Iridescent Rain Productions
In association with
NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY
Proudly present
SONA TERA ROMAN HESS
Begins August 16th, 2008

The tragic nuances of familial love

   * Critically acclaimed and award-winning team arrive in Los Angeles
   * World premiere by multi-racial award-winning New York Theatre Company
   * Dennis Miles (LA Weekly playwriting award), and director Kiff Scholl (Back Stage West, Best Director)


Preview Friday, August 15th
Opens August 16th through September 21st, 2008

(Los Angeles, CA) (May, 2008)... Iridescent Rain Productions in association with award-winning NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY is pleased to announce the World Premiere of SONA TERA ROMAN HESS, an impressive new production by playwright Dennis Miles, set to open at The Lounge Theatre beginning August 16th, 2008.
 
More About The Show

Named for its four main characters, SONA TERA ROMAN HESS is the story of a family struggling to reconstruct itself in the aftermath of a strange infidelity, set against the backdrop of impending war. In the midst of this turmoil, circus cousins arrive bringing music, magic and a dark prediction of the future.  The play weaves together elements of magical realism and Greek tragedy as it explores a fantastic and deeply passionate world. In language that is in turn grandiose and quietly poetic, playwright Dennis Miles has redrawn archetypal characters desperately grasping for purpose. This is a story of surviving betrayal and rediscovering hope.
 
SONA TERA ROMAN HESS runs August 15th through September 21st, 2008. Preview is Friday, August 15th, with Opening Night Gala Saturday, August 16th. Performances are at The Lounge Theatre at 6201 Santa Monica Blvd. in Hollywood, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, Sundays at 7 PM. Tickets are $20 ($10 preview night, $25 opening night gala). Running time is 90 minutes with intermission and concessions available. Allow time for street parking.
 
For reservations, call (323) 960-7864 or RESERVE ONLINE:
www.plays411.com/roman.

 
Get more information and discounts online at: www.plays411.com/roman

The Talent Behind the Show

NEW PERSPECTIVES THEATRE COMPANY is an award-winning, multi-racial company performing in the heart of the Broadway Theatre District and in communities throughout the five boroughs of New York City. Sona Tera Roma Hess marks NPT’s first LA production.  The Company’s mission is to develop and produce new plays and playwrights, especially women and people of color; to present classic plays in a style that addresses contemporary issues; and to extend the benefits of theatre to young people and communities in need. Our aim is not to exclude, but to cast a wider net. Now entering its 17th season, notable NPT productions have included Richard III, starring Austin Pendleton; Exhibit #9 by Tracy Wilson (1999 Audelco Award); Jihad by Ann Chamberlain (1996 OOBR Award for Best Production); The Taming of the Shrew (2002 OOBR Award for Best Production), Admissions by Tony Velella (10 Best Plays of 1995, Backstage); the U.S. premiere of Visit by world-renowned Argentinean playwright Ricardo Monti; and the New York Premieres of Vaclav Havel’s The Increased Difficulty of Concentration, The Shaneequa Chronicles, written and performed by 2001 OBIE Award-winner Stephanie Berry (produced with Blackberry Productions), and Lemon Meringue Façade by Ted Lange.
 
Iridescent Rain Productions (Producer) – Sona Tera Roman Hess marks the debut of Iridescent Rain Productions.  Under another name, the company has produced The Maids at Stage 52 and Absolute Sketch at Alliance Repertory Theatre.

Dennis Miles (playwright) was born in 1952 in Santiago, Cuba and has lived in the US since 1967. He spent three years in the US Army. At age forty, he graduated from Mount Saint Mary's College, an all-girls school, with a degree in Liberal Arts. For the last 25 years he has worked for an AIDS research project at UCLA.  He has written a novel The Companion. His book of poetry Born in the Negative Tense was published by San Francisco's Vortex Press. He has twice read his work on radio station KPFK.  In 1981, Without Reservations, a theater piece he co-authored, won a GAA award. Under the direction of Diane Robinson, Los Angeles' Theater of NOTE has produced his plays The Guileless Side, Nikos, and Rosa Mundy. Under the direction of Kiff Scholl, his plays Middle Savage, One David More, One David Less, For the Curious, Destronelli, The Fan Maroo and Free Fanjul have had productions in Los Angeles.  Under the direction of Jon Lawrence Rivera, von Lutz had an 11-week run in Los Angeles in the 2005-06 season. Frontiers Magazine named von Lutz one of the best productions of 2005.  In 1999, he won an LA Weekly-ASK Theater Project's playwriting award for Middle Savage.  His plays Broadway and Eighth, A Beheading at Christ’s Lake, Everett Mann and his gay adaptation of Dangerous Liaisons have had staged readings. Other theater works include Paltergeist, The Pyroclastic Flows, A Man’s Fortune is…, Tivoli Tsadik, Les Belles Dames sans Merci, Magnolia Envy, The Shrike and Temple Gadis. He has written a memoir, called No Es Facil, of a trip to his homeland after a 34-year absence. Last year he self-published some of his shorter works under the title of Complete Fragments.  He is currently working with Cathy Cahn and Alejandra Espasande on a film version of his play Matricia Has a Cow.
 
