Contact: Cathy Johnson or Susan Claassen 1400 N. First Ave, Tucson, AZ. 85719 www.invisibletheatre.com (520) 884-0672 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE THE INVISIBLE THEATRE Presents A 40 th Anniversary Special Event FIRST TAKES Play Reading Series Made possible in part through the generous support of Doug and Laura Mance WHERE: Invisible Theatre 1400 N. First Ave at Drachman Tucson, AZ 85719 WHAT: THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS JEFFERSON, CHARLES DICKENS AND COUNT LEO TOLSTOY by Scott Carter December 6 & 7, 2010 LOOK MA, WE’RE DANCING by Janet Neipris December 10 & 12, 2010 WETBACK by Elaine Romero December 11 & 12, 2010 TICKETS: $10 or the 3 play series for $20 Call (520) 882-9721 for reservations and information RUSH TICKETS : One half-hour prior to curtain for any scheduled performance, tickets are available for half price, subject to availability November 16, 2010, Tucson, AZ; Three playwrights will be at the Invisible Theatre to celebrate four decades of new play development! Each of the “First Takes” playwrights has a distinct place in the history of the Invisible Theatre. Scott Carter, a major part of the IT’s first ten years, represents the commitment of the Invisible Theatre’s founding directors to new plays. Janet Neipris and Elaine Romero are prominent American playwrights who have been associated with the IT for the past three decades. In the Invisible Theatre’s 40 year history, nearly 100 plays have either had world premieres, readings, or are under development for future productions. THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS JEFFERSON, CHARLES DICKENS AND COUNT LEO TOLSTOY By Scott Carter WHEN: December 6 and 7, 2010 at 7:30 pm DIRECTOR: Scott Carter CAST: Roberto Guajardo, William Hubbard and Jeff Scotland RUNNING TIME: 2 hours, which includes a post show discussion with Scott Carter THE STORY: The life and teaching of history’s most noted figure is delightfully debated by three men who are almost as famous as He was. LOOK MA, WE’RE DANCING By Janet Neipris WHEN: December 10, 2010 at 8:00 pm and December 12 at 3:00 pm DIRECTOR: Gail Fitzhugh CAST: Susan Claassen, Amy Gallegos, David Johnston, Susan Kovitz and Burney Starks RUNNING TIME: 2 hours, which includes a post show discussion with Janet Neipris THE STORY: This new comedy by Janet Neipris, author of NATIVES, is about sibling rivalry gone awry and two sisters who still fight for attention from their long, deceased mother. WETBACK By Elaine Romero WHEN: December 11, 2010 at 8:00 pm and December 12, 2010 at 7:30 pm DIRECTOR: Betsy Kruse Craig CAST: Harold Dixon, Alida Gunn, Rachel Lacy, Sean MacArthur, Ericka Quintero, Julio Saucedo and Mike Yarema RUNNING TIME: 2 hours, which includes a post show discussion with Elaine Romero THE STORY: The play charts the intertwined fates of a privileged Latina high school principal and the Mexican undocumented worker who she fires to protect her job. 2 ABOUT THE PLAYWRIGHTS Scott Carter is the Executive Producer/Writer for “Real Time With Bill Maher” which has just been renewed through 2011 on HBO. He produced the first 1,100 episodes of “Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher,” from its 1993 Comedy Central debut to its 1997 move to ABC. While at “Politically Incorrect” producer/writer Carter won eight Emmy nominations and three consecutive CableAce Awards for Best Talk Series. In 1997 Variety named him one of “50 Creatives To Watch.” In 2007, he won the Producers’ Guild Of America’s Johnny Carson Award for “Real Time.” In 2000, Carter left “Politically Incorrect” for Oxygen Media to serve as Executive Producer for two seasons of “Exhale With Candice Bergen.” He also produced “Conversations From The Edge with Carrie Fisher: George Lucas” from Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and “Oxygen Forum: Al Gore,” a live 90-minute town hall in 2000. He also created “The Conspiracy Zone with Kevin Nealon” for what is now SpikeTV. He was Co-Executive Producer/Co-Head Writer for “Earth To America,” a two hour special on TBS in 2005. He also served for two seasons as Co-Creator, Executive Producer/Writer for “Lewis Black’s Root Of All Evil” on Comedy Central. Carter began his TV career as a writer for MTV’s “Mouth To Mouth” in 1988. He then served as producer/writer for three other Comedy Central projects produced by HBO Downtown Productions: “Night After Night With Allen Havey” (1989-92), “SportsMonster” (1990-91) and “The Olympiacs” (1992). Carter performed stand-up regularly through the 1980’s in major comedy clubs across the country including The Comic Strip, The Original Improvisation, Catch a Rising Star, and The Comedy Store. He has also written two full-length monologues (“Heavy Breathing” and Suspension Bridge”) which he’s performed at The Edinburgh (Scotland) Fringe Festival, The U.S. Comedy Arts Festival, Garry Marshall’s Falcon Theatre, Michael Patrick King’s Arcade, The HBO Workspace, Primary Stages, Manhattan Punch-line, Dixon Place, The Cleveland Performance Festival, The Skirball Cultural Center and The Murphy’s Cat Laughs Festival (in Kilkenny, Ireland). A staged reading of his full-length play, “The Gospel According to Thomas Jefferson, Charles Dickens and Count Leo Tolstoy” was given by Largo At The Coronet in Los Angeles in July and will be presented at the Invisible Theatre on December 6-7, 2010. Carter was raised in Tucson, Arizona. He attended the University of Arizona and, last year, was inducted into The University of Arizona Wildcat Hall Of Fame. He lives in Los Angeles with his wife Bebe and daughters Calla and Collette. 