About Public Comment
Public Comment is a satire on local politics that pokes fun at, but also encourages civic involvement. It had it's world premiere at the 2018 Hollywood Fringe Festival with 7 Festival performances and 3 Encore Performances, receiving an Encore Award and 100% Sweet rating from audiences on Better Lemons.
Public Comment is the brainchild of Adam Sartain, who started writing it shortly after a failed run for City Council in Sacramento. It is based on a series of YouTube videos called "this week in Public Comment" which displayed a series of people giving funny and odd public comments at Santa Cruz City Council meetings.
Synopsis
The City of Happymont is your typical small but growing city, and while the Happymont City Council tries to keep order and get business done, the Public, or at least those who participate in Public Comment, takes up the Council's time with Conspiracy theories, rants, and musical numbers. The council tries to get rid of Public Comment but the Public won't give it up without a fight. It all boils down to one man who has never spoken before giving the speech of his life and bringing the community together, saving Public Comment
About the Director - Stephen Juhl
Stephen Juhl caught his first major case of the directing bug while completing his B.A. in Theatre from Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado with Wallace Shawn’s controversial “The Youth Hostel” from A Thought in Three Parts. Aside from living in L.A. as an actor, he started directing out here in a series of one-acts called A Night of Chekhov in Hollywood – before transitioning into Hollywood Fringe with four more stints with his same collaborator, writer Katherine King, including the musical-comedy-western My Darling Josephine (utilizing part of Gilbert and Sullivan's H.M.S. Pinafore) at Three Clubs and the moody and part film-driven Psychic Sink at the OMR Complex theater. Within the last year, he directed Howard Skora’s Planet Drag (as part of SkyPilot Theatre Company’s night of B-movie one-acts), and the world premieres of Morgan English’s Boundaries and Unhitched (the latter of which was the debut of theatre company Palm Tree & Pine at the Lounge Theater).
About the Music Director - Esin Aydingoz
Esin Aydingoz is a film composer from Istanbul, who has graduated from Berklee College of Music with a dual degree in Film Scoring and Contemporary Writing & Production along with a minor in Musical Theatre Writing. She was honored to arrange and conduct for the Isley Brothers and Lionel Richie when they received their honorary doctorates from Berklee. She is currently working for Disney Music Group's new a cappella group, D Cappella, and dreams of writing music for Disney/Pixar animations, as she wants to take part in creating happy moments for children from around the world.
About the Stage Manager - Alexandra Zepeda
Alexandra Zepeda studied Theatre at the University of North Texas. Originally from Houston, Texas, she migrated to Hollywood to pursue a career in the Entertainment Industry. Alexandra previously worked as Assistant Director for the play, Extremities. Now she's making her debut as Stage Manager for Public Comment.