The spring season will kick off with Pinkins in Zina Camblin's comic two-hander, And Her Hair Went With Her. The work is presented as a "rolling premiere" with individual productions at the Phoenix Theater in Indianapolis, Horizon Theater in Atlanta, the New Jersey Repertory Company in Long Branch and the Bailiwick Theater in Chicago. The Fountain production runs April 24-June 15.
In Camblin's stage work, "Jasmine owns the beauty parlor and has pretty much settled into her life, while Angie who works there while going to school, is a much more politically active individual," according to press notes. "The interchange of their daily routine provides the foundation for this new comedy. We also meet other customers of the beauty shop, played by the cast of two. The parade of patrons includes idiosyncratic clients, such as blond Chrystal, who decided to become white in the third grade, Keisha, a BOC (black obsessive compulsive) who believes germs are part of a plan to kill off black people, and Debbie, a bright-eyed young actress who tries in vain to get in touch with her tough side."
The West Coast premiere of The Accomplices will fill the Fountain's summer slot. Penned by New York Times reporter Bernard Weinraub, the drama follows Hillell Kook – who under the alias Peter Bergson – led a group of activists to seek aid for the rescue of Jews in Europe. The group encounters unlikely obstacles from the Roosevelt administration and the Jewish establishment. Deborah LaVine will direct the summer production scheduled to run July 2-Aug. 24.
Running Sept. 11-Nov. 2 will be August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean, under the direction of Ben Bradley. Set in 1904, Gem of the Ocean "begins on the eve of the 285th birthday of Aunt Ester (a recurring character in Wilson's play cycle). Citizen Barlow, a man who is in spiritual turmoil, arrives at Aunt Ester's house in Pittsburgh's Hill District and is soon set off on a spiritual journey to find the mythic City of Bones, leading him to startling discoveries and setting him on a course of duty and redemption."
The world premiere of Don Juan in L.A. will cap off the season with dates to be announced. Created by Fountain Theatre co-artistic director Deborah Lawloer, Don Juan in L.A. stars Timo Nunez in a contemporary re-telling of the Don Juan story set to the sounds of Flamenco music within a L.A. nightclub. Tonya Pinkins recently concluded an engagement in the West Coast premiere of As Much As You Can. A Tony Award winner for Jelly's Last Jam, Pinkins was also Tony-nominated for her work in Caroline, or Change – a role she reprised in Los Angeles and London's West End. Pinkins returned to the Broadway stage in last season's Radio Golf, and has appeared in such productions as Merrily We Roll Along, Chronicle of a Death Foretold, Play On! (Tony nomination) and The Wild Party. She is well known to television audiences for portraying Livia Frye Cudahy on the ABC serial "All My Children."
The Fountain currently stages the extended U.S. debut of Athol Fugard's Victory through March 23.
The Fountain Theatre is located at 5060 Fountain Avenue in Los Angeles, CA. For tickets call (323) 663-1525 or visit www.fountaintheatre.com.