Kiff Scholl (director) was listed as one of L.A.’s emerging and accomplished stage directors by LA Weekly's Steven Leigh Morris.  Kiff directed the multiple award-winning La Bête at Sacred Fools in 2006, garnering Back Stage West Garlands for Best Production and Best Director. The Weekly nominated Scholl for Director of the Year for the award-winning, original musical A Mulholland Christmas Carol, by Bill Robens, which also toured the California coast. Moreover, Scholl directed the GLAAD Award-nominated Act A Lady by Jordan Harrison, Ovation Award-winning The Fan Maroo, as well as the LA Weekly Award-winning Middle Savage, all by Miles at Theatre of NOTE. Other favorites include this summer's This Contract Limits Our Liability-Read It! by Joshua Fardon, Miles' Destronelli, For the Curious, Robens' A Fish Without His Flippers (all at NOTE), The Poseidon Adventure, the Musical! (The Tamarind), and numerous one acts.  He is currently directing a feature, Scream of the Bikini, which he co-wrote with Robens.  Also an award-winning actor, Scholl has starred in Reno 911!, Untold Stories of the ER, Billy’s Hollywood Screen Kiss, several national commercials, and numerous plays across Los Angeles , NYC, London and Denmark.

Racquel Lehrman, Theatre Planners (Producer) is the founder and managing director of Theatre Planners, her own theatre production/PR firm. She graduated from NYU-Tisch School of the Arts and lived in NY for over ten years producing theatre. Theatre Planners has since developed in to a very busy and successful outlet for actors, producers and theatre companies. Doing everything from publicity, consulting, printing and graphics, Racquel loves to make productions a reality and help to keep the theatre scene in LA alive and strong. Racquel has recently acquired the Actor’s Gang old space on El Centro and is the new owner of the LOUNGE THEATRE in Hollywood on Theatre Row. To learn more about Racquel and Theatre Planners, go to www.theatreplanners.com <http://www.theatreplanners.com>

Marie Turcotte (Associate producer). Marie is very excited to be a part of Sona Tera Roman Hess. Recently she produced Lisa Goodman’s one-woman show Nobody Else and stage managed Alex Lyras’ The Common Air. Last fall she co-produced the Los Angeles Premier Production of girl,20, starring Rob Belushi at the Hudson Mainstage Theatre and Spook Night at the Lillian Theatre. Other credits include the production of Internet Dating The Musical! at the Art Works Theatre in Los Angeles; Chicken, produced by Bruce Dern at the Lillian Theatre; the Art Works Theatre Production of Jax of All Trades; the National Tour and Los Angeles Production of Matt and Ben starring Mindy Kaling and Brenda Withers; the Los Angeles World Premiere Production and New York Staged Production of Jesus' Kid Brother at the New 42nd Street Studios; Losers in LA, The Buzz Showcase, and Squeeze It In at the Hudson Theatre. Marriage is Murder, My Own Private Odyssey, and The Apology at the Elephant Theatre, as well as Somewhere Someone Said for the Son of Semele Ensemble in Los Angeles and the Boston Productions of A Soldier's Tale, Tis Pity, She's a Whore and Harvey.
 
Dawn Greenidge (Tera)
Dawn graduated from Yale University with a degree in Theater and Comparative Literature. While in New York she performed in Signs, The Colored Museum, The Tempest and Whose Fault Is It?, as well as in The Miracle Worker at the Hangar Theater in Ithaca, NY. She was a member of New Perspectives Theater Company where she appeared in Post Mortem, Macbeth and Richard III. Dawn has appeared on stage in LA in the Los Angeles premiere of A Heart of Flesh with Alliance Repertory Theatre, For the Curious at Theatre of NOTE, The Flatted Fifth at the Tamarind Theatre and The Maids at Stage 52. Dawn has been seen on television on The District, and in a recurring role on Yes, Dear.
 
Kathleen Mary Carthy (Sona)
Originally from Long Island, NY, Kathleen has been living in Los Angeles the past four years.  Regional: La Jolla Playhouse, Rubicon Theatre, Sacred Fools Theatre, Sierra Repertory Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, National Tours and many black boxes in NYC.  TV: Recurring roles on Monk, CSI Miami, Wicked Wicked Games, and Days of our Lives (30+ eps.) Other Credits: Grey's Anatomy (Amish Mom), Dexter, Tell Me You Love Me, Bones, Criminal Minds, Carnivale, E-Ring, The O.C., Numb3rs, Eyes, ER, Strong Medicine, General Hospital, Passions.
Training: UCSD’s MFA Acting Program
 
Greg Wall (Roman)
Greg is returning to the LA stage after a three year absence. He is a veteran of the main stage of "The Groundlings" comedy troupe, and the much traveled "Psychic Poker." In recent years he played the title role in "The Mulholland Christmas Carol", the long running show at The Theater Of N.O.T.E.
 
