Introducing The Rising Phoenix Theatre Company: Des Moines’ NEW female-focused theatre company

The Rising Phoenix Theatre Company will perform the play Love, Loss and What I Wore at the First Unitarian Church of Des Moines, 1800 Bell Avenue, Des Moines, Iowa. Performance dates are Friday and Saturday July 13 and 14 and Friday and Saturday July 20 and 21 at 7:00 p.m. and on Sunday, July 15 at 2:00 p.m. The production is made possible by a REACH grant through the church’s endowment fund. Tickets are $10.00 for adults and $5.00 for seniors and students.

Love, Loss and What I Wore, by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, is based on the book by Ilene Beckerman. It is a play of monologues and ensemble pieces about women, clothes and memory, covering all of the important subjects – mothers, prom dresses, mothers, buying bras, mothers, hating purses and why we only look good in black.

Love, Loss and What I Wore opened off-Broadway at the Westside Theatre in New York and ended its run there on March 25, 2012 after 1, 013 performances. It won the 2010 Drama Desk Award for Unique Theatrical Experience and the 2010 Broadway.com Audience Award for Favorite New Off-Broadway Play. The run featured a rotating cast and included Tyne Daly, Rosie O’Donnell, Sabrina LeBeauf (The Cosby Show), Doris Roberts, Tichina Arnold, Kristin Wiig and Kate Mulgrew. It is now on a national tour and has been produced in several foreign countries including Argentina, Australia, France, and South Africa.

The Rising Phoenix Theatre Company, a female-centered company, was founded by Lyra Halsten and Amanda Julson in August 2011. Its mission is to provide developmental and educational opportunities to women, minorities and actors with disabilities to enhance their knowledge and talent. Our goal is to create an empowering, healthy and nurturing environment where actors are challenged and encouraged. The Phoenix Theatre also seeks to provide opportunities for actors to perform in a variety of quality works from the classical to the contemporary, with a special focus on plays by local and regional authors.

We are proud to support Dress for Success Des Moines, the program that promotes the economic independence of disadvantaged women by providing professional attire, a network of support and the career development tools to help women thrive in work and life. Audience members are encouraged to go to www.dressforsuccess.org and to view a list of the most needed items in Des Moines. They may bring these items to the performances to be donated to the Dress for Success program.

The Rising Phoenix Theatre enthusiastically and wholeheartedly supports non-traditional and open casting as a way to provide expanded opportunities for actors and introduce new vitality and depth to our productions. We are committed to this method of casting to the fullest of our abilities. Our sensitive and thoughtful choices will challenge audiences and offer new perspectives to their theatre-going experience.

The play contains some mild adult language and references to adult situations.