MB Productions in association with Hudson Theatricals presents
Steven Fales in
THE MORMON BOY TRILOGY
Three One-Mormon Plays Performed in Repertory
SIX WEEKS ONLY! April 19 – May 26
CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY — The Original True Story
Off Broadway and West End Hit. Preview Thurs, Apr 19, 8pm
Thurs 8pm, Sat 2pm Press Opening Sun, Apr 22, 2pm
MISSIONARY POSITION — A Coming-of-Age Tale.
The comic prequel. Contains full-frontal nudity Preview Fri, Apr 20, 8pm
Fri 8pm, Sat 5pm Press Opening Sun, Apr 22, 5pm
PRODIGAL DAD — A Manic Memoir Meditation
The dramatic sequel. A World Premiere Preview Sat, Apr 21, 8pm
Sat 8pm Press Opening Sun, Apr 22, 8pm
Special discount of $60 ($30 off!) when seeing all three shows on consecutive nights in the same week or all three shows on a single Saturday. General admission.
Hudson Guild Theatre, 6539 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038 (Valet parking)
“Before THE BOOK OF MORMON there was a MORMON BOY.” In THE MORMON BOY TRILOGY, internationally acclaimed playwright/performer Steven Fales (the original Mormon boy) brings his three autobiographical solo plays together for the first time in repertory, creating a dynamic solo performance event in the spirit of THE “MORMON” CONQUESTS. Any of the shows can be appreciated without needing to see all three. PRODIGAL DAD (Part Three) is a world premiere. The L.A. run of THE MORMON BOY TRILOGY is an out-of-town tryout preparatory to an off-Broadway engagement this fall TBA.
CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY: The Original True Story -- After excommunication, divorce, prostitution and drugs, a sixth-generation Utah Mormon reclaims his kids and ‘Donny Osmond’ smile. Told with humor, song, and The Book of Mormon. 90 min without intermission.
About: A hit off Broadway (SoHo Playhouse 2006), nationally (Chicago, Boston, Atlanta, Houston, Miami, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, etc.), and internationally (Charing Cross Theatre in London’s West End, Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2011, International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival 2008). Originally directed off Broadway by Tony Award Winner Jack Hofsiss, this New York International Fringe Festival phenomenon premiered in LA in 2007 at The Coast Playhouse. Opening soon in Sao Paulo, Brazil in Portuguese. "The best of the solo genre." --LA Times (Critics’ Choice), "As moving as it is funny."--NY Daily News, “Uncommonly powerful.”—Chicago Tribune, “A story that must be told.”–SF Chronicle, “Unforgettable.”—Houston Chronicle, “Feels like a sacred gift.”–Boston Globe, “*****5-stars”--Gay Times London, Brilliantly acted and beautifully written.”—Irish Daily Mail
MISSIONARY POSITION: A Coming-of-Age Tale -- This comedic prequel is based on Elder Fales' journals from his mission to Portugal. A fantastical, crowd-pleasing solo ride that takes audiences further behind the Mormon machine than ever before, including the secret Mormon temple ceremony. Contains full-frontal nudity and Mormon swearing. 90 minutes without intermission.
About: A hit at the New York International Fringe Festival 2010, the play first premiered for an extended run at Celebration Theatre in Los Angeles 2009 and has been performed in Las Vegas, Ft. Lauderdale, and Salt Lake City. "A laugh riot!"-- NYTheatre.com, "Plenty of seduction."--LA Times, "Powerful."--TimeOut New York
PRODIGAL DAD: A Manic Memoir-Meditation – This dramatic world premiere follows Fales as he fights for his life and rights as a father in Utah. As he seeks answers from his Greco-Mormon heritage, he comes face to face with his own demons and his greatest nemesis, shattering family myths and secrets in an underworld where bipolar ghosts and mortals collide. 120 min WITH intermission.
About: Coached by Larry Moss and developed at readings at Abingdon Theatre and TOSOS Theatre in New York. Steven recently gave staged readings at Rising Action Theatre, Ft. Lauderdale and at the United Solo Theater Festival on Theatre Row last fall. This dramatic sequel to CONFESSIONS completes THE MORMON BOY TRILOGY.
STEVEN FALES (actor/writer/producer) recently returned from a highly acclaimed UK tour of CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and at Charing Cross Theatre in London’s West End. He received a NY Outer Critics Circle Award Nomination for Outstanding Solo Performance for CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY off-Broadway, an Overall Excellence Award for Solo Show at the New York International Fringe Festival, and an Oscar Wilde Award Nomination for Outstanding New Writing for the Theatre at the International Dublin Gay Theatre Festival. His book, CONFESSIONS OF A MORMON BOY: Behind the Scenes of the Off-Broadway Hit was a Lambda Literary Award Finalist. His solo work includes THE MORMON BOY TRILOGY (including MISSIONARY POSITION and PRODIGAL DAD), his cabaret MORMON AMERICAN PRINCESS (Joe’s Pub), CULT!, Conversations with Heavenly Mother: An Uncommon Diva, and is working on Joseph III and another cabaret, SONGS OF MY PEOPLE (All My People). Projects currently in development also include: MORMON BOY the documentary film ,memoir, and album; The Mormon Boy Cooking Show; two plays called Sacred Strain and Cleft; a musical called, Saltair.
