FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Publicity Contact: SANDRA KUKER PR
Email: SJKukerPR@gmail.com
PLAYWRIGHT DENNIS DANZIGER
Returns To The Stage With A World Premiere Comedy
DOUBLE PLAY
Directed by Matthew Leavitt
OCTOBER 19 – NOVEMBER 4, 2018
Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre
(Press Are Invited To The Opening Or Any Available Performance)
Los Angeles (September 27, 2018)– Well-known television writer Dennis Danziger (Taxi, Kate and Allie, My Sister Sam), after over three decades away from the theatre, returns to the stage to complete Act Two “Home Plate,”along with his original one act play “Pennant Fever,” written 30 plus years earlier. The two-act play titled “DOUBLE PLAY” with its fascinating history is absolutely beautiful and hilarious. The show will premiere October 19 – November 4, 2018, at The Stephanie Feury Theatre.
ABOUT THE PLAY
It sounds like a play about baseball, but it is really about two loners who meet at the crack of dawn in front of Yankee Stadium. Act One, Pennant Fever, was originally produced in 1980 by the Los Angeles Actors Theatre. LA Times called it “touchingly comic” with “delicious dialogue” and Variety called “wonderfully funny.” Shortly thereafter. Thirty-eight years later, Act Two, Home Plate, completes this romantic comedy, which follows two lonely people who meet in front of Yankee Stadium through the course of their courtship and a 28-year marriage.
THE ORIGIN OF DOUBLE PLAY FROM THE PLAYWRIGHT
After college, I moved to NYC and attended Yankee games. 1978. Heat of the pennant race between the Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. On an August night, I’m sitting in the bleachers watching the Yankees destroy the Tigers. During the seventh inning stretch instead of singing Take Me Out to the Ballgame, Yankee fans begin chanting, “Boston sucks! Boston sucks!” Moms, dads, and children chanted, “Boston sucks! Boston sucks!”
Wanting to explore that moment of fan hysteria lead me to write Pennant Fever which was produced in 1980. Shortly thereafter, I found work writing TV comedy and I stopped writing plays. During the Bush Recession of 2007 – 2009, I watched as friends, a lawyer, a professor, a geologist, and a psychologist, lost their jobs and struggled to find work.
What if a couple worked hard all their lives to attain the American Dream and then, through no fault of their own, lost almost everything? How do people move on after that? This is Double Play.
TICKETING DETAILS
Double Play opens October 19 – November 4, 2018, at The Stephanie Feury Theatre. Located at 5636 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles, CA. 90038. Performances will be Friday & Saturday 8:00PM and Sunday 2:00PM.
General admission will be $25.00.
Tickets available at: doubleplay.brownpapertickets.com
(323) 463-7378
CAST AND CREW BIO’S
DENNIS DANZIGER (Playwright)
Plays include Almost Men (HB Playwrights with Daniel Stern, Drama-Logue Award), Pennant Fever (LAAT with Rhea Perlman), Shalom Vietnam (Stella Adler Theatre and 2018 William Inge Theater Festival’s New Play Lab), The Richard Nixon SexTapes (Stephanie Feury Studio Theatre). Television (Taxi, Kate and Allie, My Sister Sam). Novel (A Short History of a Tall Jew). Memoir (Daddy, The Diary of an Expectant Father). Essays (HuffPo, Good Men Project, Eephus). Teaching (English and Sports Literature, LAUSD, 24 years) and Writing the 10-Minute Play (Skirball Cultural Center). Along with his wife, the writer Amy Friedman, he co-founded POPS the Club (www.popstheclub.com), which transforms the lives of teenagers who have loved ones in prison. For this work he was named a Point of Light by President GHW Bush’s volunteer organization, and along with this students attended the Obama White House’s Convening on Criminal Justice. Graduate of the University of Texas – Austin.
Wasn’t sure where to put this: Double Playreceived at staged reading at the HRC Showcase Theatre in Hudson, NY. 2016.
