Elephant Theatre Company concludes season with Baby Doll
The Elephant Theatre Company, David Fofi and Lindsay Allbaugh, Co-Artistic Directors, in association with Double A Productions, has announced its production of Baby Doll by Tennessee Williams, directed and designed by Joel Daavid, at the Lillian Theatre in Hollywood. There will be one preview performance on November 10, with opening night set for Friday, November 11 at 8:00. Baby Doll will play a limited engagement through December 18.
Adapted by Williams from his own one-act play 27 Wagons Full of Cotton, the film was released in 1956, directed by Elia Kazan. At that time, it was labeled "notorious, salacious, revolting, steamy, lewd, suggestive, provocative, and morally repellent." It was also nominated for four Academy Awards, including best adapted screenplay. Baby Doll is an effort to decode modern sexual politics; it is also a timely rehashing of the familiar struggle of America's "everyman." The story centers around the arranged marriage of a doltish and passionate owner of a Southern cotton gin, and his stunningly beautiful and tenacious virgin bride who stubbornly refuses to consummate their marriage until the day of her 20th birthday. Compounding this fiery battle of wills is the arrival of a crafty and dark Sicilian gin mill magnate who covets both the dolt's wife and his business.
The cast of Baby Doll is Lulu Brud, Tony Gatto, Ronnie Marmo, and Jacque Lynn Colton, along with (in alphabetical order) Josh Benton, Dave Metz, Chloe Peterson, Bernadette Speakes, Yecenia Torres, Carl Wawrina, and Michael Wilkie. With set and lighting design by Joel Daavid, the costume design is by Noelle Raffy, and sound design is by Matt Richter. Original music is composed by Nick Block and movement choreography is by Adam Haas Hunter. The stage manager is Rebecca Schoenberg, and Baby Doll is produced for the Elephant and Double A Productions by David Fofi, Anita Lee, and Sean Thomas.
There will be one preview performance on Thursday, November 10 at 8pm. Opening night is Friday, 11/11/11 at 8:00. Admission is $15 for the preview, $25 for regular performances, and $30 for opening night, which includes a post-performance reception with the cast. The regular running schedule is Friday and Saturday at 8pm, and Sunday at 7pm, and the engagement will run through December 18. There is no performance on Friday, November 25. Tickets are on sale now, and may be purchased by calling (323) 960-4420 or by reserving online at www.elephanttheatrecompany.com.