The LA Stage Alliance Ovation Voters, a body of theatre professionals selected annually through a rigorous application / interview process by the Ovation Review Committee, has determined through their votes cast on this production that it is ranked in the top 20% of all registered productions in the ‘Overall Production’ category. More information on what it means to be Ovation Recommended can be found HERE.
Playwright Donald Margulies has been quoted as calling his Pulitzer Prize-winning play Dinner With Friends, “a rueful comedy.” The story is not just a thoughtful study on divorce, but a turbulent meditation on the minefield of middle age. Gabe and Karen, a happily married couple, have been friends with married couple Tom and Beth for many years. While having dinner at Gabe and Karen’s home one night, Beth tearfully reveals that she is getting a divorce from Tom, who has been unfaithful.
The unfolding story is not the divorce, but the shockwaves it causes in its wake. Over the course of the play, we witness the effects of Tom and Beth’s breakup on Gabe and Karen, who first feel compelled to choose sides, and then begin to question the strength of their own seemingly tranquil marriage. The play exposes the same, universal insecurities that people face every time there are shattering changes in their lives. Margulies’ characters are real. They are normal. They are family, friends, and the people next door. They are people facing their fears.
Contains Adult Content & Language.
Cast
KEVIN WEISMAN
KEVIN WEISMAN is thrilled to return to
La Mirada Theatre, where he appeared as “Uncle Louie” in last season’s production of Lost In Yonkers. Kevin is recognized around the world for his work as Marshall Flinkman on the hit series, "Alias," which ran for 5 seasons on ABC. He received a BA from UCLA’s Theatre/Film/Television and studied at New York’s Circle in the Square Theatre.
A founding member of the award-winning Buffalo Nights Theatre Company, Kevin’s stage credits include the lead role of Griffith J. Griffith in Crazy Drunk at the John Anson Ford Theatre, the title role in Arthur Schnitzler’s Anatol, the West Coast premiere of Jonathon Marc Sherman’s Sophistry, Apollo of Bellac, J.B, Suburban Motel and Incident at Vichy. Other theatre credits include Tis Pity She’s a Whore, The Greeks, and The Goldoni Trilogy at the Mark Taper. Additional TV credits include "CSI: Miami," "Human Target,", "The Forgotten," "Miami Medical," "CSI: NY," "Numbers," "The X-Files,", "Chuck," "October Road," "Moonlight," "Ghost Whisperer," "Felicity," "Roswell," "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Frasier" and, "E.R."
Weisman produced and acted in the 2006 release, Illusion, starring screen legend Kirk Douglas. Other films include Disney’s Space Buddies, Kevin Smith’s Clerks II , B.O.H.I.C.A., Gone in 60 Seconds , and Slamdance Audience Award winner, Man of the Century . Upcoming projects include Undocumented, in which he stars as a member of a documentary film crew that is captured by a gang of sadistic radicals when accompanying a group of illegal immigrants crossing the border, and Flipped, directed by Rob Reiner, in which he co-stars as Aiden Quinn’s mentally challenged brother. Kevin has also been busy in the burgeoning world of internet content, recurring in Level 26: The Dark Chronicles, written and directed by CSI franchise creator, Anthony Zuiker. He just completed .comEDY, written and produced by Brian Ford Sullivan, the CEO/Owner of TheFutonCritic.com.
MELANIE LORA
MELANIE LORA is thrilled to be working on another Donald Margulies play after appearing as Lisa in Collected Stories last spring at South Coast Repertory. She has played in numerous LA theatres including the Ahmanson (Dead End), Geffen (Ohmland Live), Getty Center (Freshwater), Odyssey Theatre (Taking Steps), Antaeus Company (American Tales, Zastrozzi, The Rover), Evidence Room (Red Light Green Light), Actors' Gang ( The Seagull Garland Award Nomination Best Actress, Orlando, Embedded)" , Theatre of Note (Marat Sade) and others. Regional credits include Laguna Playhouse (Many Happy Returns), the Avo Playhouse (Arms and the Man), South Coast Rep. Film/TV includes: Sons of Anarchy, Castle, Call Me (MOW), Numbers, GIlmore GIrls, United States of Leland, The Appearance of Things, Noise, Self Storage, the upcoming Callers,and the webisode series Hastings Consulting. Member of the Antaeus A2 company, Pacific Stages, and the Actors' Gang.
PATRICK FABIAN
PATRICK FABIAN is very pleased to be making his La Mirada Theatre debut. Last seen onstage in Los Angeles in Diva (Pasadena Playhouse/David Lee, dir.) New York City; Humpty Dumpty (McCarter Theatre/Jo Bonney, dir.) The Food Chain (Westside Theatre/Robert Falls,dir.) & Six Degrees of Separation (Nat'l Tour, Jerry Zaks, dir.) Recent TV credits include "The Mentalist", "Burn Notice" & "NCIS" as well as playing 'Ted Price' on the last two Seasons of HBO's "Big Love". Can be seen in the upcoming "Rizzolli & Isles", "Gigantic" and late this summer at the movies starring as the exorcIst in Lionsgate's "The Last Exorcism".
CATE COHEN
CATE COHEN was most recently seen in It's Just Sex at the Zephyr Theatre. Other theatre credits include: Short Stuff , JB (Buffalo Nights), The Secret of Irreplaceable Lust (Public Theater), Infinite Cages, I Hate Hamlet, and The Will Rogers Follies (National Tour). Recent TV and Film credits include: Gods of Circumstance (Best Actress, British Film Festival), Without a Trace, According to Jim, and Moonlight. Her critically-acclaimed one-woman show, Out of Line, was based on her years dancing with the Radio City Rockettes.Cate received her B.A. in Theater from UCLA and is a member of the Buffalo Nights Theater Company.
DONALD MARGUILES
(Playwright) Plays include: Brooklyn Boy (South Coast Repertory; Manhattan Theatre Club/Biltmore Theatre; Outer Critics’ Circle Award nominee; American Theatre Critics’ Association Best Play Award finalist); Dinner With Friends (2000 Pulitzer Prize for Drama; Outer Critics', Lucille Lortel, and Dramatists Guild/Hull-Warriner Awards; Drama Desk nominee); Sight Unseen (South Coast Repertory; Manhattan Theatre Club/Orpheum Theatre (1992); MTC/Biltmore Theatre (2004); Obie Award; Hull-Warriner Award; Drama Desk nominee; Pulitzer Prize finalist); Two Days (Long Wharf Theatre); God of Vengeance (based on Sholem Asch's 1906 Yiddish classic; Williamstown Theatre Festival; A Contemporary Theatre, Seattle); Collected Stories (HB Studio/Lucille Lortel Theatre; MTC; South Coast Repertory; Los Angeles Drama Critics' Circle Award; L.A. Ovation Award; Drama Desk nominee; Dramatists Guild/Hull-Warriner finalist; Pulitzer Prize finalist); The Model Apartment (Primary Stages; Obie Award, Drama Desk nominee; Hull-Warriner finalist); The Loman Family Picnic (MTC; Drama Desk nominee); What's Wrong With This Picture? (MTC; Jewish Rep; Brooks Atkinson Theatre); Found A Peanut (New York Shakespeare Festival/Public Theatre); Broken Sleep: Three Plays (Williamstown Theatre Festival); JULY 7, 1994 (Actors Theatre of Louisville/Humana Festival); Pitching to the Star (West Bank Cafe). 2000 Sidney Kingsley Award for outstanding achievement in the theatre by a playwright. 2005 American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. 2005 National Foundation for Jewish Culture Cultural Achievement Award. Adjunct Professor, Yale University. Council member, Dramatists Guild of America.