La Sierra University drama presents satiric salute to Hollywood

  Arts+Culture   College of Arts & Sciences   Region+Nation+World  

From “Paint Your Wagon” to “Star Wars” to “The Wizard of Oz”—the film classics of Hollywood get a zany ‘thumbs up’ in an irreverent satire slated for the stage at La Sierra University.

Scotty Ray, Kelly Reed and Carl Canwell star in La Sierra University’s production of the satiric spoof “Completely Hollywood (Abridged).” (Photo courtesy of LSU Drama)
Scotty Ray, Kelly Reed and Carl Canwell star in La Sierra University’s production of the satiric spoof “Completely Hollywood (Abridged).” (Photo courtesy of LSU Drama)
Scotty Ray, Kelly Reed and Carl Canwell in dress rehearsal for "Completely Hollywood." (Photos: Michael Elderman)
Scotty Ray, Kelly Reed and Carl Canwell in dress rehearsal for "Completely Hollywood." (Photos: Michael Elderman)

La Sierra’s drama department will present the playful and inventive three-actor spoof titled “Completely Hollywood (Abridged),” a production written in 2005 by the creators of the Reduced Shakespeare Company. The loopy show speeds through 186 of Hollywood’s best-known movies with slapstick humor and mashes together film references in a comic, theatrical brew that reduces CGI effects to literal absurdity. For instance, 3-D is illustrated by actors waving flashlights in the dark while shouting, ‘3-D! 3-D!’ and in a Wizard-of-Oz-meets-Star-Wars scene, Dorothy carries Yoda in her basket instead of her dog, Toto.

The La Sierra production will star Carl Canwell, Scotty Ray and Kelly Reed, stars of last year’s “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised],” also created by the Reduced Shakespeare Company.

Performances will be held at 8 p.m. in Matheson Hall on Oct. 10, 11, 15, 17 and 18.  Marilynn Loveless, La Sierra University drama director, will direct the play.

Canwell holds a Master of Fine Arts in film, and Reed is an award-winning Shakespearean language coach with a Master of Arts in English. Ray holds a Master of Fine Arts in performance from Harvard University. When not on stage, actor Canwell serves as director of creative media at Loma Linda University, while L. Kelly Reed and Scott William Ray respectively serve as La Sierra adjunct English and drama professors.

General admission is $10. Tickets may be purchased by calling the box office at 951-785-2241, or by email at drama@lasierra.edu. Season tickets are $20 through Dec. 11. La Sierra University is located at 4500 Riverwalk Parkway, Riverside, Calif., 92515. A campus map is available at https://lasierra.edu/campus-map/.

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