NEW YORK, June 3 -- After multiple sold-out limited engagements in New York and Sydney, Australia, "Angry Young Women In Low-Rise Jeans With High-Class Issues," the raucous comedy written and directed by filmmaker turned playwright Matt Morillo, will open a six-week run at the Hudson Mainstage on Hollywood's Theater Row on October 3, 2008.

In the last two years, "Angry Young Women" has had three sold out runs in NYC (two Off Off Broadway and one Off Broadway) and two separate four-week runs in Sydney, Australia. It is making its title an idiom in New York and Australia and has amassed an enthusiastic fan base on two continents. The play, Morillo's first, was published this spring by Samuel French, along with Morillo's second play, "All Aboard the Marriage Hearse."

The show's website is www.angryyoungwomen.net.

The play, a light-to-serious look at the psychology of nervous urban goddesses, parades a series of foxy, witty and anxious women who bear the expectations of the world like an itchy muffler. They go head to head with such issues as Electra complexes, bikini waxes, low-rise jeans, oversexed mothers, thongs, brazen teenagers, men's sexual fantasies, side effects of birth control drugs, mean teenagers on the subway, sympathy sex and the artistic integrity of penises and vaginas in independent films. The show bills itself as "An Outrageous Comedy," and its postcards declare "Even though it's a play, it doesn't suck."

In the winter of 2006, writer/director and then-filmmaker Matt Morillo simply wanted to tell some funny stories about relationships and produced “Angry Young Women” as a lark, thinking it would be a one-time thing. However, the show keeps getting new life as new audiences discover its brash wit and cheeky subject matter. The show's success has been attributed to its broad appeal to both sexes. "Men seem to like it for its raunchy subject matter and women like it for its raw honesty and sensitivity to their personal issues," says Richard Barbadillo, co-producer and Matt’s partner in KADM Productions.

Morillo’s ability to appeal to both sexes stems from not only his own experiences dating women, but to his years as a “platonic friend” to many women. “Every male writer can write about relationships from a man’s perspective. That’s easy,” says co-producer/original cast member Jessica Durdock, “but Matt has a unique perspective because of his numerous female friends. He gets to see and hear a side of us that our boyfriends and husbands or even brothers don’t necessarily see, giving him great insight into how we think.”

With the play now becoming a national attraction, Morillo hopes the Hollywood production will not only lead to more theatrical success, but will also lead him back to the big screen. "I’ve had great success in theater and discovered a great love for it, but I have several screenplays ready to go and I would love to get back in the director’s chair on a film set. How about an “Angry Young Women” movie?" said Morillo.

Original cast members Jessica Durdock, Tom Pilutik, Nick Coleman and Jason Drumwright will return to reprise their roles. Brooke Hasalton, who was hostess of the New York Off Broadway run and a part-time cast member, will join the cast full time along with Gina Regalbuto. Regalbuto was lauded in Variety and Entertainment Today for her performance in "Romeo and Juliet" at the Art Works Theater in Hollywood last February. Writer/director Matt Morillo and cast members Jessica Durdock, Tom Piltuik and Nick Coleman will be moving to L.A. for the production.

The Hudson Mainstage Theater is located at 6539 Santa Monica Blvd. in Los Angeles. Shows will be October 2 to November 9, 2008; Thursdays through Saturdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 7:00 PM. (The preview is Thursday, October 2 and opening night is Friday, October 3.)

PRODUCTION HISTORY
"Angry Young Women In Low-Rise Jeans With High-Class Issues" premiered at the Duo Theater in New York's East Village January 19 to February 25, 2006 and was revived by Theater for the New City, NYC January 4 to February 24, 2007. In Sydney, Australia, Stella Green Productions produced 31 performances with an Australian cast and director from August 14 to September 2, 2007 and revived it with 27 performances from January 9 to February 9, 2008. An Off Broadway production opened at the Players Theater on MacDougal Street in Greenwich Village on July 12 and closed October 20, 2007.

ABOUT MATT MORILLO
Originally a filmmaker, born and raised in Hicksville (Long Island), Matt Morillo made an auspicious theatrical debut in 2006 with "Angry Young Women In Low-Rise Jeans With High Class Issues." His next play, the slightly more serious "All Aboard the Marriage Hearse" (Theater for the New City, 2008) was also extremely successful. Both plays have been issued by Samuel French Inc., making Morillo one of very few playwrights who've had their first two plays immediately published.

