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WEST BANK, UK -- a world-premiere musical about a Palestinian
and an Israeli who must share a rent-controlled apartment in London's West Bank -- by Oren Safdie (PRIVATE JOKES, PUBLIC
PLACES) and Ronnie Cohen, creators of the popular musical about interfaith dating, JEWS & JESUS, will be presented by
the Malibu Stage Company following a New York co-production with La MaMa ETC, for a limited Los Angeles run, with previews
set to begin March 20, prior to an official press opening March 22 at Malibu Stage Co. (29243 Pacific Coast Highway) in Malibu.
WEST BANK, UK is written and directed by Oren Safdie, with music and lyrics by Ronnie Cohen.
In the new musical
WEST BANK, UK, when Israeli ex-patriot, Assaf Ben-Moshe Benvenisti, breaks up with his German girlfriend and returns home
to his rent-controlled flat on the West Bank of London, he discovers that Palestinian refugee, Aziz Hamoud, has taken over
his lease. Their American landlord is torn between the two men, and urges them to work out their differences and learn to
live together in harmony.
WEST BANK, UK co-stars Jeremy Cohen, most recently seen in MACCABEAT! THE HANUKKAH MUSICAL
at last year's New York Musical Theatre Festival, as Assaf; and Mike Mosallam, whose credits include his solo show MUSLIM:
THE MUSICAL and CARNIVAL! at Kennedy Center, as Aziz.
Joining Messrs. Cohen and Mosallam in the cast are Anthony
Patellis and Janine Molinari, who portrayed Teddy and Hovel, respectively, in Safdie and Cohen's FIDDLER SUB-TERRAIN.
WEST BANK, UK features costume design by Greco; musical direction by Scott Baldyga; and choreography by Wendy Seyb,
whose work was recently seen Off-Broadway in WALMARTOPIA. Casting is by Stephanie Klapper. A four-piece ensemble including
piano, violin, percussion and oud, will perform the Middle Eastern-flavored score.
The world-premiere production
of WEST BANK, UK was commissioned and developed by the Malibu Stage Company under the direction of Jacqueline Bridgeman, Founding
President.
Oren Safdie and Ronnie Cohen previously collaborated on the La MaMa ETC hit musical comedy JEWS &JESUS,
which The New York Times called "lovable… [Safdie and Cohen] have given the cast a lot of great irreverent material
to work with."
Director and book author Oren Safdie is best known for PRIVATE JOKES, PUBLIC PLACES, "an
X-Acto-blade-sharp comedy" (The New Yorker) about architecture, which was a critical Off-Broadway hit and voted one of
the top 5 plays of the 2003-'04 season by the Wall Street Journal and subsequently has played across North America, Off-West
End in London, and at the National Theatre in Romania. His most recent play, THE LAST WORD…, was presented Off-Broadway
last season, starring two-time Emmy Award-winner Daniel J. Travanti of "Hill Street Blues." Mr. Safdie is also the
author of the films "You Can Thank Me Later," starring Ellen Burstyn, and the Israeli film "Bittersweet,"
which recently played at the Jerusalem and Montreal World Film Festivals. Other plays include HYPER-ALLERGENIC, BROKEN PLACES,
LAUGHING DOGS and LA COMPAGNIE, which was developed as a pilot for CBS/Castle Rock. He also writes for Metropolis Magazine
and contributes to Dwell.
Composer and lyricist Ronnie Cohen, a Fulbright Scholar, is a graduate of Columbia University's
Poetry Division, and the Berklee School of Music. He has contributed articles to the Los Angeles Times and LA Weekly, and
teaches English at Palisades Charter High School in California. His father is songwriter Avshalom Cohen, famous in Israel
for the song "Agala Im Susa," and other popular hits.
Malibu Stage Company, a Non-for-Profit Company,
was created in 1990 and has presented a variety of programs in venues throughout Malibu. In 1998, it acquired a disused Lutheran
church near Point Dume and converted it into a state-of-the-art 99-seat theatre. From the company's inception, co-founder
and producer Jacqueline Bridgeman has provided managerial and design services to virtually all of Malibu Stage's 30-plus
productions, including world premieres of John Shaner's, FELLOW TRAVELER, Charles Marowitz's MUDERING MARLOWE, and
Oren Safdie's PRIVATE JOKES, PUBLIC PLACES.
Performances of WEST BANK, UK run March 21-April 13 at Malibu Stage
Co. (29243 Pacific Coast Highway, one block North of Heathercliff); Friday & Saturdays at 8pm; Sundays at 4pm. Tickets
are $25. For reservations, call 310-589-1998.
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