Richard Kind, Clea Lewis and Cynthia Stevenson star in the L.A. Theatre Works readings of Peter Ackerman's Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight, ending its run March11 at the Skirball Cultural Center. Performances begin March 7.
Kind is best known for his stint as Paul, the press secretary on "Spin City." Stevenson's TV includes "Cheers" as Norm's obsessive secretary, "Hope & Gloria," "Dream On," and her current role, playing Tracy on Lifetime's"Oh Baby." Lewis, meanwhile, is best known for her portrayal of Audrey in the sitcom "Ellen." She created the role of Grace in Things You Shouldn't Say in its New York premiere and will be joined by her co-star Jeffrey Donovan, who plays Gene.
In Things You Shouldn't Say Past Midnight, three little words, which definately aren't "I love you," set off an argument as Nancy and Ben find their nasty sex has suddenly dissolved into nasty words. Their neighbors are equally involved in messy situations - Grace, who likes to sleep with hitman, has just found Gene, an obsessive-compulsive killer, while Grace's brother Mark reveals his love for Mr. Abramson, a much, much, much older man. Things You Shouldn't Say was the debut effort from Ackerman.
Also in the cast are Alan Mandell and Joey Hunt as Mr. Abramson and Mark.
Gordon Hunt, father of actress Helen, directs. B.J. Ward's Standup Opera is his most recent theatrical venture. His TV credits include the 1997 Director's Guild of America Award for the Best Director of a TV Comedy for the Alan Brady episode of "Mad About You," as well as episodes of "Frasier," "Coach" and "Caroline in the City." All TheatreWorks theatre productions are recorded for future broadcast on Santa Monica College's KCRW 89.9FM and are sold on the L.A. Theatre Works homepage at http://www.latw.org. In the past 11 years, productions have won several awards including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's Gold and Silver Awards, three Sony Awards, the Writer's Guild of America's Best Comedy Award and the 1999 Audie Award for Best Dramatic Production from the Audio Publishers Association.
Tickets are $32-$36. Skirball Cultural Center is located at 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd. For reservations, call (310) 827-0889.
— By Christine Ehren
