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For Immediate Release 

May 10, 2023
Press Contact: Sandra McNeill
BlackWhenIWasABoy@gmail.com
310.980.2180 

“Black When I Was A Boy - Part II Blacked Out”
Comes to the Hollywood Fringe Festival 2023
LOS ANGELES (May 9, 2023) – Cooper Bates’ solo show, Black  When I Was A Boy returns to the Hollywood Fringe this June for an  encore with Black When I Was A Boy, Part II, Blacked Out. Bates is  bringing multicultural characterizations, through the lens of an honest,  moving, and even humorous look at a complex, fascinating, and  powerful coming of age story. 

Black When I Was A Boy, Part II Blacked Out is an autobiographical  recollection of the extraordinary inner life of Bates' younger self -  Frankie Bates. Bates' story takes us from childhood as he grows into a  young adult when he moves to Dallas, Texas with big ambitions and his  eyes set on making it in the entertainment industry. Shortly after  arriving, he is introduced to Mr. Pope, a mid-level, out-of-the-box thinking businessman and shepherd of young talent. While Pope  grooms and imparts wisdom to the young Kansas native, everything  goes well for the two until it begins to go very wrong. Bad advice  followed by an even worse choice changes the lives of both men, leading  to the total devastation of their relationship and leaving Frankie at odds  with the value of his life. 

In March 2023, Black When I Was A Boy, Part II, Blacked Out won the  Most Inspired Performance Award at the Asheville Fringe Festival. In  April 2023, Bates also had the honor of headlining the 369 Festival with  both shows at the Wortham Center for the Performing Arts to sold out  audiences. 

WHERE: The Hudson Theatre - 6539 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood,  CA 

PERFORMANCE 

Saturday, June 3rd, at 8:30 p.m. - Preview
Monday, June 12th at 8:30 p.m.
Thursday, June 22 at 8:30 p.m.
Friday, June 23rd at 6:30 p.m.

TICKETS $20.00 The Hollywood Fringe Festival - Black When I Was A  Boy - part II Blacked Out 

 Tickets can also be acquired at the Hudson Theatre box office.
Age-appropriate 14+ parental consent, the show deals with sexual  content. 

Black When I Was A Boy, Part II Blacked Out is partnering with  Asheville based charity, Our VOICE, Inc., a non-profit crisis  intervention and prevention agency that serves survivors of sexual  violence, age 13 through adult in Buncombe County. https:// www.ourvoicenc.org/about/ 

Written and performed by Cooper Bates.
Consulting Directors:  Frankie Louise and Stephanie Beckman 

ABOUT THE ARTISTS 

Cooper Bates (Playwright & Performer) was born in Kansas but raised  by the world. Bates grew up as the only Black child in a small Caucasian  community in Kansas. He never saw himself as Black, until he was  typecast as Nigger Jim in the school production of Huckleberry Finn in  sixth grade. After a college stint on a wrestling scholarship, Bates settled  in Dallas, Texas to study acting full time at Kim Dawson’s Acting  Conservatory. Before long Bates was invited to Los Angeles by a casting  director. When a motorcycle accident forced a hiatus from acting, Bates  took the opportunity to visit Haiti as an educator. The novice teacher  suffered a near fatal scorpion bite only to be resuscitated by a voodoo  remedy, was nearly flogged by an angry mob, and fought off a shark  with his bare hands, all the while inspiring a love of leaning into his  elementary aged students at Kaliko Beach school. After returning to Los  Angeles, Bates wrote and directed fifteen short films, directed a dozen  plays, and wrote nine screenplays. An acting partner approached Bates  with an idea to trademark the name “Hint Mint,” as a breath mint  company and sell it to fund their artistic endeavors. The plan was only  going to take six months but ended up taking fifteen years to question in  2017. Black When I was A Boy is a turn back to his passion. Bates is a professional photographer, co-founder and managing partner  of Hint Mint, Creator Founder of I Think Therefore I Question, Creator  of the TEDx concept and Co-Producer/Founder of TEDx Skid Row,  Founder of Idea Project, and has raised two beautiful daughters with his  lovely wife. Bates’ is delighted to bring his highly anticipated  autobiographical solo show, Black When I Was A Boy, Part II:  Blacked Out to the Hollywood Fringe Festival.

Frankie Louise - (Consulting Director) is a writer, director,  performer, hacker of non-ordinary states of consciousness. Stephanie Hickling Beckman - (Consulting Director) is a co founder of Different Strokes! And Performing Arts Collective. She has  been active in Asheville North Carolina's theatre scene since 1997. She  has worked with several local theatre companies as an actor, stage  manager and director. She has toured nationally as an actor. As the  Managing Artistic Director & Producer for Different Strokes, Steph is  committed to directing and producing theatre that makes a difference.

Comps available for members of the press upon request.
Please contact - Sandra McNeill
323.404.0796
BlackWhenIWasAboy@gmail.com 

For additional information and reviews: CooperBates.com https://better-lemons.com/production/black-when-i-was-a-boy/ "Cooper's honesty as a writer is inspiring and breathtaking. As an actor,  he's at total ease, with a seamless performance technique, and a  fearlessness in terms of developing a character that is a master class in  itself. BLACK WHEN I WAS A BOY is raw, riveting, brave, funny, smart,  and universal in its theme and depiction of claiming one's own identity  with pride and determination. See it--you'll be blown away." Sweet -  Lisa Mulcahy Writer, Theatre Director