THE ELEPHANT MAN Comes To North Hollywood's New Place Studio Thaetre 5/16-6/21

Andak Stage Company presents a Tony Award winning play based on the life of Joseph Merrick, who lived in the Victorian era and became known for the extreme deformity of his body. Dignity triumphs in this disconcerting and uplifting account of a man so intensely challenged every day of his life.

Bernard Pomerance (Playwright) attended the University of Chicago and later moved to London when he was in his early thirties, where he is now based. After arriving in England, he began working with small, innovative theatre groups. With director Roland Rees, he founded the Foco Novo theatre group, which produced Pomerance's early plays. The Elephant Man was first produced at The Hampstead Theatre and soon moved to New York where it eventually opened on Broadway, garnering numerous awards and nominations. After writing two more plays, Quantrill in Lawrence (1980) and Melons (1985), Pomerance finally published his first novel, We Need to Dream All This Again, in 1987.

Director John DeMita has helmed over 25 productions, including, including Andak's 2008 production of Betrayal (nominated for Revival of the Year by the LA Weekly), the multi-award nominated Southern California premiere of Martin Crimp's The Misanthrope and As You Like It at the Vital Express Center. His credits include work at the Antaeus Company, the Geffen Playhouse, Pacific Resident Theatre, ACT, Seattle's Intiman Theater, the Oregon Shakespeare festival, and the Williamstown Theater Festival. In addition, he was a series regular on Comedy Central's The Clinic, and has guest-starred in numerous films, and television shows (most recently CSI and Eyes). As a voice actor he was the voice of action star Jet Li in 11 movies.

Andak Stage Company has been in existence for five years, opening its first season with the West Coast premiere of Agustín Moreto's Spite for Spite in February 2004 in Los Angeles-and touring it to the International Siglo de Oro Festival in El Paso, where it received the Walker Reid Award for Translation and the Franklin G. Smith Award for Production. Since then ASC has produced six world premieres and three L.A. premieres, including four original plays and two new classical translations, garnering four more awards for playwrighting, translation, acting, and production. In its third season (2007-2008) the Company broke new ground by including Los Angeles premieres of new classical adaptations (Martin Crimp's The Misanthrope) and contemporary plays (David Hare's The Bay At Nice, Harold Pinter's Betrayal) in its repertoire along with world premieres of new plays and new translations. ASC's fourth season opened with John W. Lowell's critically acclaimed The Letters. The Elephant Man will be ASC's eleventh production.

THE ELEPHANT MAN opens May 16th and runs through June 21, 2009. Performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 8:00pm and Sundays 3:00pm at the New Place Studio Theatre, 10950 Peach Grove Street in North Hollywood, CA 91601. Tickets are $25 and may be purchased by calling (866) 811-4111 or on-line through www.theatermania.com or a link on www.Andak.org.

New Place Studio Theatre

10950 Peach Grove Street

North Hollywood, California 91601

For tickets call: (866) 811-4111 or on-line through www.theatermania.com or www.Andak.org

Previews May 14 & 15, 2009 at 8pm

Opening: Saturday, May 16, 2009

Runs: Thursday-Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00pm

Closing performance: June 21, 2009

HOW MUCH: Previews performances $15

All Seats are $ 25.00 ($5 discounts for students, seniors, and industry professionals)

Groups of 10 or more $15. Groups must contact (818) 506-8462