LOST LAKE

[NoHo Arts District, CA] –  Crimson Square’s 2022-2023 Season opens with LOST LAKE by David Auburn, the award-winning playwright of PROOF. Starring Lisagaye Tomlinson and Craig Bachmann. Directed by Faye Viviana. 

ABOUT LOST LAKE

David Auburn’s Lost Lake is a tense, carefully wrought drama about the surprising, complicated friendship formed by two very different people with no one else to turn to. 

The lakeside rental Veronica has managed to afford is a far cry from the idyllic getaway she and her children so desperately need and the disheveled property owner Hogan has problems of his own. Problems that Veronica is inevitably and irrevocably pulled into. An engrossing and revealing portrait of two strangers bound together by circumstance, Lost Lake is a vivid play about the struggle for connection in an imperfect world. 

THE TEAM

David Auburn – Playwright
Faye Viviana – Director
Lisagaye Tomlinson – Veronica
Craig Bachmann – Hogan
Crimson Square – Producer
Derrick McDaniel – Lighting Designer
Allen Barton – Mentoring Director, Owner of Beverly Hills Playhouse
Jeffrey Sun – Head Stage Manager
Sandra Kuker PR – Publicist

BIOS 

LISAGAYE TOMLINSON (Veronica)
Lisagaye is a Jamaican-born actress, musician, composer, and writer who is pleased to be making her Crimson Square debut in LOST LAKE. She began her career on stage in South Florida as Dionne in a Caldwell Theatre production of HAIR and went on to play Erzulie in ONCE ON THIS ISLAND. Locally, she’s performed in the Hollywood Fringe Festival production of FIFTY SHADES OF SHREW and received outstanding reviews for playing multiple supporting roles in Firescape Theatre and Yolk Productions’ remount of David Henry Hwang’s YELLOW FACE, in association with the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Recent film and television credits include HOME ECONOMICS, PARALYSIS, her first horror feature, and the delightful comedy short MELONS. Music has always played an integral role in her life and she is deeply inspired by her mother who sang every day in their family home. Lisagaye is a proud volunteer for the Los Angeles Radio Reading Service and the Hollywood Food Coalition.

CRAIG BACHMANN (Hogan)
Craig graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a BFA in directing. He started his career as a PA and once was Russell Crow’s assistant set which ultimately inspired him to act. He then studied at HB studios with Laura Esterman and Austin Pendleton before attending the University of Washington for his MFA in acting.  He then returned to New York City where he began acting professionally on Stage, screen, and TV. Several years later, he moved to Los Angeles and studied Improv at IO West and The Groundlings, performing on many teams. Some of Craig’s Theatre credits include; Piece of Cake (New York Post Comic pick of the Week), Chekhov’s Rifle (World Premiere), Too Much Water (World Premiere), Boy Gets Girl, Fool For Love, and Cabaret. His film credits include Father, Singularity, The Last Days of Flannel Daphne, and The Transplant. He has also appeared on Guiding Light, 4400, and a variety of commercials. Craig is excited to work with Crimson Square and is honored to be surrounded by such talented artists. He would like to dedicate his performance to his late agent and friend Anthony Schiano whose hard work made it possible for Craig to move to LA. RIP Anthony, “Thanks for making me look good”

DAVID AUBURN (Playwright)
David Auburn is an American playwright, screenwriter, and theatre director.  He is best known for his 2000 play Proof, which won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Play and Pulitzer Prize for Drama.  He also wrote the screenplays for the 2005 film version of Proof, The Lake House (2006), The Girl In The Park (2007), and Georgetown (2019).

FAYE VIVIANA (Director)
Faye Viviana is an actress and an award-winning filmmaker, and is very excited to be making her LA Theatre Directing Debut. Her professional ballet career with American Ballet Theatre cut short by injury in 2007, she pivoted to acting and filmmaking. She has appeared in numerous roles on TV, most notably for LONGMIRE (Netflix), S.W.A.T. (CBS), and DEPUTY (FOX) to name a few, and many independent films. After working as an independent film producer for several years, she branched out on her own, founding V3 Productions in 2019. She is also the executive producer of Crimson Square Theatre Company, having produced I Am My Own Wife, Dinner With Friends, Cock, Sex With Strangers, The How & The Why, and Live At The Purple Lounge to much critical acclaim. She is passionate about all facets of storytelling, exploring the human condition and has a pretty serious book and gummy bear addiction. You can find her on social media as @FyVivi

DERRICK McDANIEL (Lighting Designer)
Derrick McDaniel has been working in the live theater arena for over 25 years, both in Los Angeles and New York. From Romeo and Juliet to Guys and Dolls, Derrick has designed lighting for many plays, musicals and corporate and private events.  A few of his lighting credits include “Mercy Seat” (2012 LA Weekly Awards Winner) at the Inside the Ford Theater, Spring Awakening at the Malibu Playhouse, The Addams Family at the Madrid Theater; and An Octoroon at the Fountain Theatre – and many others.  Derrick’s latest nomination was for a 2020 Ovation Theater Award for Lighting Design for Nowhere On The Border at the Road Theater on Magnolia.   He would like to thank the staff and officers of the Crimson Square and the Beverly Hills Playhouse for providing the opportunity to create.  Luckily, the theater spirits have allowed us to create live theater, again. Derrick would also like to express his hope that everyone is staying safe in our troubling times!

