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IMPOSSIBLE PRODUCTIONS presents
THE TEN
COMMANDMENTS: Live!
A Comedy of Biblical Proportions

WHEN:
Febrary 29 – March 22, 2008
Fridays and Saturdays @ 8pm

WHERE:
The Dark Room Theater
2263 Mission Street, SF, between 18th & 19th

TICKETS:
$15 at the door, or online at brownpapertickets.com/event/26728

INFO:
darkroomsf.com/ten
wsup@darkroomsf.com
415.401.7987

SAN FRANCISCO, CA — LET YOUR PEOPLE GO… down to the Dark Room Theater for Impossible Production’s The Ten Commandments: Live!  Thou shalt not let this answer to your prayers Passover you.

A shooting star foretells a deliverer of the Hebrew slaves of Goshen who toil to build the great cities of Egypt. Pharaoh Seti, fearing a work shortage, condemns all first-born Hebrew males to death.  Thinking fast, the slave girl Yochabel secretly sets her baby adrift down the Nile, where Princess Bithia, praying to Ra to fill her childless arms, finds and adopts him.  Raised in the royal court, young Moses earns the respect of his uncle Seti, the enmity of Prince Ramases and the love of Princess Nefertiri. 

But something is not kosher in the state of Egypt. Bithia’s old slave Memnet knows the secret of Moses’ Hebrew heritage which Dathan the traitorous Hebrew overseer then shares with a covetous Ramases.  Avoiding him like the plague, Seti’s punishment strands Moses in the Sahara, where he crawls across burning desert and disappears in within a tribe of sheep herding Bedouins. 

Admiring his prowess with sheep, God gets the idea of having Moses shepherd his chosen people!! Will Ramases let his people go? Will Nefretiri shut up? Is this a matter of faith accompli?  How long will they wander the desert asking, “Are we there yet?”
           
The Ten Commandments runs February 29 to March 22, 2008; Fridays and Saturdays @ 8pm at the Dark Room Theater, 2263 Mission Street, SF, between 18th & 19th.  Tickets are $15 at the door or at brownpapertickets.com/event/26728.  More info: darkroomsf.com/ten or 415.401.7987. 

Contrary to popular belief, The Ten Commandments is an Impossible Production (Jim Fourniadis, Cameron Eng, Rhiannon Charisse) and stars hebrews and shebrews:  Damien Chacona, Steffanos X, Khamara Pettus, Jim Jeske, Carinna Schindler, Meliza Bañales, Andy Wenger, John Harrison, Sherilyn Connelly, and Flynn De Marco; with special guest "Voice of God"s Mikl-em, Patrick Sims, John Hell and Sean Owens.

— END —

IMPOSSIBLE PRODUCTIONS, and our home The Dark Room, is a comfortable place for anyone to come to when they have ideas—big or small—and nowhere to realize them.  We're a tad more off-beat than community theatre and a skosh more accessible than many artist cooperatives.  We welcome both high concepts and low brow sensibilities; we try hard to not to take ourselves too seriously and invite you to do the same.  Come join us for an hour or two and forget for a minute how troublesome the world can be.  We're saving a seat for you.

PRESS PHOTO:
You can download a press photo at www.darkroomsf.com/ten

PRESS CONTACT (not for publication)
Cameron Eng wsup@darkroomsf.com 415.401.7987

DAMIEN CHACONA
Moses
Damien has been acting since 2nd grade, when he was forcibly chained to the auditorium stage by his guidance counselor, who said it would help him work through some of his "issues". Twenty years later, Damien is still acting, on the off-chance that one of these days his "issues" will just dissipate. Damien thinks that would be nice. Damien has appeared as Fitch in Emperor Norton: the Musical, Bill Sykes in Oliver!, Hamlet in a play that was certainly not written by Shakespeare, Vladimir in Waiting for Godot, and other parts in several different plays. Damien is Moses. Damien is Moses. Moses.

STEFFANOS X
Ramases
Steffanos is so happy to be playing a villain. Really, it's great being the guy the audience hisses at. He is also in rehearsals for Carrie Baums rock opera Exit Sign. Keep your eyes open for this one 'cause the music's awesome.

