), 1125 North McCadden Place, Los Angeles CA 90038
PERFORMANCE DATES: Running time: 60 minutes – Age 17+ due to mature themes Tuesday, June 11 – 6:30 PM – PREVIEW – (pay-what-you-can)
Sunday, June 16 2:00 PM
(w/ special Talk-back THEATER FOR THE CHRONOLOGICALLY GIFTED at 3:15) Friday, June 21 – 8:30 PM
Sunday, June 23 – 6:00 PM
Thursday, June 27 – 8:30 PM
Saturday, June 29 – 4:00 PM
TICKET PRICE: $20
www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/5738
FREE WORKSHOP – Theatre for the Chronologically Gifted
On Sunday June 16 following the opening performance of OUT OF THE BLUE will be a panel discussion and audience talk-back. There are more than a few artists at the Fringe who are “chronologically gifted” – that is, they have many years of life experience that are being shared on stages throughout the Festival. The workshop will consider how artists and everyone can use theatre and other storytelling as we mature, and the value of sharing history – both personal history and all that we’ve witnessed and been a part of.
ABOUT THE PRODUCTION TEAM:
WRITER-PERFORMER – Peter Massey. Audiences and critics alike praised his efforts with “Cock Tales,” running eight months at LA’s Zephyr and Elephant Theatres. He received critical acclaim for his one-man-play “The Versus of Ogden Nash” at the Coronet Studio Theatre, Actors Conservatory Ensemble and on tour. Both plays were collaborations with Director Debra De Liso.
He has been presented twice at the Fullerton College Playwrights Festival as well as readings at multiple theatres in LA. Mr. Massey has had a dozen adaptations produced across the country including “I’m Still Dancing,” which was honored by the Florida Theatre Conference. Peter Massey’s many LGBT-themed works include “The It Girl” about gay life in 1920s NY, the musical “Cirque So Gay,” using circus as a metaphor for flighty relationships and “Queercus,” a comic triangle spearing gay white urbanity.
DIRECTOR – Debra De Liso, critically acclaimed and award-winning actor, writer and director, is the recipient of the Rainbow Award from the LA Women’s Theatre Festival for her decades of work in forgotten communities, including artists with disabilities, institutionalized teens and incarcerated women. She has guided the presentation of over 500 original solo plays and remains passionate about supporting playwrights in developing new works. Her solo play collaborations have premiered in festivals in Los Angeles, New York, Edinburgh and Germany.
After receiving three California Arts Council Grants to teach acting and playwriting in a medium security prison, she learned to see the art in the individual. De Liso delights in providing a supportive and nourishing environment to elevate the highest potential in each artist. She has been on faculty at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and USC for more than 15 years.
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