OPEN FIST THEATRE COMPANY
                                             presents its
“SUMMER SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL”

featuring…
THE COMEDY OF ERRORS
by William Shakespeare
&
A World Premiere Musical Comedy!
deLEARious
Book by Ron West,
Music & lyrics by Phil Swann & Ron West

Both Productions Directed by Ron West

Limited Engagements begin July 12, 2008
at the Open Fist Theatre in Hollywood!

June 16, 2008…Los Angeles…The Open Fist Theatre Company presents its “Summer Shakespeare Festival,” featuring THE COMEDY OF ERRORS by William Shakespeare and the world premiere of deLEARious, a brand new musical comedy with a book by Ron West and music and lyrics by Phil Swann and Ron West (creators of The People Vs. Friar Laurence, the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet). Both productions will be directed by Ron West. THE COMEDY OF ERRORS will preview on Saturday, July 5, at 8pm and Sunday, July 6, at 7pm, and will open on Saturday, July 12 at 8pm; deLEARious will preview on Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19 at 8pm and will open on Sunday, July 20 at 7pm at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor’s Gang) in Hollywood.


THE BABES! THE BOYS! THE BEACH!  THE BARD!

Shakespeare’s THE COMEDY OF ERRORS is the western world’s prototypcial sitcom, replete with lies, mistaken identities, and infidelities.  This brand new adaptation is set in Venice Beach in the 1960s, and its mayhem is the perfect cure for the summertime blues.

WORLD PREMIERE MUSCIAL EVENT!

In deLEARious, Ron and Phil, two composers in Los Angeles, are writing about King James I and Shakespeare, who are writing about the legendary King Lear.  Phil gets sick of Ron’s laziness and womanizing; King James gets sick of Shakespeare and demotes him to working on  the Bible; and King Lear gets sick of everyone and goes crazy.  Hilarity ensues. And, believe it or not, in this version, there’s a happy ending.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

RON WEST (Book, Music, & Lyrics and Director) has spent the past 25 years traveling the globe because he couldn’t find a job in the town he was living in.   He began his acting career with Cleveland, Ohio's Great Lakes Shakespeare Festival and its production of As You Like It. He only had one line but did remember it every single time. Ron has had featured roles in the films Sour Grapes, Garage, The Babe, Backdraft, Miss Missouri, Goodnight Sweet Wife, The Paint Job, The Effects of Magic and Family Values. All these movies were a lot of fun for Ron to make. Sometimes they let him make up his own dialogue. Some of these movies are good. Some of the movies are so bad they will never see the light of day.  Maybe that’s because they let Ron make up his own dialogue. Ron has worked with some well-known actors in his recurring role on Third Rock from the Sun and as a consultant to Whose Line Is It, Anyway? but, no, he doesn’t have their phone numbers. If he can remember the lines, he usually plays a guy who yells at the star or a guy who asks "Why?" so the star can talk for a page. Sometimes Ron says he began his directing career when he got sick of acting. Sometimes he says he began directing when no one would listen to the real director.  Pick the story you like best. Anyway, he has participated in more Second City productions than he can count (he thinks it’s about 25). The latest were Curious George Goes To War, for he won a Joseph Jefferson Best Director Award, and Sex and The Second City, a fun little musical that blatantly capitalized on popular TV show with a similar title. His collaboration with Phil Swann on the musical The People Vs. Friar Laurence, the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet was the greatest creative experience of his life. It broke box office records at Chicago Shakespeare Theater and made Bruce Green a star. Some people say that Ron and Phil began writing songs together because Ron had this really great rhyming dictionary.  Others say it is because they were successful partners in a music-based parlor game. 

Again, pick the story you like best. In Amsterdam, The Netherlands, Ron shepherded the cast of Boom Chicago in Europe: We Created a Monster! a funny show with a dumb title in a city where drugs are legal.  In Los Angeles, West has directed several productions for LATheatreworks, including Sidney Blumenthal’s This Town and the world premiere of Jon Robin Baitz’s Mizlansky/Zilinsky.  At The Open Fist Theatre, he directed Dario Fo’s We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay! and Boris Vian’s The Knacker’s ABC and wrote and directed Sex, Death, and Other Annoyances and The Hep and Andrea Show and Buddy Jack.  He recently won a lot of critical acclaim for his special adaptation of The Comedy of Errors for Chicago Shakespeare Theater.  Ron lives in Los Angeles, CA, where he spends his time convincing a variety of softball teams that he is still a viable middle infielder.

PHIL SWANN (Music, Lyrics, Musical Direction) is the composer of the award-winning musical comedy The People Vs. Friar Laurence, the Man Who Killed Romeo and Juliet.  Swann’s latest projects include Play it Cool, a jazz musical work-shopping in New York, Moms, Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits, Musical Fools, and Trombone, a musical celebration based on the verse of famed African-American poet, journalist, and statesman James Weldon Johnson.  As staff songwriter and producer for DreamWorks SKG, Swann’s songs have been heard in television and film and recorded by such major label artists as Clay Aiken, Lee Ann Womack, Lee Greenwood, John Berry, The Kinleys, Lisa Brokop, Keith Norris, and Kristin Garner.    He has produced record albums for Helen Slater, Roberta Duchak, Dave Aguallo, Dan namod, Jeffifer Capelo, Adrina Thorpe, and Greg Rowles.  A renowned speaker at songwriting and creative organizations throughout the United States, Swann’s creative workshops have been embraced by The Songwriters Guild of America, the Nashville Songwriters Association, the Dramatists Guild, BMI, ASCAP, and UCLA, which offers Swann’s commercial songwriting course twice a year. A graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Art in NYC, Phil Swann makes his home in Los Angeles, where he sits on the board of directors of the Songwriters Guild of America. Swann is also the author of the new suspense-thriller, The Mozart Conspiracy, his first novel.

The Cast of OFTC's SUMMER SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL features Eric J. Beck, Jordana Berliner, Matthew Brehner, Sarah Buster, Caitlin Renee Campbell*, Parvesh Cheena, Michael Churven, Nicole Disson*, Dylan Fergus, Chad Fifer, Bruce Green*, Niki Hersh, William B. Jackson,, Briga Heelan, Conor Lane, Kerri-Anne Lavin*, David May, Chris Erric Maddox, Claire Mills, Scott Palmason, Robyn A. Roth, Mark Swaner, Phil Swann, Stephanie Terronez, Andrew Schlessinger, Kim Swennen*, Ron West*, and Joe Zanetti*.                                                              
COMEDY OF ERRORS will preview on Saturday, July 5, at 8pm and Sunday, July 6, at 7pm, and will open on Saturday, July 12 at 8pm and run through Saturday, August 30; deLEARious will preview on Thursday, July 17, at 8pm and Friday, July 18 at 8pm and will open on Saturday, July 19 and run through Saturday, August 30 at The NEW Open Fist Theatre, 6209 Santa Monica Blvd. (former home of The Actor’s Gang) in Hollywood.

Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, Matinee on Sunday at 2pm and also Sunday evening at 7pm.  Ticket prices are $20; tickets for the opening night gala are $30.  Two show flexpass tickets are $30.  Previews are $10. Special group rates available for parties of 10 or more .  For tickets, please call (323) 882-6912 for details or visit www.openfist.org  to purchase tickets online or to view complete schedule.