Los Angeles actress Roslyn Cohn’s sense of timing is impeccable. She’s debuting her one-woman show about Scientology, “diffiCult to Leave,” on November 25 in Los Angeles — right between the dates the church itself has set for events that seem like last-ditch efforts to stave off Scientology’s steady decline.
Scientology has announced to its members that it’s putting on a big product launch and building grand opening on November 15-17, and then its annual International Association of Scientologists gala on November 29-30, with events being held in a giant tent in Clearwater, Florida.
But in LA, Cohn will counter that church self-promotion with a show we’ve been looking forward to ever since a rough-cut version appeared online several months ago.
We asked Roslyn, a veteran stage actress, what folks might expect from her show…
I will educate them on things like the E-Meter, The Ashtray Drill, Security Checking, the Sea Org (though I never was a member of it), how the cracks occurred during my 23 years in the church and the final straw that enabled me to break out. I wish I had time to thank those who helped, especially Astra Woodcraft who counseled me how to leave. I found her via a site online. All is told through narration and songs from musical theatre and some pop. It’s funny but ultimately moving. My story is one of a real person with a real problem who just wanted to be helped, and in the end found that what they promise cannot ever be delivered and you no longer are living life, but reading about it — and can be bankrupted in the end on many levels. My experience is typical of what any Scientologist goes through who is not a privileged celebrity.
The TomKat Project is also playing in LA this month (on Nov 14-17 at iO West theater) for only $15 a ticket. And Roslyn’s show only costs $28, so reserve your seats soon. Details can be found on her flier…
Speaking of fliers, it’s that time of the week again when we reveal what our tipsters have sent us lately.
We’re hearing from church members that they are being bombarded by messages about “The Basics.” It’s almost like it was 2007 all over again!
It was that year that Scientology leader David Miscavige had L. Ron Hubbard’s essential texts and lectures republished (short a bunch of semicolons), and church employees were then put under incredible pressure to sell them, at about $3,000 a set.
Now, the pressure to “do” the Basics is on again as a prerequisite for Scientology’s big new launches of the Golden Age of Technology II and Super Power. You can’t move forward until you go back and redo the stuff you should have done a long time ago — hey, how’s that for a slogan!
Anyway, we really enjoyed these three pitches for the Basics that promise all sorts of miracles if you’d just dedicate yourself to the wisdom of L. Ron Hubbard. Dig in!
Meanwhile, in San Diego, there’s a big push on to finish funding for an Ideal Org. But hey, didn’t the San Diego folks just sell the property they had bought for an Ideal Org, a former college campus that had sat dormant for several years? What gives, have they bought a new property yet? Does anyone know?
Here’s another flier for the San Diego project. Notice the names of the top two people in the list of donators: Kurt & Jenny Listug. Kurt is the wealthy co-founder of Taylor Guitars, and there’s a good reason why he’d be at the top of this roll call. In April 2006, the Listugs purchased the Chicago Title Insurance Co. building in downtown San Diego for $13.08 million, cash. We’re told that the Listugs offered it up to the church for use as an Ideal Org, but the national church felt it wasn’t the right shape or color (or something). So the next year, the Listugs sold the office building for $13.6 million. So much for that opportunity.
Scientology still has an org on 4th Street downtown — which has had a “for sale” sign on it for years — but again, we don’t know if another Ideal Org property has been acquired, and if you know, please tip us off!
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, plans to build a new events center at the Big Blue complex are gathering steam. The Ditkos are on board!
And in the UK, a familiar approach is used to gather funding for the new Ideal Org in Birmingham: If you build it, they will come!
Thanks again to our great tipsters. Keep those mailers and fliers coming!
——————–
Posted by Tony Ortega on November 3, 2013 at 07:00
E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
