Stage: “Above the Line” with Jason Stuart opening tonight at the Bootleg Theatre

Chatted with the funny and talented Jason Stuart at Outfest Fusion last weekend and he is very excited about Above the Line, a play he co-stars in that opens tonight at the Bootleg Theatre.

Jason is a very prolific character actor whose film credits include Coffee Date, 10 Attitudes, Twisted Faith, The Chronicles of Holly-Weird and The Pit and the Pendulum. He’s also made dozens of guest spots on television shows with the most recent being roles on episodes of The Closer, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and Everybody Loves Chris.

“I’ve never played a lead in a play in my life,” Jason told me, adding: “I’m so tired. I don’t even know why I’m here. I should be lying down!”

“We do a scene and I keep thinking, ‘Oh, I was good in that. Let’s tape it!”

“I play a producer named Jeremy Fisher and my mother is a very big star a la Elizabeth Taylor. I’m trying to get a movie going about the Boston Tea Party and yet I know nothing about history – all I know is about show business.”

Here is a synopsis of the play from the Bootleg Theatre Website:

ABOVE THE LINE plays with sex, lies and videotape in this hilarious and sexy farce about the making of a Hollywood movie. This is not your mother’s comedy! ABOVE THE LINE hits below the belt; a sexual fandango with a December/June relationship between Jeremy (JASON STUART) and Christian (STEWART W. CALHOUN), and a fiery fling between Lucy (HEATHER MARIE MARSDEN) and John (NICK MENNELL). The comedy gives us a peek at the lying, cheating and stealing that’s goes on during the production of a Hollywood movie, about the Boston Tea Party with Studio executive Angela King (DENISE DOWSE). Never seen but always present via phone and video, “Mother” (an ELIZABETH TAYLOR clone), movie star from yesteryear, complicates the plot in the most intriguing way through the use of multi-media on stage. The play includes spy cams, betrayals and the creation of an accidentally brilliant, Oscar winning musical film! Get Tickets

Jason is busy with other projects as well. Namely an April 5 benefit at the Laugh Factory in West Hollywood. Proceeds benefit the LA Gay & Lesbian Center’s LifeWorks mentoring program. I’ll have more about this upcoming event next week!