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RiTA HOUSE PRESENTS
THE CHRIS GABO SHOW — LIVE PODCAST
An intimate evening of conversation, culture, and sound.

​Join us for a special live taping of The Chris Gabo Show, hosted by award-winning playwright, HBO screenwriter, and recording artist Chris Gabo. This exclusive experience blends unfiltered dialogue, creative insight, and live music—filmed with a select audience of just 20 guests.

​🎥 Filmed live | Only 20 seats available — reservations required
📍Rita House: 5971 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA 90036
7:30 PM DOORS
8:00 PM SHOW STARTS *no late entries*

​Beer and wine will be available before the show starts.

​Co-Hosted by Analisa Velez: a multi-hyphenate artist who loves to create and become the vessel for new projects. Recently she was a series regular on The Game (Paramount+, Amazon Prime),  appeared on Quantum Leap, Sneaky Pete and Monsterland. She is a youngARTS alumni and continues to expand her creativity. Analisa's play "The Lovelies" can be read in the Steppenwolf Theater play resource "The Mix". She recently co-produced and acted in "The Newlyweds:Blood at the Alter," executive produced by Tarell Alvin McCraney (Moonlight.) She is also a singer/songwriter/rapper. Listen to her music on all platforms: @analisa and videos on YouTube: @analisavelezmusic. Follow on IG: @analisavelez

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​GUESTS:

Ebonie Smith
Ebonie Smith is a multi-platinum award-winning music producer, audio engineer, and activist. She is the Co-Chair of the Producers & Engineers Wing at the Recording Academy and the founder of Gender Amplified, a nonprofit dedicated to advancing women and gender-expansive people in music production. Through her work, she champions equity, innovation, and education in the recording industry

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Maytha Alhassen
Writer, producer, professor, and cultural strategist known for her work on Hulu’s Ramy, Pop Culture Collaborative’s Haqq and Hollywood, and appearances on CNN, NPR, and Al Jazeera.

​Zanib
Afro-Nubian vocalist and violinist blending Arabic and English vocals with Afro-beats and soul for a one-of-a-kind global sound.

​ABOUT OUR HOST

​Chris Gabo is a Latinx Writer/Producer and award-winning playwright from New York with an M.F.A. in playwriting from the Yale School of Drama, where he studied under Tarell Alvin McCraney. His plays have been recognized by the Sundance MENA Theatre Lab, the O’Neill National Playwrights Conference, and the Cherry Lane Mentor Project, with playwright Rajiv Joseph. While contracted to an overall deal with HBO, he wrote the ‘Eladio’ series of episodes which starred Anthony Ramos in the Emmy nominated reboot of IN TREATMENT, developed two original series with producer Sam Levinson, and was staffed in the PARASITE writers room showrun by Enzo Mileti and Scott Wilson (“Fargo”). He is currently a Co-Producer on the Netflix series, MO. Gabo is also writing a feature film for Elara Pictures (Safdie Brothers) and MGM/UA, a comedy pilot with Drew Pearce and Brett Goldstein for HBO, and an original series for A24. Gabo is also a rapper, recording artist, and songwriter who has opened up for artists as varied as Soulja Boy and Chilean hip-hop luminary Ana Tijoux. He is the host of the Chris Gabo Show.

​Musical Performance by Zanib 

​As an Afro- Nubian vocalist and violinist, Zanib channels her Sudanese heritage to express her story through bilingual vocals in Arabic and English. Her production ranges from eclectic soul to skillfully blending ethnic influences and Afro-beats to craft an  eccentric global Afro-wave sonic experience.

​Maytha Alhassen

​Maytha Alhassen is a writer, producer, journalist, professor, and social impact strategist bridging pop culture and justice. She is a Co-Executive Producer, Writer, and Social Impact Advisor for Hulu’s Peabody-winning series Ramy, and a Senior Fellow at Pop Culture Collaborative, where she authored the landmark 2018 report Haqq and Hollywood: Illuminating 100 Years of Muslim Tropes and How to Transform Them.

​A TED Resident (2017) and current Harvard Fellow in Religion and Public Life in Art + Pop Culture (2021–24), Alhassen also serves as Executive Producer of the docuseries American Muslims: A History Revealed, co-hosts the Amazon Music meditation podcast Become, and hosts Key Terms, an educational web series. On screen, she has appeared as a co-host on The Young Turks and a guest co-host and digital producer for Al Jazeera English’s The Stream, with additional appearances on CNN, NPR, and HuffPost Live. In 2012, she co-edited Demanding Dignity: Young Voices from the Front Lines of the Arab Revolutions and has written for CNN, Boston Review, Los Angeles Review of Books, The Baffler, and more. In academia, Alhassen has taught at Stanford, Chapman, and Prescott College, and conducted research for Columbia University’s Malcolm X Project. She holds a Ph.D. and M.A. from USC in American Studies & Ethnicity, an M.A. in Anthropology from Columbia, and a B.A. from UCLA in Political Science and Arabic/Islamic Studies.

​ABOUT RITA HOUSE

​Rita House is a dynamic, multi-use space where people of all generations come to work, create, film, and host events. Located in a stunning 1926 Spanish Colonial building in the heart of Hollywood, Rita House bridges nearly a century of creative history with modern innovation.

​Originally built in 1929 as a Prop Design Studio for film and television, the building later became a violin factory producing instruments for schools nationwide. In 1967, it was purchased by award-winning costume designer Rita Riggs, who worked with legends like Alfred Hitchcock and Norman Lear. Rita established her design studio here and pioneered a unique model of creative coworking, cultivating a community of design professionals who shared her commitment to excellence and collaboration.

​Today, architects and founders Tash Rahbar and Scott Strumwasser continue Rita’s legacy. After operating their architectural practice in the space for over three decades, they lovingly restored the nearly 100-year-old building and transformed it into the sanctuary for creative exploration it is today—carrying forward Rita’s spirit of innovation and community.

​In 2024, Rita House expanded its creative capabilities with a full-service production center, including professional content creation facilities and a podcasting studio developed in partnership with Operation Podcast. @ritahouseon3rd 

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