Ian Crossland (Hess)
Ian's been around. He's worked locally with Theatre 68, Sacred Fools and now the Lounge Theatre. He spent some time in Chicago, involved with Signal Ensemble Theatre's conception and first few seasons; and in New York working the New York Comedy Club. You may have seen his face glowing on the airwaves, both television and Internet. Ian thinks globalization is very important and has focused heavily into work on the Internet, utilizing websites like Youtube.com.
 
Jen Kays (China)
Jen is happy to be working with The Lounge Theatre. LA Theatre Credits include: The Hiding Place with The Attic Theatre, The Bigger Man, Marley’s Ghost and Sperm with Circle X Theatre Company, where she is the Literary Director. She was Rita, in Mark Knowles’ Angry Young Teenage Girl Gang, which started at LA’s Theatre Unlimited, won an ADA award, and went on to both the NY Fringe Festival in 2004 and The NYMF Festival in 2007.
 
Peter Lewis (Tut)
Recent credits: "Keep On The Sunnyside" (biographical musical about the original Carter Family), at Barter Theatre, Abingdon, VA;
Feste the Clown (yes another clown role within a year) in 12th Night (last Fall) for L.A. Shakespeare Co. (also was musician/singer/composer); am kids/family Pete the Entertainer (petesentertainment.com <http://petesentertainment.com> - magic, balloons, games, and music); also singer / songwriter, and currently finishing work on a full length Southern-fried country-rock musical. Other favorite roles in the past include: Lucky, in "Waiting For Godot," Puck in "Midsummer" for A.P.T., Spring Green, WI, and Matthew in "Cotton Patch Gospel" Also some work in independent films, commercials and voiceovers.
 
Adam Pena (Malinghoff)
Adam is a native Texan, proud husband and new father. Onstage, across the country and the globe, Adam has portrayed some of the greatest roles in classic and modern literature at such distinguished theatres as The American Repertory Theatre and the famed Moscow Art Theatre. He has worked and collaborated with some of the most renowned names in Modern Theatre, Robert Woodruff, Chen Shi-Zhang and Karen Coonrod just to name a few. On film, Adam has had the privledge of performing with the likes of Kevin Costner, Ashton Kutcher and under the artful eye of Oscar nominated director Andrew Davis. Adam is a graduate of The Moscow Art Theatre/American Repertory Theatre Institute for Advanced Theatre Training at Harvard University.
 
Cloie Wyatt Taylor (Lima)
graduated from the prestigious Tisch School for the Arts at New York University where she studied theater, dance, and voice. Favorite roles include: All My Children; Homicide: Life On the Streets; and Law and Order: Special Victims’ Unit, Invasion, and Tegonni.
 
Becky Grajeda (Sound Designer)
Becky is a Los Angeles-based sound artist. She received her B.A. from Kenyon College in music with a focus in voice performance and composition.  She recently returned from Florence, Italy where she worked for the Florence International Theatre Company designing the sound for their production of Harold Pinter's Betrayal.
 
Susanne Klein (Costume Designer)
THEATRE: Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, Lion in the Winter, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Peg and Garrick, He Who got Slapped, Enemy of the People. As Assistant Costume Designer: Romeo and Juliet, “Paradise Lost” Shadow in the Wings, Shakespeare by the Sea:  Anthony and Cleopatra, Midsummer Night Dream. TV & FILM: Smash Lab. As Seamstress and Costumer:  The Waitress, National Lampoon “TV the Movie”, Hell Ride, Serious Moonlight, Sexual Life, Girl with the Naked Eye. Costume Houses/Theme Parks/ Novels:  The Strand Prophecy, Disney Land, Bianca’s Divine Costume Center.
 
Lindsay Martin (Choreographer)
Lindsay graduated from Cal State Fullerton with her BFA in Musical Theater. Since then, she has been Choreographing and teaching dance all over Southern California. Regional Credits; Urinetown The Musical (Garland Nomination), Stepping Out, Company, The Burlesque of Bond (Critic's Pick), Once Upon A Mattress, Oklahoma! and Footloose. She also Choreographed a Journey Tribute show at the O.C. Pavilion, with Evolution, an acclaimed tribute band. Lindsay has also performed onstage with such talents as Kenny Loggins, Natalie Cole and John Raitt.
 
 
Davis Campbell (set designer) has designed and/or built sets for numerous stage, film and music video projects in and around LA. Highlights include Existence (Cannes Film Festival), Atreyu’s music video “The Theft,” and the stage productions of Hatful of Rain, Twentieth Century and The Elvis Test. He is co-founder of the set design company DC². Davis has also acted in dozens of films and commercials.
 
Matt Richter (lighting designer) is from San Luis Obispo, CA. Since relocating to the LA area in 2003, he has been honored to be a part of more than 200 productions. He has served as Technical Director for several LA theatres, including Highways Performance Space in Santa Monica, and currently at the Elephant and art/Works Theatres in Hollywood. Some recent productions he has worked on include Cartoon at the art/Works, Regretrosexual at the Hudson Guild and The Common Air at the Asylum. He is also half of the experimental ambient folk duo Lanfair Field, which is in the process of recording their second album. They hope to tour the West Coast this Fall.