Lynn Manning
Mr. Lynn Manning is an award winning playwright, poet, actor, Paralympic Silver Medallist and former Blind Judo Champion of The world. He accomplished all of this after being shot and blinded in a Hollywood bar at age 23, in 1978. These experiences landed him the job of technical consultant to the 2005 ABC/Bochco drama BLIND JUSTICE. Inspired by his involvement with the series, Lynn is currently developing a TV series drawn from his group home experiences, as well as a screenplay based on WEIGHTS.
IN October of 2005, Lynn was invited to present a "command performance" of WEIGHTS for opening night of The Fourth International Blind And Visually Impaired Theatre Festival in Zagreb, Croatia. Lynn closed 2005 with a month-long tour of The United Kingdom, finishing with a triumphant two weeks at London's Oval House Theatre. BBC Radio is currently considering producing WEIGHTS as a radio drama.
In 2004, New York's Theater By The Blind's "Off Broadway" production of WEIGHTS received raves from New York reviewers. In Los Angeles, Center Theater Group's original 2001 production of WEIGHTS was not only critically acclaimed, but also won three NAACP Theater Awards, including Best Actor for Lynn. Lynn has since performed Weights at The Kennedy Center For The Performing arts in Washington DC; at The 2003 National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and at The 2003 Third International Blind And Visually Impaired Theater Festival in Zagreb, Croatia. That performance got Lynn invited back to Zagreb to open the festival last year.
Lynn is Co-founder and Literary Manager of Watts Village Theater Company (WVTC) which is dedicated to bringing theater and theater arts education to L.A.'s underserved community of Watts. He is also President of the Firehouse Theater Company--dedicated to the involvement of persons with disability in all aspects of the theatrical performing arts.
Lynn Manning has also written several multiple character plays. The May 2005 Watts Village Theater Company "production of Lynn Manning's Afro-Latino twist on Othello, titled, UP FROM THE DOWNS, received stellar reviews from both the L.A. Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. WVTC's 2003 production of Manning's play, PRIVATE BATTLE, at The Mafundi Institute in Watts, received rave reviews from community and critics alike, as well as an NAACP Theater Award.. WVTC's Year 2000 production of Lynn's play, THE LAST OUTPOST, (originally commissioned by The New York Shakespeare Festival Theatre) was nominated for four NAACP Theater awards. Cornerstone Theater Company's production of Lynn's CENTRAL AVE. CHALK CIRCLE won an Ovation Award for Best Small Theater Production of 1995. Collective productions of Lynn's one act plays, titled, ON THE BLINK, and VISITATIONS, garnered Lynn Dramalog Critics' Awards for 1994 and 1996, respectively.
As a television actor, Lynn has appeared on TV shows such as 8 SIMPLE RULES, Popular, Sienfeld, The Sinbad Show, and Dream On. He has been featured in commercials for Nike Shoes, Hewlet Packard, Sweppes, Bank Of America, Sprint Long Distance, and more. Lynn wrote and starred in the independent short film, Shoot!, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival in 2001, and world premiered on HBO/Cinemax the same year. He is an active member of the Screen Actors' Guild, Actors' Equity, and the American Federation Of Radio And Television artists. He is also a current member of the actor's Studio's West-coast Writers/Directors Unit.
In 2001, Lynn completed 3 years as California arts Council's Artist In Residence with the Mark Taper Forum’s "Other Voices Project." As resident playwright, he conducted playwriting and storytelling workshops for the physically disabled and visually impaired at the Braille Institute Of America (Hollywood), Rancho Los Amigos Hospital (Downy), The Los Angeles Theater Center (Downtown L.A.), and The Mark Taper Forum Annex.
While pursuing his career in the fine arts, Lynn achieved 'world class' status in competitive judo. He represented the United states in the 1988 Paralympic Games in Seoul, South Korea. He went on to become the U.S. Olympic Committee's "Blind Male Athlete Of The Year" after winning the Blind Judo World Championship at the 1990 World Victory Games in Holland. He also won the first World Cup for blind judo in Sassarre, Sardinia (Italy) in 1991, and took a silver medal in the 1992 Paralympics at Barcelona. Lynn also took Silver at the 1991 Tokyo International Invitational For Blind Judo and Bronzes at The International Blind Sports Association World Championships at Colorado Springs (1995) and Madrid, Spain (1998). Now retired from competition, Lynn is a volunteer judo instructor at the Braille Institute of America, in Los Angeles.
Lynn's poetry has appeared in numerous magazines and literary anthologies such as, STARING BACK (THE DISABILITY EXPERIENCE FROM THE INSIDE OUT), and GRAND PASSION, an anthology of Los Angeles poets. His first solo spoken word' CD, CLARITY OF VISION was release on New Alliance Records in 1994.
Lynn's award winning one act play, SHOOT, is soon to be published in the anthology, BEYOND VICTIMS AND VILLAINS (CONTEMPORARY PLAYS BY DISABLED PLAYWRIGHTS). edited by Victoria Ann Lewis, Ph.D.
Bridge Multimedia and Remote Recordings have just released a stereo/surround sound audio CD of WEIGHTS titled, WEIGHTS: ONE BLIND MAN'S JOURNEY.
For more information about the CD, visit www.bridgemultimedia.com/weights.
