Los Angeles writer, performer and social advocate Ryan Cassata will be this week's feature for Wednesday Night Poetry at Kollective Coffee+Tea, 110 Central Ave.
The regular open mic session for all poets begins at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. Cassata will perform at 7 p.m. followed by a second round of open mic. Admission is free and open to all ages.
As a writer, Cassata's works have appeared in numerous publications including Rolling Stone, Billboard Magazine, The Advocate, Huffington Post and The New York Times. His performance career includes, as a musician, over 550 performances across the United States and internationally with dates on the Van's Warped Tour, the SXSW festival and some of the world's biggest Pride festivals.
As an actor, Cassata was the main subject of the award-winning documentary "Songs for Alexis." He also had a lead role in the film "Collective: Unconscious," which garnered him the "Best Breakout Performance" award by the Victoria Independent Film Festival. He has also been part of many musical theatrical productions in New York.
His activism began at age 13 on Long Island, N.Y., when he started speaking publicly about transgender topics and was eventually featured on "The Larry King Show." He continues to give speeches about LGBTQ issues across the country.
Cassata's first piece of writing was a love song. "I was 12 years old. My mom was shocked that I was able to write a song," he said in a press release. "To me, it felt completely natural. I write because it feels great to complete a piece that will connect with audiences everywhere."
Among his favorite poets are Allen Ginsberg, Rumi and Kai Coggin. His favorite singer-songwriter is Bruce Springsteen.
When asked if there was anything else people should know about him, Cassata replied, "I grew up on Long Island, N.Y., but I'm a huge Boston Red Sox fan!" More information about Cassata is available at http://www.ryancassata.com.
Email [email protected] for more information.
Entertainment on 10/23/2018