FALSETTOS Final Performance To Benefit Military Families

Third Street Theatre has announced that its first production in L.A.'s newest 99-seat Equity Waiver house; their critically-acclaimed (LA Times CRITICS' CHOICE, LA Weekly GO!, Backstage CRITIC'S PICK, Ovation Recommended!) smash-hit production of the Tony award-winning musical FALSETTOS, with book by James Lapine and William Finn, music and lyrics by William Finn, choreography by John Todd, musical direction by Greg Nabours and directed by Richard Israel is adding a BENEFIT PERFORMANCE on Thursday, November 17, 2011 at 7:30pm at the THIRD STREET THEATRE, 8115 W. Third Street in West Hollywood to benefit the NATIONAL MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION'S OPERATION PURPLE!

MAJOR CURDA, who plays the role of "Jason", knows too well the hardships and stress that the children of military personnel experience when their parents deploy. His father, Col. Stephen Curda, is currently deployed in Afganistan. Major recently wrote, "Whenever my dad is deployed, my mom, my sisters, and I always do our best to stay strong and keep moving forward..." This BENEFIT PERFORMANCE came about when the producers of

FALSETTOS learned that Major's father, returning home for Thanksgiving leave, wouldmiss the closing performance by only two days. "When the cast and crew surprised me and told me they arranged for this special performance I couldn't believe it. How cool is this? My Dad is actually going to get to see me!" The BENEFIT PERFORMANCE of FALSETTOS is a small gift to Major and his family, and all military families, to thank them for their service.

100% of the evening proceeds will go to THE NATIONAL MILITARY FAMILY ASSOCIATION; the leading nonprofit group dedicated to improving the lives of officer and enlisted families in all seven Uniformed Services. The National Military Family Association runs camps under the banner of OPERATION PURPLE. These camps are a time for having fun, making friends, and reminding military kids that they are the Nation's youngest heroes.

FALSETTOS is the Tony Award winning, Broadway sensation that will sucker punch you right in the heart. FALSETTOS is the story of a complicated and very confused man, Marvin. Initially, Marvin seems blessed with the perfect family. He has a caring wife, Trina and a young son, Jason. Nevertheless, the family is soon broken apart when Marvin leaves Trina for his new boyfriend, Whizzer. Trina, meanwhile, ends up with the family psychiatrist, Mendel. All the while, Jason is stuck in the middle. Included in the mix are the lesbian couple composed of Dr. Charlotte and Cordelia. Ultimately, the various characters are forced to come together when Whizzer contracts AIDS. FALSETTOS is about life, love and the decency and honesty that exists in all of us.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM AND CAST

William Finn is well known for the trilogy of short musical shows: In Trousers, March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland. Falsettos, the combination of March of the Falsettos and Falsettoland, ran for 486 performances on Broadway and won Tony Awards for Best Score and Best Book, the latter shared with James Lapine. Finn and Lapine's other collaborations include Little Miss Sunshine, the Tony Award-winning The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee and A New Brain, which won the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical. Mr. Finn wrote the lyrics for world premiere musical Dangerous Games - Two Tango Pieces (1989), a co-production of La Jolla Playhouse, American Music Theater Festival and Spoleto Festival U.S.A. He is also the composer of Romance in Hard Times and Elegies, A Song Cycle.

James Lapine began his directing career at Yale with a Gertrude Stein play, PHOTOGRAPH. The play was presented in New Haven and came to the attention of director Lee Breuer, who helped arrange for a small performance space in Soho to present the work for three weeks. The production was enthusiastically received and won Lapine an Obie award.?Lapine was approached by Lyn Austin and Mary Silverman to create a new piece for the Music-Theatre Group. He wrote and produced a workshop version of TWELVE DREAMS which was later presented at The Public Theatre and revived by Lincoln Center Theatre. Lapine eventually left the visual arts for a career in theatre where he has also written and directed the plays TABLE SETTINGS, LUCK, PLUCK and VIRTUE, THE MOMENT WHEN, FRAN'S BED and Mrs. Miller DOES HER THING. He has written the book for and directed Stephen Sondheim's SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, INTO THE WOODS, PASSION and the recent multi-media revue SONDHEIM ON SONDHEIM. And with William Finn he has collaborated on MARCH OF THE FALSETTOS and FALSETTOLAND, later presented on Broadway as FALSETTOS, A NEW BRAIN, MUSCLE and LITTLE MISS SUNSHINE. On Broadway he has also directed GOLDEN CHILD, THE DIARY OF Anne Frank, AMOUR, and THE 25th ANNUAL PUTNAM COUNTY SPELLING BEE. He has directed several other productions off- Broadway as well as three films.

RICHARD ISRAEL (Director) recently directed the world premiere musical Having It All and One Touch of Venus for the Musical Theatre Guild, where he also directed High Spirits and Violet. Other directing credits include Meet Me In St. Louis for Musical Theatre West, Bell, Book and Candle for The Colony Theatre, A Christmas Carol and A Grand Night For Singing for the Norris Theatre and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels for Interact Theatre Company. For The Actor's Co-Op he directed last year's Merrily We Roll Along as well as Big River and 1776 (L.A. Weekly Award Nomination for Direction and Outstanding Musical). For West Coast Ensemble Theatre, he has directed the critically acclaimed west coast premiere of Anita Bryant Died For Your Sins, the Los Angeles premiere of Big - The Musical, Assassins (L.A. Weekly Award Nomination for Direction and Outstanding Musical, LADCC Award for Musical Ensemble) and Floyd Collins (Backstage Garland Award for Direction). He is the recipient of the 2010 LADCC Milton Katselas Award for Career Achievement in Directing and is pleased to serve as the Co-Artistic Director for West Coast Ensemble Theatre. He is also a proud member of SDC.