Inside Private Lives

Photo credits:
David Beall (all except Kristin Stone, Paul Ryan, and smaller cast photo),
Desiree Sweet (Kristin Stone and smaller cast photo), and
Adam LeBow (Paul Ryan);
Marge Schott make-up: Desiree Sweet

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and audio links to our interviews!

Rotation now posted!
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FEATURES & REVIEWS: Los Angeles Times—December '08 KGIL-1260am (audio) IN Magazine Campus Circle Pasadena Now Pasadena Weekly Daily Bruin (UCLA) LA Weekly The List (UK) Fest Magazine (UK) Fringe Review (UK) Hairline Magazine [who then gave us their Hairline Highlight Award 2007] (UK) New York Times NYTheatre.com (scroll 3/4 of the way down the page!) PAPERMAG Flavorpill NYC LA Times' Calendarlive.com The Scotsman Flavorpill LA Larchmont Chronicle ShowMag Robert Axelrod's Best of 2006 ReviewPlays.com Broadway To Vegas Los Feliz Ledger one4review.com (UK)
INTERVIEWS: KUSC's Spotlight on the Arts 1: Kristin Stone New! KUSC's Spotlight on the Arts 2: Molly Hagan New! KPFK 90.7FM: "Beneath the Surface" with Michael Slate KNBC-LA's "Your LA" (video) Festival FM – 87.7 Edinburgh (audio) Fresh Air – Edinburgh's alternative radio station (audio) SoCal.com (text) The Sounds of LA (audio)

Click here to view audience reviews on the
Los Angeles Times' "The Guide" site
(and, if you've seen the show, post a review of your own!)

THE SHOW:

The audience participates in controversy and living history when going Inside Private Lives!

Interactive theatre isn’t new, but Kristin Stone and company are doing something with the concept that’s completely original.

Inside Private Lives takes audiences on a ride along the 20th Century timeline, interacting with controversial public figures of the past, portrayed by actors. Audience members are invited to become part of the experience as they are given roles (e.g., perhaps a journalist, perhaps a government official, perhaps an attorney, and so forth) that invite interactivity. As creator Kristin Stone describes it, "These characters, wrapped in controversy, are each in dire need of something—this is where the audience comes in. As an integral part of each scene, the audience is assigned roles in these people’s lives and only the audience can choose whether on not to give the characters what they want."

THE CHARACTERS:
Jimmy Carter's good-'ol-boy brother Billy Carter , who considered himself the president's last best hope in his 1980 re-election bid ( Bryan Safi ).
John Dillinger , notorious Chicago bank robber of the 1930's. Was he a dangerous criminal, or a modern-day Robin Hood? ( Jade Carter )
HRH King Edward VIII of England, who must choose between the kingdom he rules and the woman he loves ( Freddy Douglas ).
Glenn Gould , eccentric and brilliant Canadian pianist and composer, is regarded as the greatest musician of his time. He was equally famous for his strange behavior and distaste for public performance which led to him retiring from concert appearances in 1964 at the young age of 34. ( Rick Steadman )
Leona Helmsley , billionaire New York City hotel operator and real estate investor convicted of tax evasion and other crimes. Her flamboyance and reputation for tyrannical behavior earned her the nickname "Queen of Mean."
( Silvie Zamora )
Transgendered celebrity Christine Jorgensen , the first American to surgically transform from a man to a woman ( Kristin Stone ).
Elia Kazan , celebrated stage and film director who was damned for his cooperation with the House Committee on
Un-American Activities (HUAC) during the McCarthy Era.
( Adam LeBow )
Branch Davidian cult leader David Koresh , who believed himself to be the lamb of God and the final prophet.
( David Shofner )
Ann Landers , celebrated advice-dispensing columnist and estranged twin of "Dear Abby," syndicated in newspapers across America for 45 years ( Diana Morrison ).
1960s counterculture icon Timothy Leary is most famous as a proponent of the therapeutic and spiritual benefits of LSD. He coined and popularized the catch phrase "Turn on, tune in, drop out." ( Fred Cross )
Aimee Semple McPherson , wildly influential evangelist and media sensation of the '20s and '30s who thought she was above the law ( Molly Hagan ).
Julia Phillips , the first woman to win an Oscar as a producer, who then went on to write a blistering no-holds-barred autobiography about her experiences in Hollywood titled You'll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again.
( Leonora Gershman )
Jane Roberts , who gained fame as the trance channeler for the spirit entity called "Seth" ( Maddisen Krown ).
Bobby Sands , the I.R.A. activist who starved himself to death in protest against abuse of political prisoners by the British ( Paul Ryan ).
Marge Schott , who owned the Cincinnati Reds baseball team for fifteen years and was suspended by Major League Baseball for her public expression of racist attitudes.
( Mary MacDonald )
Wallis Simpson , the twice-divorced American for whom King Edward VIII (see above) abdicated the British throne, and whom he married six months later. Wallis was the first to be named Woman of The Year by Time Magazine, and is credited with coining the phrase "A woman can never be too rich or too thin" ( Sheila Wolf ).
Brownie Wise , the "First Lady" of Tupperware who, by inventing the famous "party plan" marketing system, made sure that Tupperware's burping seal echoed in kitchens all over America and that women stayed at home to hear it ( Eileen O'Connell ).

Each actor has meticulously researched the historical facts behind each character he/she has scripted and plays.

This will be a unique theatrical experience, one that audience members would be unlikely to have anywhere else in Los Angeles in the current season, as controversial people of recent history come alive and interact with them.

DISCLAIMER: The real-life figures as portrayed in Inside Private Lives are the actors' artistic interpretations and are not meant to be fully factual representations of real events in the subjects' lives.

THE ROTATION:

INSIDE PRIVATE LIVES
CHARACTER ROTATION
(subject to change)
JULY 12 JULY 19
JULY 26
Christine Jorgensen
King Edward VIII
David Koresh
New Character TBA
Jane Roberts
Brownie Wise Christine Jorgensen
Elia Kazan
New Character TBA
Aimee Semple McPherson
Ann Landers
Marge Schott Christine Jorgensen
Leona Helmsley
John Dillinger
New Character TBA
Glenn Gould
Wallis Simpson
AUG 2 AUG 9 AUG 16
Brownie Wise
Julia Phillips
Leona Helmsley
Jane Roberts
New Character TBA
Billy Carter Aimee Semple McPherson
King Edward VIII
Wallis Simpson
Timothy Leary
New Character TBA
John Dillinger Christine Jorgensen
Elia Kazan
Glenn Gould
Ann Landers
New Character TBA
Marge Schott
AUG 23 AUG 30  
Christine Jorgensen
Timothy Leary
Brownie Wise
New Character TBA
David Koresh
Leona Helmsley Christine Jorgensen
John Dillinger
Aimee Semple McPherson
Julia Phillips
Glenn Gould
Marge Schott  

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THE TEAM:

conceived and produced by Kristin Stone

directed by Lee Cohn

guest direction by Geoffrey Owens

stage managed by Cindy Pikus