NOTE: Fringe International Winner “Burton” gets encore

Sometimes when you pick up the couch cushions and give’em a shake, loose change falls to the floor. Even a few pennies can feel like a victory.

So it is after the Hollywood Fringe Festival where we lift it up, give it a shake, and see which performances get another life. Burton is one. The one-man show about the iconic Welshman, Richard Burton, starring Rhodri Miles (a spitting image) hits the stage for 3 performances this week at Theatre Asylum in Hollywood. It’s a co-production with Theatre of NOTE, which hosted Burton for Fringe.

From the release:

Rhodri Miles as Richard Burton

Burton

examines very closely the life of Richard Burton, arguably one of the best film and stage actors of his generation. This exquisite 75 minute one-man show is more than mere entertainment. It’s a historically pertinent theatrical presentation. Burton himself was raised in Wales in abject poverty, going on to amass fortunes due to his extraordinary abilities, his ‘rags-to-riches story is a perfect representation of the ‘American Dream’ and the subject matter will be of particular interest to the Los Angeles community which Burton regarded as his adopted home.

“I’ve always wanted to play Richard Burton” said Rhodri Miles, who is in his late thirties and was born in Pontarddulais, just six miles away from Burton’s birthplace in Pontrhydyfen. “He was a great thespian actor, an alcoholic womaniser who often said that his natural disposition to the Celtic gloom was caused by the mist in the hills and the black in the coal, all of it seeping into his very being. When you think of Welsh iconic figures, he’s one of them”

Rhodri Miles (Eastern Promises, Torchwood, Holby City) takes on the role of the younger BURTON fresh from a successful run to critical acclaim at this years Edinburgh Fringe Festival which received glorious 4/5 star reviews.Since leaving the Metropolitan Police Force, Rhodri trained at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School and has been a professional actor for fifteen years. He has appeared in many British television dramas and stage plays but American audiences may have seen him as the senior Police officer in David Cronenberg’s movie ‘Eastern Promises’. He also played Dylan Thomas to critical acclaim at the Edinburgh fringe in 2007 in Gwynne Edwards’ play “Dylan Thomas in London ” and is about to play Thomas again in Gwynne Edward’ new one-man play ‘Dylan Thomas – The Clown in the Moon’.

‘Burton’ received 4/5 star reviews at the Edinburgh festival in 2009. It has since toured throughout Britain and will be the only show representing Wales at this years ‘Inaugural Hollywood Fringe Festival June 17th – 27th .

Starring  RHODRI MILES; Written by: Gwynne Edwards; Directed by: Hugh Thomas

July 1 – 3, 2010 Thursday, Fridays and Saturdays @ 8pm; Admission: $15.00 (Seniors, Students: $10.00). Half price tickets available at goldstar.com.

Where: Theatre Aslyum 6320 Santa Monica Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90038  323-962-1632

Online purchase here or 800-838-3006.