Monday, November 19, 2012

'DRIVING MISS DAISY' SET TO OPEN JAN. 18


            "Driving Miss Daisy" will open Jan. 18, 2013, at the Sierra Madre Playhouse, 87 W. Sierra Madre Blvd., Sierra Madre, CA.  Christian Lebano is set to direct Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy-drama.
            “Driving Miss Daisy” is set mostly in Atlanta, Georgia  between 1948 (just before the dawn of the Civil Rights Era)  and 1973 and chronicles the relationship between fiercely independent Daisy Werthan, an affluent Jewish widow,  and her African-American chauffeur, Hoke Coleburn,  hired by Daisy’s son when she can no longer drive herself. Their working relationship begins with difficulty. They eventually achieve a warm friendship.
             Concerns of both class and race leave their mark in the narrative. So do historical events, such as the bombing of Atlanta’s largest synagogue by the Confederate Underground in 1958 along with the Citizens of Atlanta dinner celebrating Martin Luther King’s Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
            The cast of the new production of “Driving Miss Daisy” includes Mary Lou Rosato (veteran of eleven shows on Broadway; Drama Desk Award winner for her performance in “The School For Scandal”) and Willie C. Carpenter (from the new TV series “1600 Penn”). Brad Reed and Mitch Ward round out the cast.
            Playwright Alfred Uhry says he based his characters on composites of a number of real people that he knew in his younger days. Uhry won the Pulitzer Prize for this play, and later won an Oscar ® for its screenplay adaptation. He won Tony Awards ® for his scripts for “Parade” and “The Last Night of Ballyhoo.”
            Recently at Sierra Madre Playhouse, Lebano directed the critically acclaimed production of “Woman in Mind” and appeared in leading roles in “To Kill A Mockingbird” and “Our Town.” He has directed shows in Los Angeles, Chicago, Milwaukee and San Diego. He will bring a depth of vision and imagination to “Driving Miss Daisy” as he did to “Woman in Mind.”
            Executive producer: Estelle Campbell. Associate producer: Sherrie Lofton. Production stage manager: Kristin Weber. Original music: Jonathan Beard. Set design: Gary Wissmann. Costume design: Kristen Kopp. Wig design: Cristina Waltz. Sound design: Barry Schwam. Graphic design: David Byrd.

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WHEN: January 18- March 9, 2013. Fri. and Sat. at 8:00, Sun. at 2:30. The Gala opening night performance on Friday, January 18 will be followed by a Champagne reception and light buffet.
ADMISSION: $25. Seniors (65+) and students (13-17), $22. Children 12 and under, $15.
RESERVATIONS: (626) 355-4318.
ONLINE TICKETING: www.sierramadreplayhouse.org

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