Note: Due to popularity this play has been extended until November 20
October 19, 2011 - Macha Theatre/Films presents the tenth anniversary production of the critically acclaimed play “Garbo’s Cuban Lover.”
The lover of the title is Mercedes de Acosta (1893-1968), a contract screenwriter for MGM who was also a playwright, poet and costume designer. She had affairs with some of the most illustrious actresses and writers in America, including Edith Wharton, Adele Astaire, Katherine Cornell, Pola Negri, Alla Nazimova, ballerina Tamara Karsavina, a young Tallulah Bankhead, Eva La Gallienne, dancer Isadora Duncan, Marlene Dietrich, and the love of her life, Greta Garbo.
Born to a Cuban father and Spanish mother, de Acosta’s ability to move in social circles and her position as a writer for MGM put her in contact with many of the most beautiful and important women in Hollywood. “Garbo’s Cuban Lover” focuses on two of the most important relationships of her life---with Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo, professional adversaries who become rivals for de Acosta’s love.
Garbo holds an erotic power over de Acosta that the Cuban cannot resist nor control. She returns to Garbo no matter how often she is betrayed. But Garbo and Dietrich both have secrets from de Acosta. It will be many years before she learns the whole truth about her two greatest loves.
Odalys Nanin is playwright. At the time of its original production ten years ago, “Garbo’s Cuban Lover” landed on multiple Critic’s Choice lists, as well as 2001’s Ten Best Plays list of Advocate magazine. Her other works include an adaptation of Garcia Lorca’s “Blood Wedding” as well as her own original works including “Skin of Honey,” “Beyond Love,” “The Nun and the Countess,” “The Adventures of the Lieutenant Nun,” “Love Struck,” “Naked in the Tropics,” and “Lavender Love” (also set in the Golden Age of Hollywood). The Cuban-born writer is a graduate of The Drama Studio London and RutgersUniversity. Also an actor, she has appeared in over 30 plays in New York and Los Angeles.
Ms. Nanin also portrays de Acosta. Like Mercedes, Odalys is Latina, lesbian, a writer, and an advocate for greater participation by women in the arts and in society.
With co-director Laura Butler, Odalys Nanin directs a cast that includes (in alphabetical order) Laura Cotenescu, Lina Hellkvist, Erin Holt, Julia Kostenevich, Lisa Merkin, Elyse Mirto, John Nagle, Odalys Nanin, Ginger Pennington, and Vera Petrychenka
The play is 1 hour and 20 minutes. Macha Theatre is located at 1107 N. Kings Road, West Hollywood, CA 90069. Show times are Friday and Saturday at 8 pm and Sunday at 7 pm. Admission is $35. For reservations call 323.960.4429 or online at http://www.plays411.com/garbo
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