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AHF Pharmacy - 96% of every dollar earned goes directly to the care and treatment of PWAs
8212 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90046
323) 654-0907
ahfpharmacy.org
Bennett Ad Group: Best Rates: MEDIA BUYS TV-Radio/JINGLES/Commercial Production
8033 W. SUNSET BLVD. # 963
West Hollywood, CA 90046
323.660.2224
BennettAdGroup.com
West Hollywood Mail Service -
7985 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 656-0257
wehomail.com
Out of the Closet Thrift Stores
8224 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
323-848-9760
outofthecloset.org
All Valley Painting & Maintenance
13872 Shablow Avenue,
Sylmar, CA 91342
(818) 230-2800
AllValleyPainting.net
Specs Appeal - Optometry since 1980
7976 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
(323) 650-0988
specsappealonline.com
Melrose Spa
7269 Melrose Ave
Hollywood, CA 90046
323-937-2122
www.midtowne.com/index.php?fuseaction=dsp_city&c_city=hollywood
FREE HIV TEST - 1 minute results
6210 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90028
323-467-6811
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Direct Male
free members-only e-boutique with insider access to the latest deals for men... for less.
West Hollywood, CA
(202) 483-0014
directmale.com
Entéra - the Artist
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With four minute cartoon portraits at your party or event, or full color cartoons done from emailed photos, INT
805-565-9492
entera-theartist.com
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+48 22 219 5028
epom.com
Ready to take your life back from methamphetamine?
Our research group at UCLA is conducting a research study on the effectiveness of a medication (varenicline) to help people stop using methampheatmine.
UCLA IRB# 11-001951 West Hollywood, CA 90046
866-449-UCLA (8252)
meth.uclasarx.org/2012/08/ready-to-take-your-life-back-from.html
Being Alive People with HIV/AIDS Action Coalition,
7531 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 100
West Hollywood, CA 90046
323.874.4322
beingalivela.org
Sunset Walk-In Healthcare and Occupational Medicine Clinic PC
Urgent Care/Occupational Medicine/Travel Medicine/Chiropractic Care @ 9201 Sunset Blvd., Mezzanine Level M-155 - First 50 patients to mention WeHo News throughout January receive a free flu shot
West Hollywood, CA 90069
310-273-1155
sunsetwalk-inhealthcare.com
Goorin Bros. Hat Shop
7627 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Hollywood Social Media
(323)301-0002
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce
8424 Santa Monica Blvd Suite A508
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Alpha For Men
8654 Melrose Ave
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Michael Poles Photography | COMMERCIAL | EVENTS | HEADSHOTS | PORTRAITS |
323.874.8973
West Hollywood, CA 90046
N101
6252 Romaine Street
Los Angeles, CA 90038
SuperConnect
180 North Stetson Avenue, Suite 5300
Chicago, IL 60601
FOUR LA
8016 Melrose
Los Angeles, CA 90046
AIDS Walk Los Angeles
3550 Wishire Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90010
MPGroup | CONSTRUCTION CONSULTANTS | FORENSIC EXPERT WITNESSES |
323.874.8973
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Gay Therapy LA - Counseling Psychotherapy Coaching for Gay Men - Ken Howard, LCSW
8430 Santa Monica Boulevard Suite 100
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Galstyan Plumbing
(323) 809-7447
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Personal Training With Luke Sholl
