West Coast Ensemble Presents THREE TALL WOMEN, Previews 11/12, 11/13 At The El Centro Theatre

West Coast Ensemble presents the fourth and final show of their 2009 season, THREE TALL WOMEN, written by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Edward Albee and directed by Michael Matthews (Stupid Kids, The Bacchae). THREE TALL WOMEN will preview on Thursday, November 12 and Friday, November 13 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, November 14 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, December 20 at West Coast Ensemble - The El Centro Theatre, 800 N. El Centro Ave. in Hollywood.

In this haunting and sometimes hilarious play, we meet three women facing and embracing life's travails and disappointments. As each woman's true identity is revealed, we discover the true genius of America's most intriguing contemporary playwright. With his trademark wit and lack of sentimentality, Albee offers us an unblinking portrait of contemporary women - how they live, how they love, what they settle for, and how they die. A multiple Drama Critics, Lucille Lortel and Outer Critics Circle award-winner, THREE TALL WOMEN is an electrifying examination on loss and our ability to go on.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

Edward Albee (Playwright) American dramatist and theatrical producer best known for his play Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1962), which displays slashing insight and witty dialogue in its gruesome portrayal of married life. Albee was the adopted child of a father who had for a time been the assistant general manager of a chain of vaudeville theatres then partially owned by the Albee family. At the time of Albee's adoption, though, both his parents were involved with owning and showing saddle horses. He had a difficult relationship with his parents, particularly with his mother, whom he saw as distant and unloving. Albee grew up in New York City and nearby Westchester county. He was educated at Choate School (graduated 1946) and at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut (1946-47). He wrote poetry and an unpublished novel but turned to plays in the late 1950s.

Among Albee's early one-act plays, The Zoo Story (1959), The Sandbox (1959), and The American Dream (1961) were the most successful and established him as an astute critic of American values. But it is his first full-length play, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (film 1966), that remains his most important work. In this play a middle-aged professor, his wife, and a younger couple engage one night in an unrestrained drinking bout that is filled with malicious games, insults, humiliations, betrayals, savage witticisms, and painful, self-revealing confrontations. Virginia Woolf won immediate acclaim and established Albee as a major American playwright.

It was followed by a number of full-length works-including A Delicate Balance (1966; winner of a Pulitzer Prize), which was based in part on his mother's witty alcoholic sister, and Three Tall Women (1994; Pulitzer Prize). The latter play deals with Albee's perceptions and feelings about his mother and is a remarkable portrait achieved by presenting the interaction of three women, who resemble each other, at different stages of life. Among his other plays are Tiny Alice (1965), which begins as a philosophical discussion between a lawyer and a cardinal; Seascape (1975; also winner of a Pulitzer Prize), a poetic exploration of evolution; and The Play About the Baby (1998), on the mysteries of birth and parenthood.

Albee continued to dissect American morality in plays such as The Goat; or, Who Is Sylvia? (2002), which depicts the disintegration of a marriage in the wake of the revelation that the husband has engaged in bestiality. In Occupant (2001), Albee imagines the sculptor Louise Nevelson being interviewed after her death. Albee also expanded The Zoo Story into a two-act play, called Peter and Jerry (2004). The absurdist Me, Myself, & I (2007) trenchantly analyzes the relationship between a mother and her twin sons.

Michael Matthews (Director) Broadway: Butley (Assistant Director). Los Angeles: The Jazz Age (West Coast Premiere) The Blank Theatre Company in Association with Jana Robbins Productions, The Prodigal Father (World Premiere), Porcelain, Stupid Kids, Beautiful Thing (2007 Ovation Nominations, Best Director and Best Play), The Bacchae (2007 Ovation Nominations, Best Director and Best Play) and the Los Angeles Premiere of Four, all at Celebration Theatre; Dead End (Assistant Director) Ahmanson Theatre and THE CHERRY ORCHARD (Assistant Director) Mark Taper Forum. Chicago: What's Wrong With Angry (2006 Jeff Nominations, Best Director and Best Production), In The Blood (2004 Jeff Nominations, Best Director and Best Production), and the Chicago Premiere of The Judas Kiss all with Circle Theatre, Being 11 (World Premiere) with Serendipity at Victory Gardens, Porcelain (2001 Jeff Nomination, Best Director) Trap Door Theatre, ...for colored girls who have considered suicide, Journeymen Theatre. Michael served as the Artistic Director of Celebration Theatre from 2005-2008. Michael is a graduate of Columbia College Chicago, National Shakespeare Conservatory, NY, and an alumnus of Director's Lab West 2008, Pasadena Playhouse.

The cast of THREE TALL WOMEN features Leah Myette, Jan Sheldrick and Eve Sigall.

THREE TALL WOMEN has assembled an award-winning design team. The Set design is by Kurt Boetcher. The Lighting Design is by Tim Swiss. The Costume Design is by Sharon McGunigle. The Sound Design is by Rebecca Kessin. The show will be produced for WCE by Brook Carlson.

ABOUT SCHEDULE AND PRICING

THREE TALL WOMEN will open Saturday, November 14 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, December 20 at The El Centro Theater, 800 N. El Centro Ave., Hollywood, CA 90038. Preview performances will be Thursday, November 12 and Friday, November 13 at 8:00pm. Ticket prices are $10 previews, $20 general, $18 student/senior/union. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm, Sundays at 3:00 pm. For tickets, please visit www.westcoastensemble.org or www.tix.com or call the West Coast Ensemble Box Office at 323-460-4443.

Founded in 1981 by Les Hanson, West Coast Ensemble Theatre has been a part of the Los Angeles theatre community for 27 years. A membership theatre ensemble, WCE is dedicated to presenting high quality theatrical productions which address the social, cultural and artistic needs of the Los Angeles community while providing an artistic home for its membership. Recent award-winning productions include Stephen Sondheim's ASSASSINS, Tim Acito's ZANNA, DON'T!, Jim Geoghan's TWO GENTLEMEN OF CORONA, and Adam Guettel and Tina Landau's FLOYD COLLINS.