Theatre Planners presents the world premiere of ‘Café Society,’ a comedy by Peter Lefcourt

LOS ANGELES - July 23, 2015 - PRLog -- Five self-absorbed customers find themselves trapped in a West L.A. Starbucks in the latest off-beat comedy from Emmy Award-winning writer Peter Lefcourt. Packed with sly humor about life in L.A., Café Society takes an irreverent look at our obsession with social media and the way we connect in today’s world.

“Like any good comedy, this play pokes fun on the surface, but the reality that underlies it is actually heartbreaking,” says director Terri Hanauer. “A coffee house used to be a place where you could go to meet people, to have a discussion. Now, when you walk into a Starbucks, there is absolutely no contact. Everyone is on their devices. Yet we all still have that hope, that desire, for human connection.”

Café Society stars Julliard graduate Eric Wentz (Tommy Smith’s The Break-Up and Thirty Story Masterpieces at the Hayworth) as Jeff McHenry, a wannabe screenwriter who writes at Starbucks so he can study the “human condition” firsthand; Chandra Lee Schwartz (Glinda in Wicked on Broadway) as Kari Shaw, a hungry young actress desperate for her big break; Road Theatre Company member Susan Diol (You Never Can Tell on Broadway opposite Uta Hagen) as high octane realtor Marilyn Dresden; History Channel’s Cities of the Underworld host EricMyles Geller as a libertarian personal wealth consultant; and Emmy Award-winning actor Ian Patrick Williams (Bleacher Bums in Chicago, L.A. and on PBS) as a delusional homeless man. Nick Cobey (off-Broadway production of Finger Paint) plays the mysterious loner who triggers the connection between these five raging narcissists, while recent Chapman University graduate Donathan Walters plays Darnell, the barrista, and recent UCLA graduate Kailyn Leilaniand Mexican-born actor Gabriel Romero (Telemundo’s Los Beltrán) make cameo appearances on video.

Café Society opens for press on Aug. 22 and continues through Oct. 11. Performances take place Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. There will be two preview performances, on Thursday, Aug. 20 and Friday, Aug. 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25 on Fridays and Sundays and $30 on Saturdays; previews are $15. The Odyssey Theatre is located at 2055 S. Sepulveda Blvd., West Los Angeles, 90025. For reservations and information, call (323) 960-1055 or go to www.plays411.net/cafe.