TROG! -a deliciously wicked parody of Joan Crawford's last film August 18, 2006

“If I weren’t a Christian Scientist, and I saw TROG advertised on a marquee across the street, I think I’d contemplate suicide.” Joan Crawford

Matthew Martin
Mike Finn in

TROG!
Limited Engagement
Theatre Rhino in SF
Directed by Matthew Martin

‘Make It So’ Productions presents...TROG!, a side-splitting parody of the cult film TROG (1970) which starred Joan Crawford in her last film role. This larger-than-life production stars Matthew Martin, one of the hardest-working performers in theatre today in the Joan Crawford role, Trannyshack’s Heklina as her daughter Ann, and actor Mike Finn, a trained circus performer, who will play the role of TROG, half man, half ape. The show is directed by Matthew Martin.

Set for a Summer run starting August 18th in San Francisco at Theatre Rhino, the world’s oldest LGBT theatre company. 2926 16th Street between Mission and South Van Ness.

Performance times are Wed. - Sat. 8:00 pm and Sundays at 3:00 pm.

Super scientist Dr. Brockton (Matthew Martin) and a student (Kai Brothers) capture TROG (Mike Finn), a cave-dwelling half man/half ape creature and bring it back the laboratory to study in the hopes that this ‘missing link’ will provide invaluable information on man’s evolution. Dr. Brockton’s daughter and lab assistant Ann (Heklina) cares for TROG and bonds with the gentle subject. Brockton’s curiosity and scientific interest is not shared by Dr. Murdock (Michael Sousa), the local curmudgeon and anti-intellectual who would rather kill the monster first, then study it’s hide. Played with earnest seriousness that today borders on camp, the story is part ‘Frankenstein’, part ‘Miracle Worker’, part schlock. Our adaptation plays it for big laughs while skewering grade B horror flicks and Miss Crawford's film career. Pure camp glee!

MATTHEW MARTIN (Dr. Brockton / Director) is a well-known face in San Francisco’s theatre scene for his chameleon-like impersonations of a host of Hollywood stars from Katherine Hepburn, to Peggy Lee to Ann Miller and Judy Garland. Matthew has appeared in numerous productions conjuring Bette Davis, most recently in Theatre Rhino’s production of AWE ABOUT EVE, as well as productions of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BB JANE? At the Victoria Theatre, The Star at the Cable Car Theatre, and Eve, an original musical based on the film ALL ABOUT EVE, and last summer’s smash comedy HUSH UP, SWEET CHARLOTTE, both at the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre. He has also incarnated the likes of Katherine Hepburn, Jane Russell, Ann Miller, Peggy Lee, Susan Hayward and many other Hollywood legends in Marc Huestis’ Castro Theatre extravaganzas and in his many performances in San Francisco’s longest running variety show VIVA VARIETY, as well as in his own two-man show BOYZ TO BROADZ. Matthew was featured in Jeffrey Hartgrave’s CARVED IN STONE at the Eureka Theatre, and John Fisher’s QUEER THEORY at the Exit Theatre, as well as the NY Fringe Theatre Festival. Matthew has appeared in CHRISTMAS WITH THE CRAWFORDS in LA, NY, & SF. A man of many faces and voices, Matthew starred as SIRENA, QUEEN OF THE TANGO and played three characters in Theatre Rhino’s 2004 Christmas production of THE MAN WHO CAME TO DINNER.

MIKE FINN (Trog / Writer) has been a circus arts performer for 25 years having grown up in the One Wheel Wonders, a unicycle trick riding family act. He has a background in musical theater and television, and is a former member of Potrzebie Dance Project. He worked as script doctor for the feature film "NO-ONE SLEEPS", and as a commercial writer for Front Burner Film Co. His most recent appearance was in Varla Jean Merman’s UNDER A BIG TOP at the Victoria Theatre.

HEKLINA (Ann) is the hostess, producer, and creator of TRANNYSHACK, San Francisco’s longest running drag performance nightclub, now in it’s tenth year. She has been seen on the E! Entertainment Network, VH1, “Playing it Straight”, Comedy Central’s “THE DAILY SHOW”, BBC Television’s “AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 RAVES”, the Scissor Sister’s “FILTHY GORGEOUS” video, and as a guest on the Jerry Springer and Ricki Lake shows. She was voted Community Grand Marshal of the 2004 San Francisco GLBTQ Pride Parade, and, most recently, was the subject of two documentaries in the 2005 Frameline SF Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

MICHAEL SOUSA (Dr. Murdock) most recently played Dr. Drew Bayliss in HUSH UP, SWEET CHARLOTTE. He has appeared in several productions on the East Coast, including Aurthur Miller's ALL MY SONS, as Eugene in Neil Simon's BROADWAY BOUND and as Mozart in AMADEUS. Locally he has performed his one-man piece about Dylan Thomas and is also a Bay area voice talent.

KAI BROTHERS (Malcolm) Kai Brothers most recently played John Mayhew in HUSH UP, SWEET CHARLOTTE. Some of his Bay Area theatre credits include Sir Studly in ONCE UPON A MATTRESS", Diesel in "WEST SIDE STORY" and Will Parker in "OKLAHOMA" as well as roles in "THE MIKADO", "MAME", and "PROMISES, PROMISES" and playing Tommy, a Southern belle in his own right, in "THE NORMAL HEART".

Official Website: http://www.makeitsoproductions.org