Contact: Kathleen Becket
Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy
323-953-4000, ext. 2990
*** FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ***
THE ODYSSEY THEATRE STUDENT OUTREACH PROGRAM IN ASSOCIATION
WITH LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE THEATRE ACADEMY
FRED FATE, CHAIR AND PRODUCING DIRECTOR, ANNOUNCES THE THEATRE
ACADEMY WILL PRESENT:
BY Stephen Adly Guirgis
MAY 14 TH
DIRECTED BY Al Rossi
- MAY 24 TH AT THE ODYSSEY THEATRE
Hollywood, CA – Fred Fate, Chair and Producing Director of the Los
Angeles City College Theatre Academy (LACCTA) has announced the
Theatre Academy will continue its 80 th Annual Production Season with
Stephen Adly Guirgis’ THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT, the play
USA TODAY calls “Breathtaking…A profoundly moving look at the difficulty of virtue and the necessity of mercy in an imperfect world.”
Performances will be given on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, MAY
14, 15, 16, 21, 22, & 23 at 8:00 p.m. and on Sundays May 17 & 24 at 2 p.m. All performances of THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT will be held at
The Odyssey Theatre located at 2055 South Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
90025.
Founded in 1929, the Theatre Academy is the oldest publicly funded theatre school in Hollywood. The Theatre Academy of Los Angeles City College is celebrating its 80 th year of providing quality conservatory training in acting, technical theatre and costuming. Alumni of the Academy work in every facet of the industry and include such notables as Clint Eastwood, Morgan
Freeman, Alan Arkin, James Coburn Jose Quintero, Cindy Williams, Diana
Canova, Mark Hamill, Paul Winfield, Donna Reed and Robert Vaughn.
(Page 1 of 4)
Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy To Present Stephen Adly Guirgis’
“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” – Page 2 of 4

Tickets are $10 each for General Admission, and $6 each for Students, Seniors,
Veterans, Faculty and Staff. Group Rates for Groups of 10 or more are also available; please call the Box Office for details. Seating is available at all performances on a firstcome, first-served basis. Tickets may be purchased online at www.goldstarevents.com
or by calling the LACCTA Box Office directly at323-953-4000, ext. 2990. Free Parking for theatergoers is provided in the Heliotrope Parking Lot on Heliotrope Avenue, one block south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the LACC campus. Beverages and light fare refreshments are available for purchase at all performances. To learn more about the
LACCTA, please visit http://theatreacademy.lacitycollege.edu.
The cast is comprised of students in LACCTA’s Advanced Actor Training Program: Eric
Burris will be playing Judas Iscariot, Lewis Blanchard will appear as St. Thomas, Denisha Hill will play Mary Magdalene and Mark Skeens is taking on the role of Sigmund Freud. Theatre
Academy Chairman Fred Fate will be making a rare appearance on the Academy stage, assuming the roles of the Judge and Caiaphus.
Production Personnel include: Fred Fate (Theatre Academy Chair and Producing
Director); Ai Rossi (Director); Kevin Morrissey (Scenic Designer/Production Manager); James
Moody (Lighting Designer/Technical Director); Diane Sisko and Eddie Bledsoe (Faculty
Costume Supervisors); Emma Bowers (Costume Design) Ernie Mondaca, (Sound Designer)
Deena Mullen (Props and Stage Manager Supervisor); Efrain Corona (Scene Shop Supervisor);
Vernon Yonemura (Sound/Lighting Supervisor); Brande Crockett (Stage Manager);
Christian Cole (Assistant Stage Manager); and Kathleen Becket (Theatre Manager).
Ai Rossi (Director, Acting Instructor at LACCTA) has acted in over 200 theatre productions, has dozens of film and TV credits, holds three academic degrees, including a PH.D. in theatre arts, and has written two books about his mentor, Sir Tyrone Guthrie. As a director, he has staged over 100 productions, and directed a series for cable television. In a long and varied career, he has worked with many of the country’s finest actors: Charlton Heston, Hume Cronyn and Jessica
Tandy, Martin Sheen, John Ritter, Paul Winfield, Cindy Williams, Zoe Caldwell, Dean Martin,
Vic Morrow, Delroy Lindo, Blair Underwood, Lynn Redgrave, Alan Alda, Bert Lahr, Ed Asner,
Tony Plana Joan Van Ark, among many others. Among his favorite roles are Richard II, Falstaff,
Prospero, Tartuffe and Salieri in AMADEUS in the classical repertory, and several others in the modern repertory: Starbuck in THE RAINMAKER, Doc in COME BACK LITTLE SHEBA,
Nathan Detroit in GUYS AND DOLLS, Nixon in AMERICAN ILIAD, the title role in
McCARTHY, and the professor in Mamet’s, OLEANNA, which he played periodically during a four year tour of California colleges. “Resilience,” a film in which he plays a leading role, just completed its premiere Los Angeles run, and is now available on DVD.
Kevin Morrissey (Scenic Designer/Production Manager) joined the faculty of Los Angeles City
College in Winter 2005 after teaching for 10 years at University of California, Riverside. Since joining the faculty at LACC, Morrissey has designed scenery for 20 productions, including:
“Bus Stop,” “ Recent Tragic Events,” “Big Love,” “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest” and
“The Brain From Planet X.” A resident of Moreno Valley, CA, he received a BFA degree from
The Theatre School at DePaul University and an MFA degree from Tisch School of the Arts at
New York University. Morrissey has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as a designer for theatre, film, television and industrial production. His most recent credit is as Set
Designer for “Cane,” on CBS, starring Jimmy Smits. Other credits include, Assistant Scenic
Designer for the Emmy Award  -winning production of “Peter Pan” with Cathy Rigby, and Set
Designer for “Elizabethtown,” “Flight of the Phoenix,” “Frasier,” “Becker,” “The Old