West Hollywood
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Blue Pacific Aesthetic
415 Pier Ave
Hermosa Beach, CA 90254
The Life Group LA
7985 Santa Monica Blvd #221
Los Angeles, CA 90046
Marco's Trattoria
8200 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
House of DoleWhip
7901 Santa Monica Blvd #106
West Hollywood, CA 90046
AntiAging Institute of California
9301 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Dr. Nathan Newman
9301 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
Dr. Michael Schwartz
960 East Green St.
Pasadena, CA 91106
Made in Los Angeles
18034 Ventura Blvd. #123
Encino, CA 91316
Fountain of Wellbeing
3835 Fountain Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90029
Michael Poles Mediation | CONSTRUCTION | PREMISES LIABILITY | REAL ESTATE |
323.874.8973
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Custom Comfort Mattress
8919 Beverly Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90048
Al and Ed's Autosound
8500 Santa Monica Boulevard
West Hollywood, CA 90069
The Water Spot
7901 Melrose Ave.
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Ice Cream
8720 Santa Monica Bl
West Hollywood, CA 90048
JTownsend Photos
Norton Avenue
West Hollywood, CA 90046
HEADLINE RECORDS
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Ticket Website HQ
2 Post Office Square Ste 2
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Back to Total Health
1106 N. La Cienega Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Bridget Toomey - CFS Mortgage
123 N. Lake Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90064
LA Jock
7978 & 8915 Santa Monica Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90046
Maginn's Irish Coffee House
8470 Santa Monica Blvd.
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Dr. Gary London
9201 Sunset Blvd
West Hollywood, CA 90069
Albano's Brooklyn Pizzeria
7261 Melrose Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90046
There’s something creepy and harrowingly true at the heart of Kenyetta Lethridge’s new play Innocent Flesh, now in a tryout run at the Zephyr in preparation for its off-Broadway debut in March.
Four girls work the streets, searching for… Love? That’s so twentieth century. These girls—unwanted, mistreated, given no real affection by their families—dream not just of love, but of fame. At anything: rock star, actor, model, reality star—it doesn’t matter, as long as they are on television.
The cast of Innocent Flesh: Daphne Gabriel, Clara Gabrielle, Jameelah Nuriddin, and Angelina Prendergast. Photo by Diana Zollicoffer.
Which ups the stakes considerably.
No more is it theoretically satisfying to imagine the love of one person—it has to be viral, global—nameless and faceless—which suits the profession in which they find themselves.
Even Lupita, played by Angelina Prendergast, who dreams of poetry and Paris, isn’t about to lose out. She wants her poems to make her famous and rich—as well as a television star.
Just like you. Just like me.
In exploring the stories of four girls who start hustling as young as age twelve, Innocent Flesh incorporates poetry, dance, and a sort of quasi-Greek chorus effect—though the chorus here is far more emotionally involved than the Greeks preferred. Which works well—and allows the actresses to also play their perpetrators—the pimps and abusive father figures who charm, seduce, and torture at will.
In fact, when the women played these men (especially Jameelah Nuriddin, who gets the strut, teasing whine, and humor just right) they come even more alive. There’s something freeing about letting them explore what it is not to be the victim, but the abuser.
The four actresses are all terrific. Their work is grounded in a genuine pathos that stops short of anything that feels like self-pity. These girls weigh the choices, check the odds, and get on with things.
Even as the choices they make go disastrously wrong.
That they will not find love and happiness at the hands of their pimps is not a surprise. Or much of a secret. And it takes a lot to explore this territory in a way that feels like it has something new to offer. Law & Order S.V.U. plays night and day, and there is no shortage of talented actresses playing teen hookers.
But there is something fresh about using all of these theatrical elements together. It distances you from the action because it isn’t entirely naturalistic, while at the same time drawing you in, sometimes dragging you, with its least common denominator take on suffering.
On a simple set, with no costume changes, and minimalist production effects, Lethridge does a lot to make her own material shine. You can feel how good her rapport is with her cast. She allows them enough room to fly, while keeping them anchored to her needs as a playwright and director.
There’s a lot of kids’ stuff at the start—jumping rope, singsong rhymes, etc.—and frankly, it starts wearing a little thin, until the chanting and rhyming go from wanting candy, to wanting crack. It’s a great moment. The girls act like smiling pitchwomen on television: Mom’s on crack, maybe I’ll like it too!
As I drove home last night after seeing the show, it was Clara Gabrielle’s eyes—she plays fourteen year-old Danna—that stayed with me. She wrings her face into agonized planes, trying to burrow deep inside herself and hide. Then with lightning speed, she leers languidly, completely embodying her pimp. A second later she’s a carefree girl again. Sunny, blonde, with everything beckoning, the whole world ahead—ready to be famous and loved.
Innocent Flesh runs through February 16 at The Zephyr Theatre, 7456 Melrose Ave., Hollywood, CA 90046. Tuesdays and Wednesdays, January 17, 18, 24, 25, 31, and February 1; Wednesdays and Thursdays, February 8, 9, 15, and 16. For more information: (323) 642-7606 or www.innocentfleshtheplay.com.
Samuel Bernstein is an award-winning author and screenwriter living in West Hollywood with husband Ronald Shore and their two unfathomable dachshunds.
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