SOUTH PARK’S ELIZA JANE SCHNEIDER STARS IN

“FREEDOM OF SPEECH”

AT SIDEWALK STUDIO THEATER STARTING AUGUST 2
 
The prize-winning show. West Coast Premiere engagement.
WHO: Written and performed by Eliza Jane Schneider. Directed by Sal Romeo. Produced by Larry Minion.
WHERE: Sidewalk Studio Theater, 4150 Riverside Drive, Burbank, CA 91505. This is in the vicinity of Toluca Lake.
WHEN: August 2- September 7, 2008. Sat. & Sun. at 8 p.m.
ADMISSION: $15. Special bargain price tickets on August 2 and 3, $7.50.
RESERVATIONS: (818) 754-4264.
WEBSITE: www.elizajane.com/freedom.html

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           Direct from touring dates in the Deep South, “Freedom of Speech,” winner of the Best Solo Show Award at the New York City International Fringe Festival, comes to the Los Angeles area.
           Actor Eliza Jane Schneider has accumulated a nationwide following over the last several years. She’s voiced nearly all of the female characters on the hit TV series “South Park.”  She’s also played Elizabeth Swann (replacing Keira Knightley) in the online game and three video game software spinoffs of the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. You may have seen her on TV as a regular on “Beakman’s World,” or as a recurring character on “Girlfriends” (playing a white woman with a particular facility in Ebonics),  as well as guest appearances on episodics.
           Her most astonishing achievement is the creation of her show “Freedom of Speech.” Sparked by a senior thesis project in World Arts and Cultures at UCLA (for which she received a BFA), she acquired a second-hand ambulance and criss-crossed the country in a 317,000 mile odyssey, conducting over 1,000 interviews. What began as a study of American Regional Dialects emerged as an extraordinary exploration of lives as they are lived in their wonderful variety across the expanse of this great nation. Beyond her ability to communicate, she possesses an uncommon gift of getting others to communicate as well, asking them a question as simple as “What’s going on?” and letting them rip. Her subjects are candid with her to a remarkable degree. The fact that she’s a classically beautiful brunette doesn’t hinder things.
           Her bravery in approaching strangers is not entirely without misadventure. In one chilling anecdote, she deflects the rage of a would-be rapist, soothing him by singing an operatic aria to him.
           In “Freedom of Speech,” Eliza Jane portrays over thirty of the people she met in her travels from Arizona to Alaska to Alabama, revealing an America you won’t see or hear anywhere else.
           She is a woman of many parts, not all of them on stage or in television. Born to a Jewish father and a Chippewa mother, she was raised on a Chippewa reservation in Minnesota. Recognized as a violin virtuosa at age 7, she studied at Eastman School of Music, training in classical voice and ultimately mastering 11 instruments. She currently tours the world with her band Eliza Jane and the Barnyard Gypsies. Her studies of dialects of English have taken her outside the Continental United States to England, Scotland, Ireland, South Africa, and Alaska (which had 100 dailects of its own). Her earlier plays include “Road Trip” and “USA 911” (which were prior statements of what developed into “Freedom of Speech”); “Blue Girl,” a science fiction rock opera about the return of the goddess which was a hit in L.A., at venues including the MET and the El Rey, and at the Mogoder Opera House in Paris, France; and “Sounds of Silence:  A Documentary Puppet Musical Farce About the 2004 Election in Ohio.” The busy woman also composes music for television and radio recording artists.
           Sal Romeo directs “Freedom of Speech.” A member of the Actors Studio directors’ unit, he is the recipient of 41 critics’ awards, having directed over 100 plays and musicals. He notes that only three of his shows, “Viet Rock,” “The Beard,” and “Futz,” were shut down by law enforcement.
           In “Freedom of Speech,” Eliza Jane wisely removes the focus from herself and places it on the lives and experiences of the gallery of the 30-plus Americans she depicts. So discard any prejudicial preconceived notions you may have about solo shows and sit up and listen: Eliza Jane Schneider is about to exercise her “Freedom of Speech.”
           “Captivating!  A vivid aural photo album of America.”---New York Post
           “Astonishing transformations!”---New York Times
           “A tour de force….A wondrous harmony of voices pouring from a one-woman choir.”---Time Out New York
           “Riveting. Brilliant. Dazzling”---Wisconsin State Journal
           “One of the best physical actors you’ll ever see.”---Greenville News