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Sarah Drew and Oscar Nuñez headline
‘I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom’
L.A. Theatre Works records 5 performances
for radio, podcast, online streaming
LOS ANGELES (Updated July 2, 2018) — Sarah Drew (Grey’s Anatomy) and Oscar Nuñez (The Office) will portray Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz in the world premiere of I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom by Gregg Oppenheimer. Five performances will take place July 12 through July 15 at the James Bridges Theater, located on the campus of UCLA, where L.A. Theatre Works will record Oppenheimer’s hilarious behind-the-scenes account in front of a live audience for future radio broadcast, digital download and online streaming.
I Love Lucy, with its onscreen pairing of Ball and Arnaz, remains one of the most popular TV shows in history. Who would have thought that to get on the air, they had to battle both a network and a sponsor who thought the show couldn’t possibly succeed?
Oppenheimer, son of I Love Lucy creator/producer and head writer Jess Oppenheimer, is one of the world’s foremost experts on the show.
“This is a comedy about the comedy business,” he says. “It’s a true story, but sometimes it almost feels like an episode of I Love Lucy itself.”
Much of the play is based on Jess Oppenheimer’s memoir, “Laughs, Luck… and Lucy,” which Gregg co-authored with his father. The audience might be surprised to learn that necessity drove many of the show’s famous groundbreaking innovations: the multi-episode story arc, the baby story line, the flashback show and the rerun were all devised to address Lucille Ball’s surprise pregnancy (and maternity leave) in the show’s second season.
Much of this, though, will have a familiar feel to star Sarah Drew – whose own pregnancy was written into Season 11 of Grey’s Anatomy.
Also in the cast are Ron Bottitta as William S. Frawley, Seamus Dever as series creator/producer and head writer Jess Oppenheimer, Abigail Marks as Vivian Vance, Matthew Floyd Miller as radio and television announcer Bob LeMond, Rob Nagle as CBS programming chief Hubbell Robinson and Nick Toren as CBS executive Harry Ackerman.
Gregg Oppenheimer is the producer of the award-winning I Love Lucy DVD series for CBS. He has been interviewed about I Love Lucy on the CBS News, CNN, E! Entertainment Television, Entertainment Tonight, A&E’s Biography, MSNBC, Granada Television (in the U.K.), NHK (in Japan), The History Channel, and The Learning Channel, among others.
Five performances of I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom take place on Thursday, July 12 at 8 p.m.; Friday, July 13 at 8 p.m.; Saturday, July 14 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.; and Sunday, July 15 at 4 p.m. The James Bridges Theater is located in Melnitz Hall on the campus of the UCLA School of Theater, Film, Television at 235 Charles E. Young Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90095 (enter UCLA from Hilgard just south of Sunset Blvd. and park in Lot 3 on the lower level). Tickets range from $15 to $60. To purchase tickets, call L.A. Theatre Works at 310-827-0889 or go to www.latw.org.
Details for Calendar Listings
‘I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Sitcom’
WHAT:
World premiere of I Love Lucy: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Sitcom — The hilarious true story behind America’s most beloved TV comedy by Gregg Oppenheimer, son of I Love Lucy creator-producer-head writer Jess Oppenheimer and one of the world’s foremost experts on the show. The onscreen pairing of Lucille Ball (Sarah Drew) and Desi Arnaz (Oscar Nuñez) is at the heart of one of the most popular TV shows in history. Who would have thought that to get on the air they had to battle both a network and a sponsor who thought the show couldn’t possibly succeed?
Each of the five performances at UCLA’s state-of-the-art James Bridges Theater will be recorded live in front of an audience for future radio broadcast, distribution on CD, digital download and online streaming. L.A. Theatre Works’ syndicated radio theater series broadcasts weekly on public radio stations across the U.S. (locally, in Southern California, on KPFK 90.7 FM); can be heard daily in China and around the world on the Radio Beijing Network; can be downloaded as a podcast via iTunes and Wondery.com; and can be streamed on demand at www.latw.org.
WHO:
• Written by Gregg Oppenheimer
• Directed by Michael Hackett
• Starring Sarah Drew as Lucille Ball and Oscar Nuñez as Desi Arnaz
• Also featuring Ron Bottitta as William S. Frawley, Seamus Dever as I Love Lucy series creator / head writer Jess Oppenheimer, Abigail Marks as Vivian Vance, Matthew Floyd Miller as radio and television announcer Bob LeMond, Rob Nagle as CBS programming chief Hubbell Robinson and Nick Toren as CBS executive Harry Ackerman
• Produced by Susan Albert Loewenberg
• Presented by L.A. Theatre Works
WHEN:
• Thursday, July 12 at 8 p.m.
• Friday, July 13 at 8 p.m.
• Saturday, July 14 at 3 p.m.
• Saturday, July 14 at 8 p.m.
• Sunday, July 15 at 4 p.m.
WHERE:
James Bridges Theater
UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television
235 Charles E. Young Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90095
(enter UCLA from Hilgard just south of Sunset Blvd.; park in Lot 3 on the lower level)
HOW:
310-827-0889 or www.latw.org
• Join us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/LATheatreWorks
• Follow us on Twitter @latheatreworks
TICKETS:
$15-$60
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