MATTHEW LEAVITT– Director
Matthew Leavitt, a life-long Los Angeles native, is an award-winning playwright, director and librettist. His award-winning play The Boomerang Effect (published by Samuel French) had hugely successful runs at both The Odyssey and The Zephyr Theatres in Los Angeles, and has enjoyed productions throughout the country. In 2013, he was commissioned by Placido Domingo and LA Opera to write the libretto for a new opera Orpheus, with award-winning classical and film composer Nathan Wang. Leavitt and Wang are currently collaborating with on their second LA Opera commission, a new opera The Wreck of the Miranda. Directing credits include Barfly Shakespeare (The 6thAct), Twelfth Night (Village Green Productions), The Taming of the Shrew (Village Green Productions), Arrival (Sci-Fest LA), Human History (Sci-Fest LA), Crossed Currents (JANM Tateuchi Democracy Forum), Ladies of State (Working Stage), Goes The Weasel (Ammunition Theatre Company), as well as assistant director/dramaturg for Romeo and Juliet at A Noise Within. He is also co-artistic director of the classical company ‘The 6th Act’.
KIM HAMILTON – “Rosalie”
Kim Hamilton is an alumni of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City, and is a member of Ammunition Theater Company. Some of her favorite stage credits include: The Giant Void In My Soul (Stage Raw nomination, Best Comedy Ensemble), The Tragedy (Ammunition Theatre Company), The Dreamer Examines His Pillow, The Altruists (Pico Playhouse), The Boomerang Effect (Odyssey and Zephyr Theatre), Rosemary With Ginger, Tape, Orange Flower Water, An Italian American Reconciliation and of course the time she played Oliver in Oliver! Favorite TV/Film credits include CBS’ Battle Creek, Club Dead, In The Dog House and Dude, Where’s My Dog? Kim is also a writer and producer.
JOHNATHAN TCHAIKOVSKY – “Herbert”
Johnathan Tchaikovsky was born and raised in New York City. While pursuing a career in illustration, an appreciation for poetry led to studying the works of William Shakespeare at HB Studio. The teachers encouraged him to study acting as a profession, leading to his first theatrical experience opposite Faye Dunaway in The Actor’s Studio’s production of ETUDES. This further led to notable TV work including COLD CASE opposite Tessa Thompson, THE SLAP opposite Thandie Newton, TIMELESS opposite Malcolm Barrett, and BULL opposite Michael Weatherly. Feature film works include the 2013 Sundance hit CONCUSSION opposite Robin Weigert, Martin Scorsese’s THE WOLF OF WALL STREET, and most recently the 2017 Tribeca Winner KEEP THE CHANGE opposite Jessica Walter. Upcoming features include; SHORT STRAW opposite Elaine Hendrix, YELLOW FEVER opposite Jenna Ushkowitz, and DARCY opposite Gus Birney.
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CALENDAR LISTING
Life Style, Health, Special Event, & Calendar Listings
Theatre Areas: North Hollywood, Metropolitan Los Angeles, Santa Monica, Los Feliz, Eagle Rock, Glendale, Burbank, Toluca Lake, Hollywood, West Hollywood, Beach Communities, San Gabriel Valley and San Fernando Valley.
WHAT: DOUBLE PLAY
It sounds like a play about baseball, but it is really about two loners who meet at the crack of dawn in front of Yankee Stadium. Act One, Pennant Fever, was originally produced in 1980 by the Los Angeles Actors Theatre. The LA Times called it “touchingly comic” with “delicious dialogue” and Variety called it “wonderfully funny.” Thirty-eight years later, Act Two, Home Plate, completes this romantic comedy which follows two lonely people who meet in front of Yankee Stadium through the course of their courtship and a 28-year marriage.
WHO:
THE PRODUCTION TEAM
Playwright Dennis Danziger
Director Matthew Leavitt
Publicity Sandra Kuker PR
THE CAST
Johnathan Tchaikovsky and Kim Hamilton
VENUE:
STEPHANIE FEURY STUDIO THEATRE
5636 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90004
Opening October 19 – November 4, 2018
Performances are Friday, Saturday @ 8:00PM and Sunday @ 2:00PM
General Admission: $25.00 Adults
Running time: 120 minutes
Tickets are available: 
(323)463-7378
FOR PRESS RESERVATIONS or ADVANCE INTERVIEW REQUESTS:
Contact: SANDRA KUKER PR – SJKukerPR@gmail.com– (310) 652-7222
