FEELING LUCKY
A new play by Stephen Fife
Directed by Yuval Shrem
Starring
Courtney Scheuerman
Spencer Weitzel
Tarah Pollock
Eddie Navarro
Story:
A comedy about men and women straddling the elusive line between true love and a broken heart who discover that in the game of love what you see is not always what you get.
(running time: 55 min)
Performances dates:
Sunday, June 9 @ 4:00 PM (preview)
Friday, June 14 @ 8:00 PM (Opening night)
Thursday, June 20 @ 8:30 PM
Sunday, June 23 @ 5:00 PM
Friday, June 28 @ 10 PM
2nd Stage (The Blank Theater)
6500 Santa Monica Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90038
Reviews:
“the Fringe at its best” ; “Artfully directed” ; “cleverly penned and helmed tales told by capable working actors that will captivate.” ; “Playwright Stephen Fife has a peculiar – and very funny – way of looking at today’s relationships, or lack thereof.” ; “His idiosyncratic view of love, loss, and everything in between will delight audiences looking for a well-written fringe view of the world.”
– Elaine Mura – Splash Magazines
“The ensemble (Courtney Scheuerman, Spencer Weitzel, Tarah Pollock and Eddie Navarro) are all excellent comedic actors. They each play several characters throughout the evening, every one well-crafted and comedically pathetic. Eddie Navarro is a particular standout; his highly physical drunken bum is laugh-out-loud funny.“
– Dana Martin – Stage Raw
“To call an evening “charming” can come off as false praise, but it fits very well with Feeling Lucky. The performances are all good, the direction by Yuval Shrem is crisp and funny, and the writing by Fife gives us real stakes and heightened emotions and makes us care about characters in very short order – one walks out of the theater feeling that their own romantic problems (or successes!) are not only understood, but are Universal. And that’s not only heartening, but hopeful.“
– Matt Ritchey – Gia On The Move
“A fantastic evening of original theater. Exceptional writing brought to vivid life by gifted actors and sharp direction.“
– Brian Foyster
“WOW!!! What a treat!! absolutely refreshing and clever. Loved everything about it“
– Davida Sal
Stephen Fife – Playwright
In the professional theater for over 40 years as an actor, playwright, features writer, director, producer, literary manager/dramaturge. Have had 10 plays produced Off-Broadway in NYC and in Los Angeles. An Amazon best-selling author. Have written for the New York Times, Village Voice, New Republic. Was literary manager for Primary Stages Company in NYC for its first four years. My theater memoir BEST REVENGE: How the Theater Saved My Life and Has Been Killing Me Ever Since was published by Cune Press in 2004. The last LA production of his play SAVAGE WORLD at the Met Theater was named one of the best plays of 2008 by Backstage West. He has been an Ovation Voter for 9 of the last 10 years. A member of the EST-LA Playwrights Unit.
Yuval Shrem – Director
Award-winning director, Yuval Shrem, began his professional career in Israel in 1995. Since then Yuval has been creatively involved in numerous television shows, directed critically acclaimed plays, and award-winning film projects.
Following the recent success of his short film THE BABIES on the film festival circuit, with 42 awards and 7 nominations, Yuval has recently wrapped a new film project – INVISIBLE LINES – which is currently in post-production.
In 2009 Yuval became a member of The Actor’s Studio West as a director in the Playwright/Director’s Unit, where playwright Stephen Fife and director Yuval Shrem began their decade long collaboration. Yuval directed the critically acclaimed 2013 Hollywood Fringe production of BLUE KISS by Stephen Fife, and now, in 2019, Yuval is coming back to direct BLUE KISS again with a newly revised version of the script. Additionally, Yuval Shrem is directing FEELING LUCKY, also written by Stephen Fife, and produced as part of the 2019 Hollywood Fringe.
Courtney Scheuerman (Cathy / Alison)
Born and raised in Los Angeles, this green eyed surfer chick began her love affair with performing as a small child. After receiving her degree from UC Berkeley, Courtney began performing Improv comedy with the Groundlings which led her into standup comedy. Her comedy has been featured on NBC’s Last Call with Carson Daly and well as Gotham Comedy Live. She tours nationally opening for Bryan Callen and Bobby Lee and recently performed for the troops over seas in South Korea.
She just finished her second feature with Lions Gate, ‘Zburbs’ which can be found on Amazon and Hulu and is currently in the works for her own project, bringing her standup to the screen.
Spencer Weitzel (Jim / Doug / Bruce / Tom)
Spencer Weitzel is a stage and screen actor who loves working in front of and behind the scenes as a writer, director, and editor (Catch him as a lead in HALLOWEENERS, a web-series where he fills each of these roles). He’s thrilled to return to the fringe festival after a successful run in Urban Theatre Movement’s Urban Unrest in 2017.
To contact him or keep up with artistic endeavors, please visit spencerweitzel.com
Tarah Pollock (Frannie / Megan / Melanie)
Tarah was most recently was on stage at Atwater Village Theater in Élan Ensemble’s inaugural production How We’re Different From Animals, which she also co-produced and helped develop. She is company member of EST/LA, where she met Steve Fife (our playwright) and her shows with that company include: Lost in Time, Watching O.J. (Ovation Nominated), My Jesus Year, Red and Blue, Foolish Angel, & In Search of doG, as well as several development readings. Her other LA Theatre credits include: This Side of Sweetwater (McCadden), Devil and the Deep Blue Sea (Montserrat DTLA), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Downtown Rep), Funky Punks (La Mirada Theater). Hindsight, written and directed by Virtic Emil Brown, a short film she co-produced and acted in, is now making its way to festivals internationally, as well as Gay Baby, written and directed by Kareem Ferguson. She wants to thank her collaborators, community, & rep team for their unwavering support.
Eddie Navarro (Tim / Brian / Sam)
Eddie Navarro is an Actor, Singer-Songwriter, Musician, Writer and Filmmaker.
A true chameleon, he is known to completely transform himself physically and mentally, being able to play an extremely wide range of characters.
On television, you might have seen him on ABC’S Grey’s Anatomy, FOX’s Raising Hope, and CW’s 90210.
Film credits include leading roles in award-winning films such as “Broken Dreams”, “Sun Don’t Shine for Us”, “Blinders”, and “Shadow Theory”, as well as in “22 Willowbrook” which he also wrote the screenplay for, and played the leading role alongside Academy-Award nominee – Eric Roberts, and Richard Tyson.
As a singer-songwriter he writes original folk-rock songs and accompanies himself playing the guitar and the harmonica, playing shows in venues such as The Whiskey A-Go-Go, and The House of Blues.
He is currently in post-production on his first feature film as a writer and co-director – A Plea For Tenderness, in which he also plays the leading role.
Also, check out our other show participating in the 2019 Hollywood Fringe:
BLUE KISS
An SAT tutoring session takes a shocking turn when the teacher realizes that his new student is not who she claimed to be, in this intense nerve-racking drama.
Written by Stephen Fife
Directed by Yuval Shrem
Starring Matt O’Neill and Lovlee Carroll
