WHEN THE BOTTOM FALLS OUT, HOLD ON TO THE “THE IVORY THREAD” AND SEE WHERE IT TAKES YOU. A ONE-PERSON PLAY AT HOLLYWOOD FRINGE 2021.
The Ivory Thread.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Press Contact: Angelita Moraga
562-293-7619
[email protected]
When the bottom falls out, hold on to the “The Ivory Thread” and see where it takes you. A one-person play at Hollywood Fringe 2021.
Los Angeles, CA – July 21, 2021- It’s the call no one wants to get and puts you in a club you never want to be part of. Over the course of his life, Michael J. Gonzales answered several calls in his life, mostly metaphorical and with a musical bent. But that one call, at age 50, changed everything. Through unexpected and paralyzing loss, he was holding on to the proverbial thread. But was it strong enough to take him through this nightmare? The Ivory Thread is a story of a musician’s journey into acting after personal tragedy. It opens on Sunday, August 8, 2021 at the Actor’s Company L.A. and features original music.
The Before: Michael began at the age of 10 with the piano. His first public performance of an original piano composition came at 15 at the behest of his choir teacher who heard Michael improvising on the class baby grand piano. His music career would take him around the world, playing in a network talk show band and scoring films for world-renown directors. He even found himself playing up the world’s top comics at The Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip.
The After: As a middle-aged man, Michael shuts off his feelings of grief and searches for ways to numb the pain. In a quest for catharsis, he discovers acting. But he finds himself in acting classes with students half his age who are getting reps. He has yet to discover that The Ivory Thread can sew the tattered pieces together.
“I had everything going for me, then I was left bare to re-evaluate my life,” says Gonzales. “Right now, I think everyone is re-evaluating their lives in some way. This is my story that I believe people can connect with.”
When:
Sunday, August 8, 2021; 2:30 p.m. (Preview: Live and Virtual Performance)
Saturday, August 14, 2021; 6:30 p.m.
Friday, August 21, 2021; 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, August 29, 2021; 2:00 p.m.
Where: The Actor’s Company L.A. (in the Let Live Theater)
916 N Formosa Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90046
IMPORTANT: For all in-person performances, audience members will be required to wear a mask indoors in compliance with the current LA County mandate. In addition to wearing a mask, attendees will need to present Proof of Vaccination against COVID-19 OR a Negative COVID-19 test (within 72 hours) along with a photo ID.
Tickets: $10- www.theivorythread.com COMP Tickets for members of the Press
Tickets go on sale Friday, July 23, 2021 @ 11:00 a.m. (PST)
Parking: Street and Limited Lot Parking.
Follow Michael On:
Instagram (18.6K followers): https://www.instagram.com/mjgpix/
Twitter (7,659 followers): https://twitter.com/actormjgonzales
Facebook (564 followers): https://www.facebook.com/michaeljgonzales.actor/
ABOUT THE THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Produced by Walk A Mile Works: A Los Angeles based theatre into film production company creating works that build storytelling bridges. Walk A Mile Works is based on the idea of Theatre of Compassion- when we “walk a mile in my shoes” rehearsing a role, writing a character, writing about ourselves, we begin to viscerally understand the life plot points that lead to perceptions, instead of distantly judging actions and belief systems. In addition to founder Debra De Liso, the Walk a Mile Works team includes Susana Armendariz, Managing Producer, who works from Europe and the USA, as well as Elizabeth Wu, Project Producer and creator of SAIPRO, an organization built along with Debra, whose goal is “Serving Artists in Process.” Walk A Miles Works is INCLUSIVE. They build story sharing bridges between seasoned professionals and new performance artists – between underserved communities and impassioned new project directors.
Michael J. Gonzales (Playwright & Performer) is an actor and composer living in Los Angeles. He discovered his musical inclinations at 10. He performed his first original piano composition at 15. By the time he was in high school he was working as a professional musician.
At 30, Michael turned to music composition where he spent most of his career working as a musician and film composer. As a composer, Michael scored many films including the controversial Sundance film, Better Luck Tomorrow by Justin Lin. He also has a long-running musical collaboration with Carlos Gallardo of El Mariachi fame. He has scored multiple projects for this actor, filmmaker, and friend.
As a lifelong musician, Michael has worked steadily in Hollywood and around the world as a pianist/keyboard player. He played in Maria Conchita Alonzo’s Telemundo talk show band and was the pianist at the legendary comedy club, The Comedy Store on L.A.’s Sunset Strip for many years.
He has worked as an actor in film and television. Michael has co-starred on Snowfall, S.W.A.T, and Too Old To Die Young. He was also on the season finale of 2 Broke Girls. Michael has shared the screen with many known actors such as Miles Teller, James Brolin, Jennifer Coolidge, Nat Faxon, and Kevin Dillon.
He is also currently shooting a film that he wrote and is acting in about Richard Ramirez, “The Night Stalker.” The film is directed by Allan Wasserman and also stars Carlos Carrasco, best known for Blood In, Blood Out, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Speed.
Michael has also just wrapped production on Zero Road acting with Brandon Thomas Lee and Jackson Rathbone from the Twilight film franchise. www.zeroroadfilm.com
www.michaeljgonzales.com
Debra De Liso (Director) is an acclaimed and award-winning actor, writer, and director. She has taught playwriting and improv at USC and directed dozens of plays at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for over twenty years. Through grants from the California Arts Council, she developed and directed plays with female inmates from the California Rehabilitation Center (CRC), a medium Level II correctional state facility.
Debra discovered during her work at CRC there is an artist in each of us which led her to create the theatre-into-film production company, Walk A Mile Works. She has produced dozens of original theatre productions including, “Five Women, Five Decades, California Stories,” a collection of autobiographical solo plays. California Stories performed in L.A. and the Edinburgh Festival featuring women of all ages who share a theatrical version of their own truths. She dramaturged and directed Hal Ackerman’s solo play Prick which won Best Script at NYC’s United Solo Festival.
Debra won the Best Director award for Abducted in the Heartland, a solo play about William Riedman’s life experience of being kidnapped as a young teen. She conceived and directed the play, Cocktails, which enjoyed a ten-month run in Hollywood. Cocktails is an evening in a bar of 17 monologues about the male sexual experience written by some of L.A.s finest male writers.
Alongside her work in theatre, Debra also produced, developed, and directed webisode series. She directed several episodes of the comedy web series The Tyrants in Therapy, featuring the singer/songwriters Abbe Kanter and Michael Jaye; Eve and …, about a thirty something Black woman and the ridiculous dating world; David and the Psychiatrist about the challenges of a hard of hearing naïve gay actor; Bitter Cane (a short film ) based on Jinny Lim’s play about an opium addicted prostitute; I View From Here a documentary short about residents in East L.A .and West LA. In 2014 Debra was honored to receive the Rainbow Award by the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival for her continued work with forgotten communities. For more info see www.debradeliso.com