KHARMARA PETTUS
Nefertiri
Khamara Pettus has recently moved to San Francisco from Los Angeles where she studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.  While in LA, she did a lot of stage work including: Peggy in The Women and Mary Mooney in Once a Catholic at the Matrix Theater, Nina in The Nina Variations at the Company Rep, and Rhetta/Destiny in the world premiere of Through the Roof at UC Northridge.  Since moving to San Francisco she has been in Zola-X at the Dark Room, Beautiful, Bad Things at the Exit Cafe, the short film Echo, a television short called The Mitzy Show, and an episode of the long-running Japanese television show The World's Most Astonishing News!  Khamara is pleased to be working with Jim and the rest of his hilarious cast on this epic comedy!

JIM JESKE
Seti, Dathan
By nature a prim and ordinary person, Jim Jeske is delighted at the chance to shed his monochromatic personality to personify two of his favorite character types:  the pompous king and the treacherous underling.  Look for the name "Jim Jeske" on your grocer's shelf, or wherever pompous kings and treacherous underlings are sold.

CARRINA SCHINDLER
Memnet, Lilia
Carrina Maree has  enjoyed showing off for audiences since 1983. She has appeared in previous Dark Room productions as Pretty Girl #2 as well as Girl Waiting for the Bus. When she's not thigh-deep in chicken costumes, she can be found alphebetizing your Dead Milkmen records. And remember: practice Random Acts of Fanciness.

MELIZA BAÑALES
Yochabel, Sephora
Meliza Banales is a waitress for money, writer/performer for sanity. A Dark Room Vet, she has also wrapped up being on tour with Sister Spit and is the recipient of a 2008 QCC Grant. Like her, please. Oh, and find her at myspace.com/melizabanales.

ANDY WENGER
Joshua, solider, priest
Andy Wenger has been devoted to the arts and crafts for many a weary year and is not about to stop now.  In addition to his many Dark Room contributions (Duck Soup, The Old Ones, Drinkable Ham, and The Squid That Could Never Cry, But Then Cried All The Time) he has appeared in several evening news reports.  To learn more about Andy, visit his MySpace page, which is 30 ft tall and rendered in charcoal and orange spray paint on the side of an engine house in the train yards of Trenton, NJ.

JOHN HARRISON
Baka, soldier, priest
John Harrison is pleased that the Big Guy Upstairs was merciful enough to put him in this production. He has been fortunate enough to be involved in several Dark Room shows, such as Young Frankenstein, Twilight Zone, and Emperor Norton. He would like to shower Erin and Jim of the Dark Room Theater with everlasting praises and would also like to bestow upon you, the audience, his gratitude and thanks.

SHERILYN CONNELLY
Bithia
Sherilyn Connelly is a San Francisco-based writer. She's featured at shows throughout California such as K'vetch, Writers With Drinks, Poetry Mission, Siren, Ladyfest Bay Area, and The Vagina Monologues.  Her writing can be found on paper in the anthologies I Do / I Don't: Queers on Marriage by Suspect Thoughts,  It's So You by Seal Press, and More 5-Minute Erotica by Running Press.  She curates and co-hosts Bad Movie Night here at The Dark Room, and is currently writing her first solo book.

FLYNN DE MARCO
Aaron, Ikea, old man, soldier
Flynn likes to be in plays.


WITH SPECIAL "VOICE OF GOD" GUESTS:

SEAN OWENS
Sean has been typecast as a deity many times, though most often as the Prince of Darkness (three separate stints as the devil; it's almost certainly the eyebrows). He has just returned from a run of his newest farce, HER MAJESTY in New York's FRIGID Fest, and can be seen soon on the Dark Room stage (as playwright, director and star, alternately) in ATTACK OF THE KILLER B's, an insane triple feature of B-grade horror, featuring THE BAD SEED, THE BIRDS and THE BLOB, coming in May. Mr. Owens also performs periodically, here at the DR and elsewhere, as hash/bull-slingin', gum/wise-crackin' truck stop hostess, Cora Values. He is also the author of 30 or more plays, and has been named SF's Best Comic Playwright. He was raised Roman Catholic.