Settler,” “Resurrection Boulevard,” “Babylon 5,” “Crusade” and “Ed and His Dead Mother.”
Morrissey is a member of both IATSE Local 847 and Local 829. (more)
Los Angeles City College Theatre Academy To Present Stephen Adly Guirgis’
“The Last Days of Judas Iscariot” – Page 3 of 4
Morrisey has worked extensively in the entertainment industry as a designer for theatre, film, television and industrial production. His most recent credit is as Set Designer for “Cane,” on
CBS, starring Jimmy Smits. Other credits include, Assistant Scenic Designer for the Emmy
Award  -winning production of “Peter Pan” with Cathy Rigby, and Set Designer for
“Elizabethtown,” “Flight of the Phoenix,” “Frasier,” “Becker,” “The Old Settler,”
“Resurrection Boulevard,” “Babylon 5,” “Crusade” and “Ed and His Dead Mother.” Morrisey is a member of both IATSE Local 847 and Local 829.
James Moody (Lighting Designer/Technical Director) has designed over 130 LORT, Equity
Waiver and college productions. He is a member of United Scenic Artist, Local 829 and is also a
Fellow of the U.S. Institute of Technology (USITT), serving on the Board of Directors for over
10 years, and currently serving as V.P. for Lighting. He has won numerous awards for his designs and has written a new theatre book, entitled, the Business of Theatrical Design, preceded by his groundbreaking book, Concert Lighting: Techniques, Art and Business. A resident of
Studio City, CA, he was one of the founders in the field of touring-concert lighting work. He was singled out to receive the first Concert Lighting Design of the Year Award. Moody has worked with music luminaries such as Linda Ronstadt, The Eagles, Electric Light Orchestra,
John Denver and Blondie. Most recently, he received the Distinguished Lighting Designer
Award from The United States Institute of Theatre Technology.
Stephen Adly Guirgis (Playwright) Stephen Adly Guirgis is a playwright, screenwriter, and actor. He has been a member of New York City's LAByrinth Company since 1994. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States. His most recent play,
The Little Flower of East Orange, starring Ellen Burstyn and directed by Philip Seymour
Hoffman, just completed an extended run at The Public Theater. Other plays include Our Lady of 121st Street (10 best plays of 2003; Lucille Lortel, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle
Best Play Nominations), Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train (Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award,
Laurence Olivier Nomination for London's Best New Play), In Arabia, We’d All Be Kings
(2007 LA Drama Critics Best Play, Best Writing Award), and The Last Days of Judas Iscariot
(10 best Time Magazine & Entertainment Weekly), produced by LAByrinth in collaboration with The Public Theater in 2005. Judas just completed a critically acclaimed European premiere in London at the Almeida Theater. All five plays were originally produced by
LAByrinth and directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. They are published by Dramatists Play
Service as well as by Faber and Faber. His one act play, Dominica The Fat Ugly Ho, was directed by Adam Rapp as part of the 2006 E.S.T. Marathon.... Television writing credits include NYPD Blue, The Sopranos, David Milch's CBS drama Big Apple, and Shane Salerno's
NBC series UC: Undercover. Stephen was awarded a 2006 PEN/Laura Pels Award, a 2006
Whiting Award, and a 2004 TCG fellowship. He attended the 2004 Sundance Screenwriter's
Lab, and was named one of 2004's 25 New Faces of Independent Film by Filmmaker
Magazine. He is the recipient of new play commissions from Manhattan Theatre Club, Center
Theater Group, and South Coast Repertory, and is a member of New Dramatists, MCC's
Playwright's Coalition, New River Dramatists, Primary Stages, and The Actor's Studio
Playwright/Directors Unit.

(cont.)
Theatre Calendar Listing:
THE ODYSSEY THEATRE WITH
LOS ANGELES CITY COLLEGE THEATRE ACADEMY
PRESENTS Stephen Adly Guirgis’
DIRECTED BY AL ROSSI
WHO:
WHAT: Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play, “The Last Days of Judas Iscariot”. Ben Brantley of the New York Times describes this play as “set in a time-bending, seriocomically imagined world between Heaven and Hell. THE LAST DAYS
OF JUDAS ISCARIOT is a philosophical meditation on the conflict between divine mercy and human free will that takes a close look at the eternal damnation of the Bible’s most notorious sinner.”
WHERE: The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble. 2055 South Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles,
CA 90025.
WHEN: Performances will be given on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, MAY 14,
15, 16, 21, 22, & 23 at 8:00 p.m. and on Sundays May 17 & 24 at 2 p.m. All performances of THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT will be held at
The Odyssey Theatre located at 2055 South Sepulveda Blvd. Los Angeles, CA
90025.
HOW:
The Odyssey Theatre Ensemble Student Outreach Program with Fred Fate,
Chair and Producing Director of the Los Angeles City College Theatre
Academy (LACCTA) has announced the Theatre Academy will continue its
80 th Annual Season with Stephen Adly Guirgis’ play, “The Last Days of Judas
Iscariot”, featuring Advanced Students of LACCTA’s Professional Actor
Training Program under the direction of Dr. Al Rossi.
Tickets are $25 for General Admission on Thursdays and Fridays and $30 on
Saturdays and Sundays. Student tickets are $15. Tickets may be purchased online at http://www.odysseytheatre.com
or by calling the Odyssey Box
Office directly at 310.477.2055, ext. 2. To learn more about the LACCTA, please visit http://theatreacademy.lacitycollege.edu.
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