Zephyr Theater Presents DEEP THROAT SEX SCANDAL, 1/24-2/17

The Deep Throat Sex Scandal, a new play by David Bertolino about the making of the famed, groundbreaking, 1970s pornographic film "Deep Throat" and the subsequent controversy the film ignited, will have its West Coast Premiere at the Zephyr Theatre for a six week engagement, beginning performances January 24, and opening January 31, 2013.

The production is directed by award-winning adult film writer-director Jerry Douglas, and will have different guest cast members every week: Amber Lynn and Bill Margold (Preview week January 24-27); Sally Kirkland and Bruce Vilanch (January 31-February 3); Nina Hartley and Christopher Knight (February 7-10); Georgina Spelvin and Ron Jeremy (February 14-17). Adult film stars Veronica Hart and Herschel Savage are part of the on-going, eight-actor company.

In The Deep Throat Sex Scandal, the true story will be revealed: In 1972, a hairdresser from the Bronx made a little movie that grossed over $600 million (possibly the most profitable film of all time) and ignited the sexual revolution. The Deep Throat Sex Scandal takes audiences behind the scenes, into the secret world of adult filmmaking and introduces them to the legendary Linda Lovelace and Harry Reems. The play follows the bizarre journey from the creation of the movie, through the raids, arrests and the banning of the film, to the political fallout of the ensuing courtroom drama, which helped expand the career of high-powered attorney Alan Dershowitz.

Bertolino said of the trial, "Anyone who claims to value freedom of speech, but then believes sexual expression isn't protected, has now violated the most important principle of this freedom, which is that no man should be allowed to determine the fare chosen by another man for his personal consumption. This trial wasn't just about sexual free speech, but rather the slippery slope of censorship that starts with Nixon banning pornography because of its putative effects on society, and quickly escalates to Nixon silencing his political enemies under the cloak of protecting some other societal need."

The Deep Throat Sex Scandal contains adult themes and nudity; no one eighteen and under will be admitted. Tickets are available online at http://www.deepthroattheplay.com or by calling 800-838-3006. Special Guilty Pleasures premium-priced packages are also available. Performances are Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 7 p.m.

The Deep Throat Sex Scandal contains adult themes and nudity; no one eighteen and under will be admitted.

Backstage called The Deep Throat Sex Scandal "a slyly subversive comedy about America's need to both indulge in and restrict access to pleasure" and said that playwright David Bertolino's message of tolerance is "a powerful argument for taking the play seriously ... although those who would control our minds and hearts seem to be in ascendancy once again. The Deep Throat Sex Scandal reminds us that the battle against repression is worthwhile and winnable." The New York Times declared that the show has "a professional cast willing to bare all!"

William Margold, adult film star, director and activist, as well as former director of the Free Speech Coalition, writing for The LAXPRESS described The Deep Throat Sex Scandal as a "Painfully insightful production about a time when freedom of expression was something to talk about ... but was also very hard to swallow. And the real tragedy of that era was that many of those who had something to say ... said nothing at all when asked to speak up ... for fear of being ostracized by their peers. In a society that is drug-infested, violence-wracked, and polluted by chemical greed ... no one has ever died from an overdose of pornography."

The first half of The Deep Throat Sex Scandal deals with the human drama and humorous making of the film. The second half details the lengths to which the film and in particular, one of its performers, was prosecuted or more accurately "persecuted" in the sanctimonious name of decency. When an overly zealous United States government went after the movie, and Harry Reems became an innocent victim of society's guilty pleasures, only a few liberal-minded souls -- including Oscar winners Warren Beatty, Tony Bill, Richard Dreyfuss, and Jack Nicholson -- rose to his defense; as they were realistically fearful that "The Inquisition Against X" would eventually be exacted upon all the other letters in the entertainment alphabet.

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