Theater 59: Dolly and Josie Exit A Bar
Synopsis
A woman walks into the same bar she retreats to every night and encounters a strange woman never seen before, sitting at the bar writing in a large book. She approaches this stranger to get her to buy a drink since she is once again out of money. The woman at the bar agrees to pay for her drinks under one condition. That she orders the exact same drink as she has in front of her. Uncomfortable that the woman could be hitting on her, she changes her mind, returning to her tried and true tricks for getting men to buy her drinks, but this time with no success. She decides to comply with the woman’s condition and her world is forever changed.
Writer
Wendy Bryan Michaels
Wendy Bryan Michaels (Playwright) is a Los Angeles-based playwright from Miami Beach, Florida. Her plays have been developed by Santa Monica Playhouse, The All Original Playwrights Workshop (LA), Tina Alexis Allen (NYC), Area Stage (FL), and Creative Group (FL). She is a member of the Dramatists Guild, Alliance of Los Angeles Playwrights, Female Playwrights Initiative and a writer-in-residence at The Actors Workout Studio. She has received nominations for her comedy writing on the award-winning comedy show, My Sister is So Gay (2016). She is a proud member of the Santa Monica Playhouse’s Writing Collective, a developmental writer’s lab and new works festival for emerging playwrights of LGBTQ stories.
Wendy Bryan Michaels
Director
Bernadette Armstrong
Bernadette moved to Los Angeles to work in film in the late 1990s and after her first two films went to festivals she took a short hiatus from writing until she fell in love with small theater. Since 2008 she has had several successful theater projects produced in No Hollywood. Her play The Reading Group was named Pick of the Week by LA Weekly Magazine and in 2017 her play Simple Lives was nominated for Outstanding Writing of an Original Play or Musical by the Valley Theater Awards (the only woman nominated.) Bernadette is also the producer and founder of Open Door Playhouse Podcast!
Bernadette Armstrong
Cast:
Gena Kay as Josie
Gena Kay grew up on a farm in Indiana, where she wrote and performed various porch shows for uninterested siblings and barnyard animals. Her sister’s farm was the inspiration for Gena’s children’s book currently being illustrated, based on a Thanksgiving turkey that escapes the dinner table. While attending Ball State University, David Letterman was kind enough to give her some $$ when she won his scholarship. Chosen from over 1200 ladies in a Talent Search for Aaron Spelling’s daytime soap Sunset Beach, Gena got Californicated and was hooked. Currently, Gena is an actor, writer, producer, and fun alert: proofreader living in Los Angeles and leaving Los Angeles every chance she gets to see as many countries as she can. So far she’s visited all 50 states and about 66 countries, but who is counting? She spent half of Covid Zombie Apocalypse 2020 out of the country, volunteering in Africa, and “stuck” on a paradise Greek island. Somehow, she survived and is honored to be a part of such an impactful platform as Open Door Playhouse.
Gena Kay
Bonnie Bailey-Reed as Dolly
Bonnie’s career began in NYC with touring with two Musical Theatre First National Tours. In L.A., she has appeared in award-winning roles including Mags in the World Premiere of THE SUPER VARIETY MATCH BONUS ROUND at The Rogue Machine Theatre, Mrs. Brummett in the World Premiere of Arlene Hutton's GULF VIEW DRIVE (LA Weekly Award, Supporting Actress). Other LA roles include Kate in ALL MY SONS, Margaret in THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION at The Colony Theatre, and BINGO, THE WINNING MUSICAL at The Cosmopolitan Cabaret in Sacramento, CA. On Television, she was a Series Regular on ABC Family Channel's STATE OF GRACE. Her Guest Star roles on Television include the Aidy Bryant Series, SHRILL currently streaming on Hulu, and BOSTON LEGAL. Other Television credits include VEEP, FARGO, THE KENAN THOMPSON SHOW, GLEE, THE MINDY PROJECT, SHOOTER, HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER, DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES, along with many television commercials.
