Company in the News Oct-2022

See what PlayGround-LA Writers, Alumni, and Company Members are up to this October!

Jully Lee will be making her Broadway debut in KPOP THE MUSICAL in the role of Ruby, founder and CEO of the fictional label RBY Entertainment. (FYI: Sides may have obstructed view. Sit as close to center as possible for best view!) Previews begin October 13. Show opens November 20. Tickets and more here. Circle in the Square Theatre | 235 W 50th St, New York, NY 10019

Lina Patel‘s new play, “Traces of Desire” commissioned by Playwright’s Arena and based on Lope De Vega’s “Widow of Valencia”, was recently presented at UCLA’s LAEscena Festival. Lina is also Co-Producer on Ava DuVernay’s anthology series, “Cherish the Day” and season 2 premiers October 4th on OWN! Please tune in!

Allie Costa recently booked and recorded an animated film. She can also be heard in The Kit Bull Story, which is currently screening at the Astoria Film Festival and streaming online, and Piecing Together the Portraits of You, which is screening at the Mystic Film Festival. Quality Assurance, a fast and fun comedy written and directed by Allie, is now streaming on Soundscape. Her play Blue Christmas, which began at PlayGround-LA, recently had its world premiere in Hollywood. Learn more at her website and IMDb page.

Mildred Lewis’ /kom’plisit/, a full-length play inspired by Ghislaine Maxwell, will have a staged reading plus at Moving Arts this November.

Steve Apostolina‘s play T.N.T. recently ran at the Labute festival at the St. Louis Actor’s Studio and his play KILLER was recently awarded first place in the 2022 Julie Harris Playwright’s Competition for the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild.

Esther Banegas Gatica – Hello Playground LA fam, I wanted to share and ask you to spread the word: the one woman show I have directed “Shattering” by Dr. Juhanna Rogers is part of the Newark Arts Festival this upcoming Saturday October 8th in Newark, NJ. So if you have any east coast friends looking to support let them know! Tickets and info here.

Five of Evan Baughfman‘s dark drabbles (100-word horror stories) are now published in Black Ink Fiction’s anthology, “Animal Cage”! Every story features a dark twist on animals held in captivity. Evan’s stories are titled NOT SO FAST, BAD SHAPE, EDGE OF EXTINCTION, BATTLE BEASTS, and JACKPOT. The book is available for purchase here.

Peter Pasco was accepted into IAMA’s emerging playwrights group 2022-2023.

Alexia Jasmene will be taking the stage by storm in a Halloween Queer Farce called “Hickville Love & Horror: A Queer Anthology” with a new take on the some classic Grimm fairytales. It will be Oct. 29th 11pm at The Pack Theatre (6467 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038) and tickets are available here.

Joe Luis Cedillo—started collaborating with EST/LA’s Ignite Writer Cohort culminating in a showing in December. His play 7, 8IGHT, 9 will have a reading at Studio/Stage in November. His family drama COLUMPIO will have a reading in January at the Frida Kahlo Theater. More details via social media @joeluiscedillo

Emily Brauer Rogers‘ full-length play, Undine, will be part of Company of Angels‘ New Works Festival on Nov 6th at 8 pm.

Tahmus Rounds recently traveled to Vancouver, BC for a guest starring role on the Amazon Prime comedy UPLOAD. He’s bummed to not be here tonight, but needed to travel to Baja to help with damage related to Hurricane Kay. Break legs everyone!

Carla Vega played “Auntie Jan” in “Everything Good” -A Fil-Am, women-led short film about high expectations. For more information click here.

Frieda de Lackner is directing a staged reading for the Ojai Film Festival for the script that won their screenwriting competition. The cast includes Playground members Roshan Mathews, Christina Wren, Gary Lawson, Christine Liao, and Tony Kim.