World Premiere of BEAUTIFIED by Tony Abatemarco Opens Tonight, May 25

Katselas Theatre Company presents the world premiere of BEAUTIFIED by multi-award-winner Tony Abatemarco, opening tonight, May 25, 2012 with reception to follow and then 8pm Friday and Saturdays, 2pm Sundays through July 1, 2012 at the Skylight Theatre 1816 N. Vermont, LA 90027.

A riotous new romp through four decades in a Massachusetts beauty parlor. It's Spring 1969, and hairdresser Mike's opening day gets off to an unexpected start when a beautiful but dour young Republican, Candy, stumbles in looking for anything but a change of hairdo. But change it he does, and the subsequent years of loyal trips back to Mike's chair prove that a professional relationship such as these two share goes way beyond curing split ends. True friends emerge in a most unlikely place, with the sights and sounds of the last forty years as backdrop to their bonding.

Jenny Sullivan (Director) recently directed Nazi Hunter-Simon Wiesenthal (LADCC Award, 3 Ovation Nominations). Other credits include work at Rubicon Theatre: Steel Magnolias, The Mystery of Irma Vep, Tea at Five with Stephanie Zimbalist , Doubt, Trying, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Indie Award) with Joe Spano and Karyl Lynn Burns; Spit Like A Big Girl; You Can't Take It With You; Hamlet (Indie Award) with Joseph Fuqua; One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest; Tuesdays with Morrie with Harold Gould; Defying Gravity; Happy Days; Art; Dancing at Lughnasa (Indie Award); and Love Letters with Jack Lemmon and Felicia Farr. Jenny helmed The Dresser with Len Cariou and Granville Van Dusen and the West Coast premiere of Jane Martin’s Flags. She was director of the Geffen Production of Nora and Delia Ephron’s Love, Loss and What I Wore and the long running Los Angeles production of The Vagina Monologues; Her world premiere of Jane Anderson’s The Baby Dance began at Pasadena Playhouse, moved to Williamstown Theatre Festival, Long Wharf Theatre (CT Critics’ Directing Award) and the Lucille Lortel Theatre Off-Broadway. Film credits include Access All Areas and The Next Best Thing. Jenny is most proud of the world premiere of her play J for J with Jeff Kober and the late great John Ritter.

Tony Abatemarco (Playwright) is a multi-award winning writer, actor, and director. He is the author of ten plays, two of which (co-authored Brain Hotel and Sir Vival Sweepstakes) have been produced at the Olympics Arts Festival and Mark Taper Forum respectively. In 2011 his most recent short story, Schwinn, was published in the international journal, Boneshaker. Tony directed Julie Harris in Lucifer’s Child (Broadway and A&E TV), Robyn Peterson’s Catwalk Confidential, (The Arts Theatre in London’s West End & Miami), as well as projects at Pasadena Playhouse, The Taper, Santa Fe Stages, La Mama ETC, and Theatre Grévin in Paris. A graduate of Juilliard, he has won top honors for his lead performances in The Mystery of Irma Vep, Bach at Leipzig, La Bete, Slow Motion and Four Fathers. Tony recently starred as “Dr. Rank” in A Doll House opposite Calista Flockhart for LA TheatreWorks, ‘Salieri’ in the acclaimEd Pittsburgh Public Theatre production of Amadeus and ‘Polonius’ in Hamlet at A Noise Within.

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