“Terrific!…a great nite out at the theatre!†Sunshine Magazine. Live on stage – show business celebrity Esai Morales (Fairly Legal, NYPD Blue, Caprica) and Mark Rydell (former daytime drama star who became even more famous as a director of blockbuster movies – On Golden Pond, The Rose, The River – and classic television – Gunsmoke, Ben Casey – star in Brian Connors’ hilarious, touching and often outrageous evening of plays.
PARK STRANGERS: a fading stage star is paired with a younger actress in a commercial for an offensive corporation. Offensive, yes, but what can you do when you both need the money?! SWANS: a woman presses her man to find out when he’ll marry her. It’s the little things that bother him…like her collection of swans. OXYMORONS: J’s sister-in-law has 
sent him to locate his depressed brother Joey. The two brothers have some old issues to settle. Don’t be fooled into thinking they’re polar opposites. They have far more in common than at first appears…like their women.
In addition to the ever popular Esai Morales and the legendary Mark Rydell, each weekend features a different guest artist. Past celebrity guests have included Ed Asner and George Segal, with Allan Miller (Judging Amy, Law and Order, Highway to Heaven, General Hospital) starting July 21. The cast also includes stage and screen personalities Susan Ateh – In Bruges, The Clinic; Beege Barkette – The Fabulous Baker Boys, The Onion Field; Chihiro Kawamura – In Her Shoes, The Republic; and Dahlia Waingort – Raging Bull II, True Blood.
Writer-director Brian Connors is a gradu
ate of Rutgers University. His other plays include Cross Your Heart and Two Sisters. His most recent screenplay, Good Men, garnered Best Actors awards for stars Ed Asner and Mark Rydell at the New Media Film Festival. Also an actor, he has extensive stage credits and has made numerous television appearances.
Plays in the Park is a staged reading, rated R for some really raunchy language. Enjoy a “delightful evening†(JoeStraw#9), now playing as a Guest Production on the intimate Santa Monica Playhouse Main Stage.
Saturdays at 3pm and 7pm only. All seats $20. For tickets and information, please call (323) 960-7788 or visit http://www.Plays411.com/playsinthepark. Santa Monica Playhouse is located at 1211 4th Street, Santa Monica, CA 90401 – between Wilshire and Arizona, one block east of the Third Street Promenade.