Other stage credits: Tony Award-winning Utah Shakespeare Festival, Judith Shakespeare Co., Pioneer Theater Co., Coconut Grove Playhouse, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Stages St. Louis, Sundance Theatre, etc. Other credits include talk shows, commercials, mini-series, and series. He has worked with such luminaries as Elaine Stritch, Judy Kaye, Douglas Sills, Len Cariou, Will Swenson, Eden Espinoza, Michael Rupert, Moises Kaufman, etc.
Activism: Fales has helped raised raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charity with his work including The Point Foundation (Lincoln Center Gala Benefit) to Utah AIDS Foundation and Desert AIDS Project, among others. As a public speaker, he recently spoke to the Gay/Straight Alliance at the Phillips Academy Andover including students from Phillips Exeter Academy as well. His episode on Tyra Banks was a GLAAD Media Award Nomination. He has been on Hollywood Extra, BBC Newsnight, NPR radio stations across the country, and many magazine covers.
Training: Fales works privately with acclaimed acting coach Larry Moss (Sutton Foster, Hillary Swank, Leonardo DiCaprio, etc). He holds an MFA in acting from the University of Connecticut and a BFA in musical theatre from The Boston Conservatory/Brigham Young University. He has studied at the American Comedy Institute. Fales leads workshops in solo performances across the country. Member Actors Equity Association since 1998.
Personal: Fales lives in Salt Lake City where he helps raise his two children, attends to his magnet collection and his new, affirming Episcopal congregation, and exports his Oxy-Mormon work from the Rocky Mountains. Mormonboyprod@aol.com
What people are saying about STEVEN FALES:
“A knock-it-out-of-the-ballpark performance. Confronting the ‘demons’ within, and seemingly around him, and ending up such an inspiring example of true self-respect and authenticity left me deeply touched and equally inspired.” — Judith Light
"Steven Fales’s tale of his journey to self-acceptance made me want to jump up in the theatre and holler ‘Amen’! Mr. Fales is a master at his craft. His work is timely and of utmost importance in these days of religious-based intolerance."— Leslie Jordan
"It was wonderful-- the best gay coming-of-age, grappling-with-being piece I've seen since Dan Butler's, and you know there have been a thousand of them ever since his. It's really good." — Bruce Vilanch
"Steven Fales has captured the essence of the gay soul.”— John Duran, Mayor of West Hollywood
"When one can be so moved as to laugh till your jaw hurts, wince with a sorry recognition at the pain distorted religion can inflict, cheer with unashamed abandon at an enviable and inspiring bravery so rarely expressed in the face of certain banishment and ridicule, you know you have had a thrilling and emotionally fulfilling theatrical experience. Bravo, Steven Fales and his Mormon Boy!"— Lucie Arnaz
“Steven is a man of passion and integrity and this radiates out of him as he lives his life as a man of faith. As an ex-Mormon myself, I congratulate Steven for his courage and have no hesitation in recommending him and his story!”— Rev. Neil Thomas, Senior Pastor, MCC LA
“Mormon Boy is a riveting night of theatre. Grounded in the specifics of his own colorful life, it transcends personal revelation by inviting the audience to consider larger issues—the costs of authenticity in a rigid and stratified world. He is a playwright whose work displays great moral courage and daring.”— Julia Cameron, The Artist’s Way
"Steven Fales has taken an archetypal journey through real crucifixion to real resurrection, and he writes about it with great originality, wit, a searing and poignant nakedness, and a knowledge of redemption that will inspire all who come to his work. He is a writer to watch and to learn from."— Andrew Harvey, author Return of the Mother
"If you are interested in human truth expressed with heartbreaking honesty--and great joy and pride--then you do not want to miss Steven Fales."— Doric Wilson, Off-Broadway Legend
"Mormon Boy is an important contribution to the ongoing dialogue about the place of gay men and women in our churches, mosques, and synagogues."— Andrew Brewer, Chairman, Soulforce NYC
"I can’t imagine how many one-man/one-woman shows I’ve seen during my 20 plus years of work in the theatre. Mormon Boy took me somewhere I never could have imagined."— Richard-Jay Alexander, Broadway Director
“Steven Fales is funny, moving, bitchy, wise, and brutally honest. Prodigal Dad might even make you wish he was yours.” “--Al Watt, Founder LA Writer’s Lab, The 90-day Novel
“The subject matter of his performances and their powerful presentation manage to mix oil and water: to be at once intensely personal and broadly social, deeply moving and intellectually provocative, serious in content and genuinely entertaining. His tour de force one-man shows elude easy closure, but instead provoke questions that stay with the spectator long after he or she has left the theater.” –Bob Rosen, Dean Emeritus, UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television
