Theater Producer/Director/Promoter Marlan Warren & Award-Winning Solo Performer Sherry Glaser slated to speak at the L.A. Women's Theatre Festival

 

Marlan Warren

Theater Producer/Promoter/Playwright Marlan Warren will speak at the eighth annual Los Angeles Theatre Festival Solo Performer Empowerment Weekend via Zoom, which will run from Friday, Sept. 17 through Sunday, Sept. 19.

On Saturday, Sept. 18, Warren will discuss with fellow panelists and moderators the topics "Successful Marketing for Your Solo Show" (11 a.m. PDT) and "Teamwork Makes the Dream Work" (12 Noon PDT).

Adilah Barnes

Los Angeles Women's Theatre Festival Co-Founder Adilah Barnes described this 3-day event as "career training from industry professionals, designed to give a boost to solo performers, but will also be of value to anyone contemplating online or live theatrical production in Los Angeles and those who wish to tour in these changing times."

"I've admired the L.A. Women’s Theatre Festival for years," said Warren. "It's an honor to be included in this dynamic esteem-building gathering for women in theater."

Warren produced and directed her plays, "Bits of Paradise: Kochiyama's Crusaders" and “Bits of Paradise” in Hollywood and San Francisco respectively. Both focus on a women's campaign behind the barbed wire of the Japanese American Internment of World War II, and feature an Asian cast. She also penned and directed a "women's self-defense" musical, "Hallelujah Whiplash!" at San Diego’s Marquis Public Theatre, and her comedy about New Age female bonding, "Chasing Sangha," was presented at the Athena Cats Festival in Santa Monica.

As a promoter, Warren offers public relations and marketing strategies for entertainers. "It was a pleasure working with the brilliant solo performer, Sherry Glaser,” Warren said, “because she brings ambition and inspiration to any endeavor."

Sherry Glaser

Sherry Glaser

Glaser, whose "Family Secrets" holds the title of the "Longest Running Off-Broadway Women's Solo Show" will speak on the "Empowered Women: Crafting a Solo Career" panel on Sunday, Sept. 19 (3pm PDT).

Founded in 1993 by Adilah Barnes and Miriam Reed, the Los Angeles Women’s Theatre Festival holds the distinction of being the oldest Annual Solo Festival for women in Los Angeles celebrating powerful women performers.

LAWTF is a critically-acclaimed international festival that has produced over 600 extraordinary solo artists from around the globe. LAWTF’s multicultural and multi-disciplined artists represent such diverse disciplines as theatre, dance, storytelling, performance art, performance poetry, spoken word, mime, music, song, aerial performers and more.

For more the full schedule details and info:
LAWTF Website: www.lawtf.org | Call (818) 760-0408

To Register:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/lawtf-virtual-annual-empowerment-week-end-tickets-166196398903

Tuition for the week-end:

$25 until Sept. 3
$30 after Sept. 3

A Zoom link will be sent to those who have completed registration.

For more info: Website: LATWF Website

This event is made possible in part by a Federal stimulus supplement grant administered by the Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs.

Roadmaps for the Sexually Challenged - #Audiobook Installment (Chapter 2, Part 4)

Roadmaps for the Sexually Challenged #Audiobook Installment

https://youtu.be/8AHvDnKs_Vg

"Rainbow showed up with a black eye and a book titled The Verbally Abusive Mate."

Yes! It's the next installment of "Roadmaps for the Sexually Challenged"! If you're an author with a knack for reading your own work, I highly recommend you launch your own audiobook. Here's Chapter 2 (Part 4): "Intentional Households."

Elevator Pitch

On the run from her marriage of 10 years, Carrie has taken a room in a house full of people a couple generations younger in Venice, CA. Take this trip down the Yellow Brick Road of one woman's divorce odyssey, through a tangle of L.A. subcultures and biracial dating experiences -- set against the backdrop of the 1994 O.J. Simpson trial.

This fictionalized memoir is available on #Amazon #Kindle at
 https://amzn.to/2DT7dNH

For more info & reviews:  http://roadmapsforthesexuallychallenged.blogspot.com

View on YouTube

ARTIST/AUTHOR ERIC ABRAHAM INDUCTED INTO RUSSELL HALL OF FAME (Remembering Eric)

Artist Eric Abraham in Kansas [Double Exposure with L.A. Dancers*]
Photo ©Marlan Warren

Congratulations to my friend, the late great sculptor/author Eric Abraham, for your induction into the Russell County Kansas Hall of Fame by the Blue Hills Heritage Foundation of Lucas, Kansas. 

From their Website (where you can read more ):

Eric Joseph Abraham (1936-2013) was an accomplished artist with a national reputation. He was born in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, where his parents illustrated children’s books for the public schools. Eric served in the intelligence division of the U.S. Air Force prior to earning his Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics. In the 1970s, he taught ceramics at several colleges and universities. He created two large fire breathing dragons which were featured presented on the “Today” morning news show and was a featured artisan on the Lynette Jennings Design Show on the Discovery Channel.

REMEMBERING ERIC ABRAHAM

By Marlan Warren

The rest is history—or at least it should be.

—Frongo’s First Car, Eric Abraham

Eric Abraham’s imagination was beyond anything we mortals can imagine. His determination to march to his own drummer and live the life of an artist will always be an inspiration.

I’m very happy to hear that he has been awarded this Hall of Fame honor, and only wish he had lived long enough to see it. Eric’s passing was a shock to all of us because he was such a human dynamo and completely dedicated to constantly making art his profession, as well as his joy.

One of my most outstanding memories of Eric:

While I was living in Lucas between 2004 and 2006, I hosted a writing workshop. Everyone who attended was very talented, but Eric was the only one who wrote beginning pages during our writing session and returned two weeks later with a completed manuscript—Frongo’s First Car—complete with illustrations! His first book.

