The debut L.A. stage production of  Carole Cook Died For My Sins,  written by Insecure alum Mason McCulley,  and inspired by his longtime friendship with Lucille Ball protégé and close friend Carole Cook opens at the Skylight Theater on Sunday, Oct. 20, and will run through Sunday, Nov. 10. The solo show will be performed by McCulley and is directed by  L.A. theater director and film writer Cameron Watson (Break a Hip, Our Very Own). 

Mason McCulley

Carole Cook and Mason McCulley (Courtesy Mason McCulley)

Carole Cook Died For My Sins explores the visceral and figurative downward spiral McCulley faced following the death of his beloved mentor and longtime confidant, Cook, who passed away at the age of 98 in 2023.  After losing his mother that same year he describes the experience as facing magic and mystery, eventually transforming grief into grace, while celebrating sex, sobriety, and salvation with humility and humor.

 “I first met Carole in 2001 when I was 18 years old in Birmingham, Alabama,” McCulley tells L.A. Weekly of the fiery southern redhead whose many featured roles included the lusty Naomi Yates in Palm Springs Weekend.  “It was the only time she reprised the role of Dolly Levi in HELLO, DOLLY! since 1965. I was in the audience and was enraptured by her performance. We started as friends with a mutual admiration for one another but over the years it turned into a mutual love. She was a confidant, mentor, consort, and muse. She and her husband, actor Tom Troupe, treated me like family. I found a home in them.

“Carole and I grew even closer in 2015 when my mother was diagnosed with Frontotemporal Dementia, ”  says McCulley, who studied Theatre Arts at Pepperdine University in Malibu.  “Carole saw my struggle and became a north star in my life, a constant amidst internal darkness and chaos. When Carole passed, I lost my compass. The one thing I still believed in was gone. At the time of my mother’s diagnosis, my drinking game was already strong,  I’m sure due to growing up closeted and queer in Alabama. It escalated after my mother’s diagnosis and rock bottom was hit after Carole’s passing. I had gone on a two-week West Hollywood bender of sorts that was certainly one for the books, or rather, the stage. I am currently sober from alcohol, and I truly believe Carole had a hand in this from the other side of the veil. With her passing my north star only got brighter.”

Tickets are on sale now here.

Mason McCulley

Mason McCulley (Rowan Daly)