3 Elaine Romero has found grist for her plays in an uncharted life. Elaine saw Disneyland with the King of Zululand when he and his entourage stayed with her family during his honeymoon. She learned Transcendental Meditation from a guru who imparted her mantras from a make- shift altar fashioned from the family toilet. As a grad student in Paris, Elaine found herself with Mother Teresa, in the awkward position of handing out ham sandwiches to non-pork eating Muslims . Walk into the Sea was presented at the Goodman Theatre as part of their Latino Theatre Festival. Something Rare and Wonderful recently premiered at the Alley Theatre. Barrio Hollywood was performed at Orlando Shakespeare Theatre. Acting Editions in English and Spanish are available with Samuel French. Elaine’s recent commissions include the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts ( Xochi: Jaguar Princess ), Alley Theatre, and InterAct Theatre Company ( The Dalai Lama is Not Welcome Here ). Other commissions include Magic Theatre/Sloan ( Walk into the Sea ), ONU ( Undocumented), Curious Theatre Company ( Rain of Ruin ), and Zachary Scott Theatre ( Alicia ). She participated in the Sundance Playwrights’ Retreat at Ucross, Playwrights’ Center’s New Plays on Campus Program ( Like Heaven) , the Texas State Black & Latino Playwrights Conference (Before Death Comes for the Archbishop , Kenny Leon, director), and Arkansas Repertory’s Voices at the River . Elaine completed NBC’s Writers on the Verge Program and CBS Diversity Institute’s Writer’s Mentorship Program, both in L.A. She received the Arizona Commission on the Arts Playwriting Fellowship, TCG/Pew National Theatre Artist in Residence grant ($100,000), the NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Program for Playwrights grant, Los Angeles Film School Scholarship, Sprenger-Lang New History Play Contest, Tennessee Williams One-Act Play Award, and The Chicano/Latino Literary Award. Elaine’s plays ( Barrio Hollywood, iCuranderas! Serpents of the Clouds, Walk into the Sea, Something Rare and Wonderful, Alicia, Undocumented, Secret Things, The Fat-Free Chicana and the Snow Cap Queen, Undercurrents, Day of Our Dead, If Susan Smith Could Talk ) have been developed and produced at such theatres as Actors Theatre of Louisville, Alley Theatre, Goodman Theatre, Playwrights' Center, the Magic Theatre, the Ford Amphitheatre, New Theatre, Arizona Theatre Company, Curious Theatre Company, Bloomington Playwrights Project, Kitchen Dog Theatre, Urban Stages, INTAR, the Playwrights’ Center, Women’s Project and Productions, the Working Theater, Su Teatro, the Lark Theatre, San Diego Repertory Theatre, Borderlands Theater, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, and Miracle Theatre. Publishers include Samuel French, Vintage Books, Playscripts, Smith and Kraus, Heinemann Press, University of Iowa Press, UA Press, Wings Press, Simon and Schuster, Bedford/St. Martin’s Press, Arte Publico Press, Alaska Quarterly Review, Ollantay Theater Magazine, Poems & Plays, American Theatre Magazine, The Journal of American Drama and Theatre, Rosebud Magazine, Tucson Guide Quarterly, Tucson Weekly. Elaine has taught at Linfield College and the University of Arizona. She has been a Guest Artist at the Mark Taper Forum, Denver Center Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, and CBS Television City. She has served as a judge for TCG, NEA, and the Kennedy Center. Playwright-in-Residence at the Arizona Theatre Company, Elaine co-chaired the National Association of Independent Producers National Conference in Dana Point, California. Elaine is ever grateful that she can stand on her head. 4 Janet Neipris has had plays produced at major theatres in the U.S. and internationally, including the National Theatre, London, Manhattan Theatre Club, N.Y., The Women’s Project, Manhattan Punch Line, Goodman Theatre, Chicago, Arena Stage, Washington, Studio Theatre, Washington, Center Stage, Baltimore, Pittsburgh Public Theatre, Milwaukee Rep., and the Annenberg Center, Philadelphia. Her award winning play, A SMALL DELEGATION, was named one of the best plays of the year by The Philadelphia Enquirer (Annenberg Center Production), one of the best plays of 1999 by women (Studio Theatre, D.C. production) and was produced throughout the U.S. and Beijing. in addition, she is the author of STATUES, EXHIBITION, THE BRIDGE AT BELHARBOUR, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, SUNDAY AT FIVE ON THE COTE D’AZUR, ACTS OF LOVE, OUT OF ORDER, 703 WALK HILL, ALMOST IN VEGAS, NOTES ON A LIFE (music and lyrics) and AFTER MARSEILLES.