Extended Through March 2009: Made Me Nuclear, the Operetta. A Guest Production at Santa Monica Playhouse Presented by the Sarcoma Alliance.

Santa Monica, CA, January 31, 2009 --(PR.com)-- The critically acclaimed Made Me Nuclear, now in its fifth month, is extending for an additional eight weeks through March 28, 2009. Charlie Lustman's original pop music operetta about surviving cancer is “simply irresistible” says the LA Times. This “feel good cancer musical” (LAT) is an “inspiring” tale that will “grab you in a bear hug right away and not let go. “Touching…life-affirming…his songs are pitched in an intimate, jazzy, bluesy style,” says the LA Weekly.

Made Me Nuclear, was written and performed by Cancer survivor and singer/songwriter Charlie Lustman. Lustman grew up in LA and is a graduate of Berklee College of Music; he spent ten years touring the world performing and released two studio albums in Denmark: The Golden Road, vol.1 and SHAYA. He also wrote and performed live the theme song to the ABC TV program “The Mike and Maty show.” He is perhaps best known to Los Angeles audiences for his role in rescuing and reopening The Silent Movie Theatre on Fairfax Avenue in Los Angeles, the last remaining silent cinema in the world, which he turned into a one-of-a-kind successful working revival theatre lauded by film buffs globally. In 2006, after being diagnosed with a rare cancer in his upper jaw he sold the theatre and returned to his first passion –music. Writing and composing throughout his treatment and recovery he produced his third studio album, Made Me Nuclear, arguably the first pop music album about surviving cancer. Released in July 2008 “a-dollar-a-disc” will be donated to The Sarcoma Alliance, the only national organization dedicated to helping those afflicted with this rare disease. Made Me Nuclear, the Operetta, now in its fifth month, is the theatrical adaptation of the album arguably the first pop operetta about surviving cancer.

The show was directed by Chris DeCarlo. DeCarlo has been directing, writing and acting in Los Angeles for over 40 years and is acknowledged for his critically acclaimed crafting of world and American premiere productions by such renowned playwrights as Michel Garneau, Stephen King, Brenda Krantz, Robert B. Parker, Sheila Rae, Annie Reiner, Sammy Shore, Robert Waldman, David Williamson, and Lois Wyse, including five of Playwright Jerry Mayer’s plays. He has directed more than 200 plays on three continents, from the Henry Street Settlement Theatre in New York to the Dream Factory in Warwickshire and the gargantuan Hitomi Memorial Hall in Tokyo. As a performer, DeCarlo has created more than 300 roles, with over 10,000 on-stage performances. Over a quarter of a million people have been touched by his award-winning characterization of Yiddish humorist Sholom Aleichem.

Rounding out the production team are sound designer John Ugarte, lighting design studio The Attic Room and the costumes were designed by Ri.

Made Me Nuclear, the Operetta is presented by The Sarcoma Alliance (www.TheSarcomaAlliance.com), founded by sarcoma survivors, its mission is to guide, educate and support people with sarcomas and their family, friends and caregivers, with additional financial support from Beyond Words Publishing (publisher of The Secret)

Performances are Fridays & Saturdays at 8:00 p.m. through March 28, 2009. Tickets are $20.00 with discounts available for groups of 10 or more.
Tickets and information online at www.MadeMeNuclear.com or call 1-866-468-3399. For group sales call 1-310-394-9779 x651.

Santa Monica Playhouse is located at 1211 4th Street Santa Monica, CA 90401 in the heart of the Bayside District. By public transportation: take the Santa Monica Blue Bus or the LA Metro Rapid #720 and exit at 4th and Wilshire

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