Charlayne Woodard will close her one woman show, Pretty Fire, June 13 at Los Angeles' Skirball Cultural Center. Performances began June 9. Stuart Robinson directs the piece, which is recorded for future broadcast on Santa Monica College's KCRW 89.9 FM.

Pretty Fire is an autobiographical look at girlhood memories of three generations of her African-American family as they struggle and triumph. Pretty Fire, Woodard's first play, ran Off-Broadway at the Manhattan Theatre Club and at the Seattle Repertory Company, garnering both a Los Angeles Drama Critic's Circle Award and NAACP Awards for Best Play and Best Playwright. Other writings include the Outer Critics Circle Award nominated Neat and an upcoming screenplay for HBO.

Woodard herself was Tony and Drama Desk nominated for the original Broadway cast of Ain't Misbehavin'. Other theatre roles include Maria in Twelfth Night opposite Michelle Pfeiffer, Grusha in The Caucasian Chalk Circle and The Good Person of Setzuan.

Tickets are $32-$28 and available by calling the TheatreWorks box office at (310) 827-0889.

* L.A. Theatre Works was recently honored with a 1999 Audio Award for "Best Dramatic Production" by the Audio Publishers Association. The winning play, Althol Fugard's The Road to Mecca, starred Julie Harris, Amy Irving and Harris Yulin.

-- By Christine Ehren and Willard Manus
Southern California Correspondent