Jim Ortlieb

“You’ve tried everything. Yoga. Acupuncture. Therapy. You floated in salt water in the pitch-black dark. You juiced, you cleansed, you journaled, you cut, you volunteered. You got a mattress that fitted itself to your fetal form. You ate only RINDS for three days and nights. You reached out, you looked within,

You have tried.

and yet here you are”

A love letter to the theatrical experience that almost defies description. It was written by Olivier Award-nominated playwright John Kolvenbach and features Jim Ortlieb who delivers “a tour-de-force performance as a man desperate for connection, bent by isolation, and deeply in love with the audience itself.”

Sept 12 – Sept 27, 2025

Sept 12-15, 18-20, 25-27

Atwater Village Theater

3269 Casitas Ave

Los Angeles, CA 90039

echo fall fest

Winner of the LA Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Solo Performance

Steven Stanley, STAGESCENELA

“…As Bella, Noble brings her wistful protagonist to life with her e“Ortlieb delivers a tour-de-force performance in a role he was born to play.”

Deborah Kulgman, GIA ON THE MOVE

“Geared to anyone who’s ever coped with self-doubt or even the tiniest fraction of existential angst…Kolvenbach’s artful ironic text is exquisitely matched by Ortlieb’s actorly skill”

Don Aucoin, THE BOSTON GLOBE

“I felt the exhilaration of watching a writer taking a big swing and delivering.”

Heidy Weiss, WTTW

“Stunningly original…There is more than a touch of genius on display and [it] must be equally credited to the conceptual magic of John Kolvenbach and Jim Ortlieb. A TRUE TOUR-DE-FORCE TURN.”

ARTISTS

Jim Ortlieb

performer

Jim Ortlieb is a member of the rare breed of middle-class actors. After studying with William Esper and Kathryn Gately at Rutgers University, Jim was invited by Lois Hall to teach in Chicago at Lois Hall Studio, a mainstay of professional studios in the 1980’s. It was because of Lois that Jim Ortlieb was welcomed into the Chicago theater community. When she retired Jim renamed the school, Chicago Actors Project, which remained vibrant until 1989. During the 80’s and onward, Jim acted with many Chicago theaters, including The Goodman (Candide), Pheasant Run (Sorrows of Stephen), Organic (M the Murderer), Wisdom Bridge (Only Kidding), Northlight (All in the Timing), and Steppenwolf (Picasso at the Lapine Agile, The Man Who Came to Dinner), Touchstone (Racing Demon, Indiscretions), Gare St. Lazare Players (Hughie), Bailiwick (An Uncertain Hour by Nick Patricca) and as a member of American Blues Theatre he played the title role in Scapin. Ortlieb’s new found family of Chicago artists lead him all over the world. When Bob Meyer of the Gare St. Lazare Players moved to Europe to spend more time with his son, Charlie, Jim travelled there to collaborate on numerous productions with Bob and the extensive group of expatriated English speaking artists in Paris, Ireland, and England such as Hughie, The Homecoming, Faith Healer, and Requiem for a Heavyweight. Malcolm Ewen brought Jim to the Weston Playhouse in Vermont where he did Guys and Dolls, The Mikado, Candide, and Tartuffe. In the midst of the IATSE strike in 1999, Jim, his wife and two children moved to Los Angeles where they have lived ever since. Other acting credits include on Broadway in Aaron Sorkin’s The Farnsworth Invention, Of Mice and Men with James Franco and Chris O’Dowd directed by Anna Shapiro, and Guys and Dolls with Lauren Graham and Oliver Platt. The 1st National Tour of Billy Elliot the musical for two years in Chicago and in Toronto. In 2012 Ortlieb was nominated for an IRNE award for his lead performance in Half ’n Half ’n Half (now titled The Marriage Play) by John Kolvenbach. That relationship continues through today with Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight!

His film and TV credits include: Drunkboat with John Malkovich and John Goodman and directed by Bob Meyer, Flatliners, Home Alone, A Mighty Wind, Contagion, Chain Reaction, The Onion Movie, Latter Days, Bug, and Magnolia. His television credits include Station 19, American Horror Story, 911: Lone Star, How to Get Away With Murder, Grey’s Anatomy, West Wing, The Closer, Roswell, Six Feet Under, Gabriel’s Fire, and The Shield. Jim has done more than 75 commercials and voiceovers in his 45 years as an actor all of which has helped pay the bills. Both of Jim’s daughter returned to Chicago where they both graduated from DePaul University. Grainne (grahn-yah) Ortlieb, a Theatre School grad, remains in Chicago with the community the whole family calls home.

John Kolvenbach

playwright & director

John Kolvenbach Stand Up If You’re Here Tonight premiered in LA and at Harbor Stage, then played at American Blues in Chicago, in Paris and at the Huntington Theatre in Boston.On the West End: Love Song (with Cillian Murphy, Olivier nomination, Best New Comedy, directed by John Crowley) and On an Average Day (with Woody Harrelson and Kyle MacLachlan, also directed by Mr. Crowley.) Love Song premiered at Steppenwolf, directed by Austin Pendelton. It has been produced in New York, Zurich, Melbourne, Sydney, Wellington, Seoul and Rome. There have been over fifty productions in the U.S. Average Day was produced in Los Angeles by VS. and in Chicago by VS. and Route 66. Average Day has been produced in Tel Aviv, Buenos Aires, and Lisbon. Goldfish premiered at South Coast Repertory, then at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco, directed by Loretta Greco. The play was done in repertory with Mrs. Whitney, which was directed by the author. Reel to Reel received its premiere at the Magic. Sister Play received its premier at Harbor Stage Company and at the Magic, both productions directed by the author. Other plays include: Fabuloso, (Premiered at WHAT, subsequent productions in San Juan and Zurich, in Spanish and Swiss German) Gizmo Love (with Pedro Pascal at WHAT) Bank Job (Amphibian Stages) and Marriage Play or Half ‘n Half ‘n Half (Merrimack Rep.) Film: Clear Winter Noon, an original screenplay, was selected for the Blacklist in 2008.

Audience

yeah, you:

no one gets out unscathed

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