ALLEN BARTON (Mentoring Director, Owner of Beverly Hills Playhouse)
Allen Barton is a Los Angeles-based playwright/author, director, teacher and classical pianist. 

Plays include CIRCLING (2018), DISCONNECTION (2015), YEARS TO THE DAY (2013), and ENGAGEMENT (2010).  YEARS TO THE DAY was named one of Los Angeles’ 10 Best New Plays by LA Weekly, and has since been performed in ten cities across three continents. Directing credits include ENGAGEMENT, THE REAL THING, RABBIT HOLE, THE LAST FIVE YEARS, BURN THIS, THE HEIDI CHRONICLES, OLEANNA, SPEED-THE-PLOW, GRUESOME PLAYGROUND INJURIES and BRILLIANT TRACES. Allen earned many years’ worth of L.A. stage, television and film credits as an actor, and he is also active as a classical pianist – he was a prizewinner in the 2002 Los Angeles Liszt Society Competition, has recorded five compact discs (available on Apple Music and other streaming services) and performs solo recitals regularly on both coasts. In 2010 he was made a Steinway Artist.  A native of Boston, a graduate of Harvard University and longtime student of the late Milton Katselas, Allen is currently owner and principal teacher at the renowned Beverly Hills Playhouse acting school. His 2017 book THE OASIS OF INSANITY (available at Amazon) is a memoir of his apprenticeship with Katselas, as well as a guidebook to the study and pursuit of acting in the 21st century. Allen lives in Los Angeles with his wife, three children, and a black Labrador Retriever. 

JEFFREY SUN (Head Stage Manager)
Jeffrey Sun is no stranger to Crimson Square Theatre Company. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Jeffrey made his stage debut in the San Francisco production of Allen Barton’s ENGAGEMENT in 2014. In 2015, he performed in Jordan Harrison’s MAPLE & VINE (Los Altos Stage Co.), and David Henry Hwang’s CHINGLISH (Palo Alto Players) where he received a nomination from Theatre Bay Area for Best Supporting Actor. In 2016, he had the wonderful opportunity to direct and perform in the San Francisco production of YELLOW FACE by David Henry Hwang at the Firescape theatre where it was nominated in the SF Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle. And in 2018, he reprised his role for the Los Angeles production of YELLOW FACE at The Beverly Hills Playhouse and most recently in LIVE AT THE PURPLE LOUNGE. Jeffrey has appeared in WHY WOMEN KILL (Paramount +), THE NEIGHBORHOOD (CBS), and the upcoming FX show, THE PATIENT. 

SANDRA KUKER PR (Sandra Kuker-Franco – Publicist)
Sandra Kuker-Franco is an entertainment industry expert.  Her three-decade background in music, film, television and theatre has created a client list of diversity and successful campaigns. Sandra’s experience also includes chartering ships for theme cruises, casting for film and television, as well as reality television, scripted television documentaries.  Highlights include films A World Away by Mark Blanchard and Getting Unstuck by Conscious (Merle Soden). Stage projects include: I’m Not A Comedian…I’m Lenny Bruce – Starring Ronnie Marmo, directed by Joe Mantegna, Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground starring Tony winner John Rubinstein, The Elephant Man, My Child Mothers Of War, Voice Lessons starring Laurie Metcalf, French Stewart and Maile Flanagan, Adam Baum & The Jew Movie starring Richard Kind, Sacred Fools Theatre Company and Past Time, Prairie-Oke!, Almost, Maine directed by Marty Papazian, Panic! Productions include: Inspecting Carol, Next To Normal, Little Shop Of Horrors. A Time To Kill by John Grisham, Time Stands Still by Donald Margulies, Crimson Square Theatre Company’s: Dinner With Friends, Live At The Purple Lounge The How And The Why, and Sex With Strangers.  Author Bill Ratner of Parenting For The Digital Age, and worked with Retronuvo Media on reality TV and scripted television and documentaries.  Sandra works with theatrical clients, authors, and entertainment professionals. Utilizing the strength of personal relationships, alongside social media and traditional PR, promoting events, news releases and individually tailored media positioning for clients centered in entertainment and helps build a branding presence with innovation, integrity and style. www.SandraKukerPR.com