Prior to his theatrical shift, Morillo was a fixture on the New York independent film scene for ten years. He debuted at 23 with his romantic comedy, "The Pretenders," a film with a cast of unknowns and a non-existent budget that became an enjoyable, funny and ultimately touching film about twenty-somethings struggling with life's ups and downs. His next project, "Good Tidings," was a fifteen-minute short film about a young girl suffering through her parents' divorce. It received great praise at film festivals for its realism and honesty.

Morillo's third film, "Maid Of Honor," was a true breakthrough. A twenty-five minute comedy about a simple guy trying to hook up with the maid of honor at a wedding, it was a hit on the festival circuit, winning three awards, playing to sold-out theaters and leaving audiences laughing and begging for copies of the film.

Morillo has also written stand-up comedy for some of Los Angeles and New York's up and coming comedians.

PRESS CUTTINGS

From New York reviews of "Angry Young Women In Low-Rise Jeans With High Class Issues":

"Matt Morillo, a comedy writer from Long Island, directs his own series of sketches about the conundrums facing contemporary urban hotties – namely, thong underwear, bikini waxes, bad boyfriends, and late feminism. Though the language is blue, the skits have the good-natured mildness of network television comedy. Ironically, the best thing is the pitch-perfect dialogue that Morillo writes for the men in the ladies' lives: mystified young guys in generic jeans who prefer not to thing about their issues." -- The New Yorker (Reviewed by Joy Goodwin)

"Comedy and commentary intermingle pungently…It's comic…a bit angry, and highly satisfying." -- The Village Voice (Reviewed by Andy Probst)

"For a self-professed heterosexual, Matt Morillo is sure in touch with his feminine side. It might be easy to dismiss his Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues if the young women at a recent matinee didn't consistently whoop with hollers of recognition and delight….it does have some undeniably funny moments, and it clearly resonates with its target audience."-- The New York Post (Reviewed by Frank Scheck)

"Angry Young Women In Low-rise Jeans with High Class Issues is a must see for any Sex and the City fan…. captures the unexplainable yet undeniable differences between men and women…. The play is so well written…You cannot imagine the chaos…you have to see it… one hilarious eighty-five minute play." -- New York Cool (Reviewed by Shareshten Senior):

CRITIC'S PICK (A MUST SEE) "The Playwright/director seems able to grasp deeply many of these situations…and carve them into often-hilarious comic sketches." -- Backstage (Reviewed by Tom Penketh)

"Brilliant…laughs are to be had throughout…every joke is fast and funny…it is nearly impossible to find a reason not to laugh at this ingenious farce…a truly great piece of theater." -- Offoffonline.com (Reviewed by Timothy John Papp)

"Funny tales of sex and feminism…touches all but the most prudish of funny bones…raunchy but funny." -- Town and Village (Reviewed by Eugene Killick)

"It's like the Carol Burnett show…but with sex!" -- WOR Radio (Reviewed by Joey Reynolds)

"An evening of straight-up, sitcom-style comedy that boasts an outstanding cast, some fine direction, and many funny moments…Morillo is a talented comic writer and director…one thing Morillo does know is comedy and he directs with a superb sense of timing and pace…all too-amusingly familiar to anyone who's ever been in a long-term relationship." -- nytheatre.com (Reviewed by Michael Criscuolo)

"Left the audience both laughing and appalled…embraces all that is crazy, neurotic, hypocritical and vulnerable in our lives…teases without criticizing, challenges without preaching and looks at gender difference without determining a winner in the gender wars…Matt Morillo has written and directed a show that entertains men and women alike…Somehow he has managed to capture private female thoughts and intimate moments with such accuracy that you have to wonder if he had a personal peephole into the ladies' room at his local bar…the pace, momentum and vigor were unfailing and it was a sexy and shocking night at the theater." -- New York Cool (Reviewed by Corey Ann Haydu)

From New York reviews of "All Aboard the Marriage Hearse"