[NOTE: The wildly imaginative and entertaining Frongo's First Car has been edited by Von Rothenberger, and Eric's daughter and life partner are currently seeking a publisher. They welcome queries from bona fide publishers. Message me for details.]

The tale of how fast Eric could create anything is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to remembering his genius.

The brilliance and discipline that he demonstrated in writing was the same energy that he put into every aspect of his artistic life. I never heard him brag or put people down. He was simply his authentic self—a self that housed a shimmering interior fantasy life that he manifested in three-dimensional sculptures for our viewing pleasure.

Meet Agents & Me: Digital Authors & Indie Publishers #WritersConference (11/9-10)

L.A. Writers Conference Alert! I'm excited to announce that I'll be speaking on expert panels at the Digital Author and Indie Publishing #WritersConference in Los Angeles on Nov. 9 and 10.

Come take advantage of all the information, education, and inspiration you need to succeed as an Indie Author. Plus you can meet and pitch literary agents looking for fresh talent with a polished manuscript.

Is that a Confederate Flag Scarf or Are You Just Happy to See Me?: United Daughters of the Confederacy Tried to "Mend Fences" with Slavery History (2006 Picnic)

UDC Picnic at Pennytown: Photo by Marlan Warren

March 2006: Unpublished Feature for Newspaper in Marshall, Missouri by Marlan Warren
 

United Daugthers of the Confederacy visit first black settlement site in Missouri:

"Our mother told us if there was ever a fire, grab a box of records and run..."

   There isn’t much left of Pennytown anymore. But when Virginia Huston looks at its vacant landscape, she sees more than just meadows, a church and a house. She sees memories that must be preserved.

   Huston was the last person born in Pennytown, a black settlement located eight miles southeast of Marshall that was started by Joe Penny in 19871 when he managed to purchase eight acres for $160.

   “What is unique about Pennytown is that it was started by a freed-slave,” Huston said.

THE POEM OF YES

The Poem of YES

Gave up

Air pressure like an anvil

Forcing me to stop

Lie on floor

Wondering if my heart would stop

Cat there

Flattened

Why go on?

If you can't stand the Heat...

Then what?

A show of hands, please.

Who fucking knows?

Just lying there

Pretending it was good for me.

Then it came to me

After how long I don't know

"THE YES IS WHAT MATTERS"

And I saw

My Week

had too many

No's.

No, you can't do that.

No, I should do that.

No, we don't want that.

No, because she hates us.

No, because we hate him.

No, because I'm afraid of you.

No, because I just

can't.

Then I remembered a text from my friend

sent from his favorite place on Earth:

"I am always happiest when I am here..."

And I felt what it feels like to feel free.

Even just for a moment.

Because you feel loved.

And you are giving love.

You are wanted. And you are glad to be wanted.

I thought, "I need to write this down."

THE YES IS WHAT MATTERS.

I got up.

Rumbling.

Outside rain.

Sun shining.

Thunder.

So so hot still.

But wet.

And the lady across the street

Watering her lawn.

But I made it back.

And I am not afraid anymore.

Marlan Warren, August 2017, Los Angeles, California

Rogue Machine Theatre Hosts Staged Reading of Play by Marlan Warren with Ariel Kayoko Labasan

The work of the Crusaders, although obscure and unknown, was a means by which young people in confinement were able to prove that no physical boundaries could stop them from transcending beyond the 'barbed wires.' - Yuri Kochiyama (aka "Mary Nakahara")#YuriKochiyama
 

At the invitation of Rogue Machine Theatre in Hollywood, "Bits of Paradise: Kochiyama's Crusaders" will be presented as a staged reading on July 19 (3pm and 8pm) and July 20 (8pm). The play, by Marlan Warren in collaboration with Ariel Kayoko Labasan focuses on a women's movement founded by renowned human rights activist Yuri Kochiyama when she was known as 20-year old "Mary Nakahara" and incarcerated in U.S. concentration camps during World War II with her fellow Japanese Americans. Calling themselves "The Crusaders," the girls and women mobilized a morale-boosting letter-writing campaign that ensured that "any soldier missing a letter" would receive mail.

"The performances will be more 'staged' than 'reading,'" explained Warren, who co-produces with Labasan, and directs the play. "Some actors may not be holding scripts, and there will be action sequences, props and costumes."

Warren originally directed and produced "Bits of Paradise" as a Reader's Theater piece at The Marsh Theatre in San Francisco in 2008.

"Bits of Paradise places its footprint on the timeline of a much-needed theatrical examination of the Asian American journey."--Asian Week

Recently, the play was reworked and re-titled "Bits of Paradise: Kochiyama's Crusaders," after Warren joined forces with actor/playwright Ariel Kayoko Labasan, whose solo show, "Yuri Speaks Out!" played to packed houses at the Hollywood Fringe Festival. Labasan will reprise her role as Yuri Kochiyama, portraying the activist from ages 20 to 84.

Yuri Kochiyama Interview 2009 Segment: "What did you do in the War, Mama...

For the first time since I've been working on this film (since Dec 2008) I was finally able to find a way to post a segment to YouTube (7 min.) that shows the actual video. Very grateful to the Movie Maker software I've been able to put onto this aging computer--although there's no way for me to actually edit the footage yet., This helps anyone who is interested or has donated $ to see what the film would include. Here Yuri at age 87 reads missives from the correspondence campaign she led at age 20 from behind the barbed wire of a U.S. concentration camp, to lift the morale of soldiers and in so doing, lift the morale of herself and the women & girls who participated during their World War II incarceration. Won't you please take a look, leave a comment, donate or whatever moves you to do. Thank you! Many blessings! 
Movie Website:
http://tinyurl.com/YuriFilm