MIKL-EM
Mikl-em has no problem with his omnipotence.  Please ignore any graffiti to the contrary.  Mikl has manifested previously at the Dark Room in many forms including The Monster (in Young Frankenstein), The Joker (in Batman), Griffey (in Zippy) and Rod Serling (in something or other).  His voice can also be seen at frequent Bad Movie Nights. He did his own makeup for this show.

PATRICK SIMS
Patrick Simms has been involved in the San Francisco music scene since 1994. He is a singer/songwriter, an audio engineer, studio owner, booker of nightclubs and cafes, and formerly ran the ICAN Gallery, his own space featuring mostly acoustic music, monthly art exhibits and film. These days he fancies himself a playwright and will have his first show, an original episode of the Twilight Zone—featuring the cast of Seinfeld, open at the Dark Room Theater in April where he performed in theatrical productions since 2005.  He has a myspace page but it is dedicated to his downtime hobby, that of host of the ICAN Music Box (dedicated to the original music of the Bay Area) on Pirate Cat Radio, 87.9 FM And if you really must know more about me go to myspace.com/fadeouttheater an original audio drama I co-write, produce, execute and record.

JOHN HELL
John Hell as this week's GOD. I know, I know TYPECAST!  Anyway, after a long stint as the GOD of the airwaves, John Hell has been asked to lend his voice as the omnipotent one. Good for him.  John Hell has 20 years in the Bay Area non-commercial radio world, including KFJC, co-founder of Radio Free Burning Man, San Francisco Liberation Radio, and most recently Pirate Cat Radio (Monday nights 8-midnight).  John is also the MC of such events as the Power Tool Drag Races, Northern California Blues Festival, the upcoming Urban Golf Tournament (think full contact golf), and Chicken John's very own Joan Rivers when Chicken can't make the Ask Dr. Hal show. Listen to the forceful, yet soothing commandments of this week's Adonai, and tremble with awe!  hellkatt.blogspot.com

JIM FOURNIADIS
Cecil B. Demile, Director
Jim Fourniadis has directed many plays at the Dark Room, but never before has he risked being smited with a lightning bolt. He is quick to point out that those of you who suppose that Moses' toeses are roses suppose erroneously.

RHIANNON CHARISSE
Producer, Lighting Design and Operations, Assistant Director
This is Rhiannon's first production. Previously, you would have seen Rhiannon screwing around and generally not doing anything of importance, before she was in charge of other people, in activities such as Light Board Op for Twilight Zone IV, CreepShow Live!, Duck Soup the Play, and Clue The Play, Sound Board Op for Emperor Norton the Musical and Stage Manager for lots of sketch shows. The only time you can currently catch her drinking and screwing around and generally acting irresponsibly is when she's working the door for Bad Movie Night, her only consistent gig.

CAMERON ENG
Producer, Graphics, Stage Manager
Honest to God, this is Cameron’s fourth year with Impossible Productions.  Happy to get religion before it got him, his faith accompli includes: the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Clue, the Princess Bride, Batman, Emperor Norton, Young Frankenstein, and Duck Soup.  Contrary to popular belief, he owes everything he is to Terrance Alan.

ERIN OHANNESON
Costumes, Properties Manager
Erin would like to thank her beloved, Jim, her other partners, Cameron, Rhiannon, Alexia and Maggie the dog, for their love, laughter and support. Without them, she would be a total psycho.

WILL RADIK
Sound Design and Operations
Will Radik is a free-wheelin' professional photographer and all-around media production guy. He loves ginger ale, other peoples' pets, and playing the theremin. Oh and he also likes hanging out with Rhiannon, and her mom.

DAVID NORFLEET
Original Music Score
Since 1991, David Norfleet has been improvising music with companies around the U.S. and Canada.  During the day, he composes and produces music for film, television, multimedia, installations, and anything else he can think of.  From 1995-1998 David was active in New York's improv, live theatre and performance art scene, but transplanted himself to San Francisco to start up his own music/sound studio, Seal Rock Music, 
sealrockmusic.com. His favorite interval by far is the tri-tone.

SPECIAL THANKS to the picture-perfect Petrina Cooper.