Deborah K. Swanson

People call Wood “the Luckiest Girl in the World.” She’s also bawdy, brazen and brave. She can move to a new country, make a TV network tow the line on a budget – but she can’t lift a pint of milk. She can’t walk, either. She has SMA (Spinal Muscular Atrophy). It may not seem like it, but Natasha has multiple gifts.

While the usual phrase is “confined to a wheelchair,” there isn’t anything that confines this witty Brit’s spirit. As she quips, “What I lack in movement, I make up for vocally!” At 36, Wood is living her dream of living in America and performing. She had quite the jet-set life in England with a fairytale marriage, quirky parents, siblings, and a hot job as production manager for the BBC.

Now, she is writing a new chapter of stories that will keep you “rolling with laughter,” sometimes through tears. Her story is an empowering, humorous, one-of-a-kind take on life, love and lingerie – with a little disability and love of firemen thrown in – that inspires others to live as large as Wood does on a daily basis. This girl won’t be kept down – she’s rolling on, and spreading the laughter with her. Hang on and enjoy the ride!

Following this World Premiere, Rolling with Laughter will continue on to London for the Fringe Festival press previews in July 2007, in preparation for the Edinburgh Fringe Festival August 5-27, New York in October, culminating in a one-night fund-raising event in London’s West End for The Jennifer Trust (a Spinal Muscular Atrophy support organization) in the spring of 2008.

So, here are the details:
The World Premiere of Natasha Wood’s one woman show Rolling With Laughter opens at the historic El Portal Theatre in North Hollywood, CA, Monday, April 2, 2007. This tale of life from Wood’s unique vantage point is written by Ms. Wood and Beverly Sanders, with Cameron Watson directing. Performances are in the El Portal’s Forum Theatre at 8 p.m. Mondays and Tuesdays through May 8. Tickets are $20 previews (April 2, 3), $25 for regular performances April 9-May 8. For tickets and information, call 818-508-4200, or visit www.elportaltheatre.com. Check out her blog at www.rollingwithlaughter.com and her video at www.rollingwithlaughter.com/video/htm. If you enter the code “debslaughing,” you can purchase your tickets for $15. You’ll be glad you did!