LOS ANGELES PREMIERE OF JUKEBOX STORIES OPENS THE [INSIDE] PERFORMANCES SERIES AT THE FORD’S INDOOR THEATRE JUNE 3 AND 10

 Summer series in 87-seat [Inside] the Ford theatre expands to a mix of poetry, spoken word, play readings and sketch comedy by Asian, Pacific Islander and Latino artists

Jukebox Stories mixes the bitingly comic stories of renowned Bay Area playwright Prince Gomolvilas with the sharply observant songs of Brandon Patton covering such diverse subjects as Hooters girls, outlaw family members, beautiful bigots, evil love spells, and real-life ghostly encounters. The performances of Jukebox June 3 and 10 at 1:00 p.m. in [Inside] the Ford mark the show’s Los Angeles premiere.

The presentation is part theatre piece, part live music performance, crafted around a core of a half-dozen stories and songs. The set list for each performance is determined randomly by audience members, who pick titles from boxes and use the titles in a fascinating game of post-modern bingo. Prizes, of increasingly suspect value, are awarded as the show progresses. With new stories and songs constantly added, Jukebox Stories is a continuously evolving, one-of-a-kind experience.

In its world premiere at Berkeley’s Impact Theatre in November-December 2006, the East Bay Express called Jukebox Stories a "endearing...a satisfying blend of humor and poignancy.” The stories and "quirkily smart songs" are "political, personal, funny, biting, sad, raunchy, and above all honest. Jukebox Stories replicates the amiable informality of a gathering of old friends."

The Daily Cal labeled Prince and Brandon "Jukebox Heroes" and declared the show "a delightfully flippant theatrical event that is part high-brow performance art, part drinking game... Jukebox Stories is experimental and smart, occupying a nebulous space between play and musical. Although its genre is hard to pinpoint, Jukebox Stories is a definite artistic success."

The Oakland Tribune described the show as "fun, fresh and decidedly untheatrical... Jukebox Stories is a sturdy piece of post-modern cabaret, and Gomolvilas and Patton nicely fill their roles as hip, urban troubadours."

Tickets, priced at $10, are available at www.FordTheatres.org and 323-461-3673.

The Ford continues its commitment to nurturing Latino and Asian-Pacific Islander theatre in Los Angeles with The [Inside] Performances. The series has concentrated on play readings the past few summers. In 2007 offerings expand to include spoken word, performance art, sketch comedy and full out productions, such as Jukebox Stories.

The series encompasses a total of 10 performances that run through August 25. Performances are at 1 p.m. on weekend afternoons in the Ford’s 87-seat indoor space, [Inside] the Ford. After each event, patrons can congregate for discussion while meeting the artists on the entryway garden plaza, and enjoying live music, snacks and complimentary wine, courtesy of Bodega de Cordova.

Additional artists featured on The [Inside] Performances 2007 season include Guillermo Gomez- Peña, who creates what critics have termed "Chicano cyber-punk performances"; Artistic Director of Cornerstone Theatre Company Michael John Garcés; multi-media performance artist Kristina Wong; writer of the critically-acclaimed plays The Golden Hour and One Nation, Under God, Phillip Chung; Gabriela Lopez de Dennis, who recently participated in Great Leap’s “Collaboratory"; and Luis J. Rodriguez, author of ten books and winner of a PEN award who has emerged as one of the leading Chicano writers in the country.

The [Inside] Performances are presented by the Ford Theatre Foundation through its Community Bridges Program and sponsored by The James Irvine Foundation. Media sponsors for the series are Tu Ciudad and SoCal.com