DRAMA, DENTISTRY DRIVE VALLEY COUPLE.Byline: Dana Bartholomew Staff Writer Winds howl. Doors creak creak intr.v. creaked, creak·ing, creaks 1. To make a grating or squeaking sound. 2. To move with a creaking sound. n. A grating or squeaking sound. . A shriek shriek - exclamation mark splits the dark. And an unspeakable menace hovers among the gravestones. Behind the part-Halloween, part-Christmas ghost play ``The Woman in Black'' - a North Hollywood-based stage production up for seven Ovation Awards Established in 1989, the Los Angeles Stage Alliance Ovation Awards are a major Southern California award for excellence in theatre with is held each November. The Ovation Awards are the only peer-judged theatre awards in Los Angeles. Called the "... tonight - is a husband-and-wife dental team from Topanga Canyon. ``The horrors, oooh yeah,'' said Elizabeth Herron, assistant director of the play, who with her husband, Christopher - its producer - practices the drills at Warner Center Dental in Woodland Hills before a weekend show. ``By day, I can scare people in the chair with my drill - and at night I can scare them with my productions.'' ``The Woman in Black,'' a tale of one man's curse and another man's melodrama, has been nominated for best production, best director, two best leading actors, best sound, best lights and best set in the Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. Stage Alliance Ovation Awards hosted by Lily Tomlin Lily Tomlin (born September 01, 1939) is an Academy Award-nominated American actress, comedian, writer and producer. Tomlin's body of work, which has spanned over 40 years, has garnered her several Tony Awards and Emmy Awards, as well as a Grammy Award. at the Orpheum Theatre downtown. The Road Theatre Company chiller chill·er n. 1. One that chills. 2. A frightening story, especially one involving violence, evil, or the supernatural; a thriller. chiller Noun 1. , directed by Ken Sawyer, has won numerous awards and topped critics' picks, turning an eight-week run into nine months of sold-out performances at a 99-seat theater in North Hollywood. And in an odd cultural reversal, the San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. production was exported over the hill this fall, where it has forced audience members to the edge of their chairs at the Coronet Theatre in West Hollywood. ``Welcome to the big leagues,'' said Chris Herron, 52, before a weekend performance that had playgoers gasping. Added Liz: ``Going head to head with the Geffen (Theatre), Mark Taper (Forum), the Odyssey (Theatre), Pasadena Playhouse, we are bringing culture from the Valley to the Westside, hands down.'' ``What's great (about this play) is that it appeals to so many people, 11- and 12-year-olds, screaming, covering their faces,'' said Sawyer, 32, of Studio City, who sneaked into R-rated movies like ``The Shining'' as a kid, and stayed up all night in the dark, terrified ter·ri·fy tr.v. ter·ri·fied, ter·ri·fy·ing, ter·ri·fies 1. To fill with terror; make deeply afraid. See Synonyms at frighten. 2. To menace or threaten; intimidate. . As for the Herrons, he said, ``I love 'em - one day, during rehearsal, (Liz) had just cleaned my teeth.'' Chris, a onetime college wrestler, met Liz, an aspiring actress, while both studied for dental careers at the University of Washington. Soon they were drilling and polishing teeth from the wharves Structures erected on the margin of Navigable Waters where vessels can stop to load and unload cargo. Cities located on lakes, rivers, and oceans usually have at least one wharf, where ships can deliver and pick up passengers and load and unload various types of goods. of Washington state to the Alps of Switzerland. And in eerie tandem with the hit art movie, ``The Secret Lives of Dentists,'' Chris found himself doting dote intr.v. dot·ed, dot·ing, dotes To show excessive fondness or love: parents who dote on their only child. [Middle English doten. on their 10-year-old daughter Katie while Liz pursued a night life on the stage - sans any potential infidelities. ``It's a little close for comfort,'' said Chris, the checkbook behind the play's move to the Coronet. ``I'm the guy who sits in the back, doesn't talk a lot. I'm not a thespian. I'm a supporter. I'm a dad, a cook and a damn good dentist.'' Liz, a Rene Russo look-alike, also prides herself on her mastery of molars. But the Boise native also got the bug for the theater. After performing United Service Organization tours in college, she went on to study theater in New York There are many famous theaters in New York, most notably the Broadway theatres in New York City.
The auburn-haired mom was soon rising from her dental chair in Woodland Hills to the stages of North Hollywood, playing leading mamas in five plays while Chris wore the apron at home. In one production, ``Our Town,'' their daughter Katie starred as - her daughter. ``The Woman in Black,'' Stephen Mallatratt's two-man adaptation of a novel by Susan Hill set in a starkly haunted seaside house, has played 14 years in London. Staged in the depths of an abandoned English theater, Mr. Kipps (played by Joe Hart) fights to be rid of a horrible curse by hiring The Actor (played by Paul Witten) to tell his gruesome tale. But the borders of 1940s make-believe and reality soon begin to merge. It's a ``true story of haunting, evil, confusion and tragedy that should not be told around the table Christmas Eve,'' The Actor declares during an opening scene. In Sawyer's and the Herrons' production, stuffed into a converted dance studio in the eves of the Coronet, the terror is magnified by a dilapidated backdrop of dusky curtains, cobwebs cob·web n. 1. a. The web spun by a spider to catch its prey. b. A single thread spun by a spider. 2. Something resembling the web of a spider in gauziness or flimsiness. 3. , crooked frames and ghoulish ghoul n. 1. One who delights in the revolting, morbid, or loathsome. 2. A grave robber. 3. An evil spirit or demon in Muslim folklore believed to plunder graves and feed on corpses. clocks. Like the horror-producing dentists in ``Brazil'' or ``The Little Shop of Horrors,'' Liz Herron said she aims to get a scare. ``I do lead a double life,'' said Liz, who, having seen the show countless times, watches it from the edge of her seat. ``It (acting and directing) is so much more creative than dentistry. The nice thing about dentistry is you are reaching out and helping people.'' Dana Bartholomew, (818) 713-3730 dana.bartholomew(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: For the award-nominated play ``The Woman in Black,'' Chris Herron is the producer and Liz Herron is the assistant director. John McCoy/Staff Photographer |
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