La La Land April 30, 2008

Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Spooky Duck Productions
Present the world premiere of
Christopher Johnson’s

La La Land
Directed by Michael Pigott
From Wednesday 30 April to Saturday 24 May

A Comedy of Aussies in Hollywood

La La Land opens next week at the Darlinghurst Theatre for a limited season

Christopher Johnson, writer of The Young Tycoons, Backpacker!, Barnesy, the Harbour and You and The Dog Logs will return to the Darlinghurst Theatre Company in May with the premiere of the wonderful and witty La La Land an unashamedly excessive comedy of Aussies in Hollywood.

This hilarious depiction of Aussies in Hollywood – and out of their depth - is told with pace, style and verve by an ensemble of local and international actors, including Sean Lynch, Octavia Barron Martin, Sam Smith, Ian Watkin and Drew Fairley. Regular Johnson collaborator Michael Pigott will direct.

“Going to Los Angeles for the first time, Australian actors and directors almost all return with the same story – that it’s overwhelming and can be quite brutal,” says Christopher Johnson. “To me, that naiveté is great grounds for comedy – the innocent abroad, the minnow thrown in with the sharks.”

Terry Swanton gains art-house kudos for his small Australian independent film and gets summoned to Los Angeles by Jimmy Fleishberg, the Greatest Independent Movie Producer In Hollywood. Jimmy’s got Big Ideas for Terry’s new screenplay, and La La Land is a crazy place. Nutty foreign directors, egotistical cult-ridden movie stars, drug dealers with three-picture development deals and abandoned Aussie TV actors are just part of Terry’s sometimes absurd journey into the dream factory known as LA.

Sean Lynch plays Terry Swanton, the budding but naïve and corruptible writer and director thrown into the maelstrom of Hollywood, is himself an award-winning filmmaker, and has been seen in the films The Night We Called it a Day and Ned and onstage in Wilde Tales and The Fire Raisers. Starry-eyed actor Jason Pegler is played by Sam Smith, who’s previous work includes MTV’s Hammer Bay and Michael Pigott’s acclaimed 2006 production of Some Voices.

Drug-and-booze-fuelled egomaniacal movie producer Jimmy Fleishberg is played by cult NZ actor Ian Watkin, whose 31 feature films include Braindead as Uncle Les, Bad Blood, Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Goodbye and Pork Pie, and whose recent stage work includes A Midsummer Night’s Dream for Company B Belvoir and The Tempest for the Sydney Theatre Company.

Octavia Barron Martin is known for other Christopher Johnson productions including The Young Tycoons and his award-winning short films The Game and Saturday Night Newtown Sunday Morning Enmore. Other credits include STC’s production of Influence, the films Looking For Alibrandi and The Honourable Wally Norman and acclaimed TV documentary Who Killed Dr. Bogle and Mrs. Chandler as Mrs. Chandler. Familiar to audiences at the Darlinghurst Theatre Company from his hit comedies Bangers & Mash and No Chance In Hell Hotel is Drew Fairley, who will play the renowned, boozy auteur Moors Van der Pelt.

Christopher Johnson’s play The Young Tycoons recently sold out two seasons at the Darlinghurst Theatre Company in 05/06. His previous plays at the Darlinghurst include Backpacker! Short-listed for the Phillip Parsons Young Playwright of the Year Award in 2004; Barnesy, The Harbour and You 2003, return season in 2004 and The Dog Logs 2001, return season in 2002, which went on to multiple productions around the country and an Australian tour. Christopher came second on Project Greenlight Australia 2006. His screenplay The Guests was short listed for the 2006 inaugural TropFest Feature Program, and his short films have been seen in over thirty international festivals and won four international awards.
For sneak peak click here



Darlinghurst Theatre Company & Spooky Duck Productions
Present

Christopher Johnson’s
La La Land
Directed by Michael Pigott

Starring
Drew Fairley, Markus Hamilton, Sean Lynch, Octavia Barron Martin, Sam Smith and Ian Watkin

From Wednesday 30 April to Saturday 24 May
Darlinghurst Theatre Company
19 Greenknowe Ave Potts Point
Tuesday to Saturday evening 8pm
Sundays at 5pm
Preview Wednesday 30 April 2008
Full $30 Concession $25
Bookings through Darlinghurst Theatre Company
www.darlinghursttheatre.com or (02) 8356 9987

Official Website: http://www.darlinghursttheatre.com