George Gaynes & Louise Latham headline 
SPEAKING OF STORIES
Monday, March 25 at the Lobero Theatre

(Santa Barbara) - At 7:30 p.m. on Monday evening, March 25, Speaking of
Stories will present a night of literature to remember at the historic Lobero
Theatre.  Directed by Karin delaPeña, this evening will include highly
acclaimed actor of stage, screen and television, George Gaynes. Gaynes will
read Nobel Prize winning author Gabriel García Márquez's story "Death
Constant Beyond Love." Following a senator on the campaign trail, he
encounters his constituents including one who is a particularly tenacious
soul seeking a reprieve.  The Senator has just met a woman who ignites his
interest, yet he holds a secret that he will die in six short months. 
Márquez's "Magic Realism" genre is generously layered throughout "Death
Constant Beyond Love."  Márquez won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1992,
and currently resides in Mexico City. 

George Gaynes, a resident of Santa Barbara, is best known as the curmudgeonly
Henry Warnimont on the NBC sitcom Punky Brewster which aired from 1984-88. 
His career is rich and varied - from the opera stages of Italy and France to
the sound stages of Hollywood, George has endeared himself to legions of
fans.  Other well-known credits that get him stopped on the street include
all seven Police Academy movies as Commandant Lassard and the egotistical
John Van Horn in Tootsie. Gaynes's daughter Iya Falcone was recently elected
to the Santa Barbara City Council.

Companionship comes in many forms in Katherine Mansfield's first person
story, "The Canary."  Louise Latham, is perfectly cast here as the sweet, yet
eccentric woman who dotes on her little songbird.  Latham made her New York
debut in Major Barbara directed by Charles Laughton and subsequently played
many roles on and off Broadway. This Texan won the DramaLogue's critic award
for her performance in the L.A. production of Sam Shepherd's Lie of the Mind.
 Her TV appearances are many on shows like X-Files, ER, Murder, She Wrote, to
name a few. Film credits include Hitchcock's Marnie, and Spielberg's
Sugarland Express. She recently appeared in the films Best of Families with
Keith Carradine and Crazy From the Heart with
 Christine Lahti. 

Author, Karen Kasaba's story "Views Views Views" will resonate with Santa
Barbaran's as it is placed here in town and is an innocent first-look at
Santa Barbara. It captures the qualities we savor in this part of the
world--from the Channel Islands to the Riviera. This story recently won Santa
Barbara Magazine's first annual fiction contest.  Karen's work as a
screenwriter has earned her multiple awards, including an Emmy nomination. 
Her essays and poetry have appeared in anthologies, magazines and newspapers.
Kasaba's playwriting won her a Sherwill C. Corwin Award.

Reading "Views Views Views" is Speaking of Stories' own, Karin delaPeña. 
Karin is also an award-winning fiction and non-fiction writer herself.  She
has trained and worked professionally for 20 years as an actress, singer and
dancer in London, Paris and Los Angeles.  She has received three Independent
Theatre Awards for directing and acting and has co-produced the PANTO for the
last three years. 

Lance Nichols, brings the Langston Hughes tale "Who's Passing for Who?" to
delightful life.  Written during the "Harlem Renaissance," Hughes' clearly
shaped characters really bend the light.  It's a joke that gets compounded
again and again for the purpose of turning one's perspective on its side to
see if things take on another meaning.  Nichols has been seen in guest
appearances on TV shows ranging from Cheers and Matlock to most recently The
Drew Carey Show, and The Practice.   And that's just a few of them!

Finally, California's favorite son John Steinbeck is represented in this
March edition of Speaking of Stories with "The Chrysanthemums" read by Alison
Coutts, a 14-year member of Ensemble Theatre Company.  A slice of life in the
beautiful Salinas Valley of the 1930s is the setting for "The
Chrysanthemums." It follows the interactions with traveling salesmen of
varying trades and their effect on the landowners who are at the center of
this study.  Flowers take on an allegorical slant, as the care of
chrysanthemums and "planting hands" guide the listener to a well-planted life
and how it's lived. Alison just finished (March 10) working on the critically
acclaimed The Countess at ETC playing Lady Elizabeth Eastlake, the catalyst
to the head-strong title part. This is her third appearance with SoS, having
performed in the 1998 and 1999 seasons.  She has won awards for her acting
from DramaLogue and The Independent.

SPEAKING OF STORIES Featuring: Louise Latham and George Gaynes; Lance
Nichols, Karin delaPeña and Alison Coutts reading the work of Katherine
Mansfield, Gabriel García Márquez, Langston Hughes, John Steinbeck and local
author Karen Kasaba plays one night only at the Lobero Theatre, 33 E. Canon
Perdido St., in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara on Monday, March 25 @
7:30 p.m.  Tickets range from $13 to $27.50.  The Lobero Box Office is open
Monday - Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday from 12 noon to 5 p.m. as well
as two hours prior to all performances. Phone (805) 963-0761 or log onto the
website: www.lobero.com

Upcoming Dates for Speaking of Stories:
April 22    Featuring Robert Guillaume and Rashad El Amin
May 20     Featuring Christina Pickles and Rudolph Willrich
Always on a Monday at 7:30 p.m.

The Lobero is wheelchair accessible and has the Assistive Listing System in
place for patrons who are hard of hearing.

Return to March 25, 2002