Farragut North arrives; Avenue Q auditionsat Westchester Playhouse this weekend

As we have all seen in the unsettling world of politics, no trick is too dirty, no lie is too outrageous, no spin is too ingenious if it gets your candidate over the top, including the dirty tricks and brutal backstabbing of those conducting the spin war for aspiring presidents as they attempt to reignite our tapped-out passion for political one-upmanship. FARRAGUT NORTH, opening Friday, Sept. 8 presented by Kentwood Players at the Westchester Playhouse, is a 2008 political thriller written by (“House of Cards”), loosely based on former Gov. Howard Dean’s 2004 Democratic primary election campaign for U.S. president. Set in Des Moines in the weeks leading up to Iowa’s statewide caucuses, the play is “a classic tale of hubris set against a contemporary landscape – about the lust for power and the costs one will endure to achieve it.”

The political thriller, which had its West Coast Premiere at the Geffen Playhouse in 2009, may not be able to compete with the stranger-than-fiction cast of our recent election battle or offer us any stop-the-presses scoops about our presidential campaign culture, but it does capture the frenzied scheming and counter-scheming of would-be Washington kingmakers.

“Farragut North” is directed by Sherry Coon and produced by Lynn Gutstadt and Jenny Boone for Kentwood Players with rights secured from Dramatists Play Service. Featured in the cast in alphabetical order are Philip Bartolf, Nicholas Dostal, Mikki Hernandez, Manfred Hofer, Philip Iadevaia, Tiana Randall-Quant and Brian Patrick Roach.

Performances take place from Friday, Sept. 8 through Saturday, Oct.14 on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. at the Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Ave,. Westchester. There will be a complimentary pre-show champagne and dessert reception between 7-7:30 p.m. for season subscribers and their guests attending the Saturday, Sept. 9 performance. Reserved seat tickets are $20 with a $2 discount for seniors and students. For tickets, call 310-645-5156 during box office hours, Wednesday through Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m.

 

For more information about “Farragut North” and to purchase tickets online, please visit the Kentwood Players website at kentwoodplayers.org or their Facebook and Twitter pages. On all three sites, you can also find information about the group’s upcoming open auditions this weekend on Saturday, Sept. 9 and Sunday, Sept.10 for the outrageous musical “Avenue Q” directed by Susan Goldman Weisbarth, including what is required for those auditioning. Please email AvenueQ@kentwoodplayers.org with any questions.

To meet the “Farragut North” and “Avenue Q” production teams and learn more about Kentwood Players and what goes on at the Westchester Playhouse where new members are always welcome to join and volunteer in all aspects of their six productions per year, the public is invited to attend membership meetings, which are free and held on the third Wednesday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the Westchester Playhouse, 8301 Hindry Ave., Westchester. Complimentary refreshments are served after the meeting.