"Matt Morillo's insightful theatrical pre-marital cross examination of the institution of marriage, exposes one to the raw nerves struck by the specter of impending matrimony...Illuminates the tenuous Achilles tendons attached to the structure of marriage flayed bare by verbal surgical strikes of crisp dialogue...Even if you have your mind made up about marriage, lifelong commitment and conjugal bliss, All Aboard the Marriage Hearse is highly recommended for those considering the pros and cons of a trip down the aisle and what being a couple means in a post-feminist, pre-marital conundrum." -- NYC Reviews (Reviewed by Aziz Rahman)

"All Aboard the Marriage Hearse, is a small, intimate play that remains full of substance without any over-arching socio-political agendas. All the action and intensity one could want in a show takes place within the confines of an East Village living room, and this a case where less is certainly more… Morillo blends the highly comic with the more dramatic elements of Amy and Sean's fighting with aplomb, careful not to strip them of their humanity… Morillo upends what could have been a merely conventional play in several respects. First of all, he supplies an inordinate amount of exposition that suggests these characters actually have a rich history before the audience ever meets them, but never simply spoon feeds information when necessary. Secondly, he cares for both Amy's and Sean's perspectives equally… Hearse makes its case not only for the costs and benefits of marriage, but also for an overlooked theatrical subgenre… Morillo proves that smart comedy is alive and well." -- Offoffonline.com (Reviewed by Doug Strassler)

From Sydney, Australia reviews of "Angry Young Women In Low-rise Jeans With High Class Issues":

"This new work from New York playwright Matt Morillo is not afraid to ask the big questions. Are men and women really so different in matters of love? Do fathers influence their daughter's choice of a partner? Can a woman call herself a feminist and still wear a G-sting?...Morillo gets to the core of the most pressing issues plaguing our post-Sex and the City society…Each of the skits is witty, cheeky and all the more hilarious because of characters and experiences that are instantly recognizable…Morillo doesn't attempt to glibly answer the question, but rather throws it open…The female characters are beautiful, complex, full of opinions and wavering temperaments. The men are baffled, and the frequent bursts of knowing laughter from blokes in the audience suggest Morillo has drawn his material from common experiences." -- The Daily Telegraph (Reviewed by Alex Lalak)

"Matt Morillo hits the g-spot in his play Angry Young Women in Low-Rise Jeans with High-Class Issues, …It is a play that will enrage as equally as it will entertain as it fearlessly examines relationships between men and women and women and their own bodies…Thought-provoking and funny, this is a must-see for the angry young woman in all of us who wants to reclaim her power." -- Sydney Theatre.net (Reviewed by Unknown)

"A very funny show indeed…If the opening-night audience response is anything to go by, it would be a great show for a bunch of girlfriends to see together, and there's plenty for the lads to enjoy too."-- Australian Stage (Reviewed by Jack Teiwes)

"It's bold, brash and unashamedly straight shooting, as it explains in no uncertain terms exactly why the women of the world have had it up to their teeny-weeny G-strings with their lot in life. No, it's not a boring feminist rant that will leave you cold. It's an irreverent and gut-busting bunch of comedy vignettes that explore the truth about chicks, sex and the annoying realities of female grooming…From the opening moments it feels like the Cosmo sealed section grew a mouth and limbs and trotted out onto the stage… takes a no-holds-barred approach to pretty much everything when it comes to talking about sex…American playwright Matt Morillo's pithy and sharp dialogue is smartly handled by director Byron Kaye, who knows when to back off and when to crank up the volume. It's nice to see that this New York production has made a smooth cultural transition to the Australian stage. -- Australian Stage Online (Reviewed by Helen Barry)

"Matt Morillo delivers a balanced, funny and entertaining series of skits and monologues…Angry Young Women In Low-rise Jeans With High Class Issues has people rolling in the aisles with laughter." -- Aussie Theater.com (Reviewed by Troy Dodds)

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CONTACTS:
Press Representative for Mr. Morillo is Jonathan Slaff & Associates, (212) 924-0496, js@jsnyc.com.

PHOTOS FOR DOWNLOAD:
For high resolution photos of Matt Morillo and scenes from the original NY production of "Angry Young Women In Low-Rise Jeans With High-Class Issues," please see: http://picasaweb.google.com/jslaff/20089.