Wishful Drinking at Broadway's Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street) celebrated its official opening last night, Sunday, October 4th, 2009. BroadwayWorld.com's cameras captured the celebrated crowd as they arrived to cheer Carrie Fisher on as she returned to the Great White Way!
Wishful Drinking is created and performed by Carrie Fisher and directed by Tony Taccone at Studio 54 on Broadway (254 West 54th St). In Wishful Drinking, Carrie Fisher recounts the true and intoxicating tale of her life as a Hollywood legend, told with the same wry wit she poured into bestsellers like Postcards from The Edge.
The daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, Carrie Fisherbecame a cultural icon when she starred as "Princess Leia" in the first Star Wars trilogy at 19 years old. Forever changed, Carrie's life did not stay picture perfect. Fisher is the life of the party in this uproarious and sobering look at her Hollywood hangover.
Wishful Drinking premiered in November 2006 at the Geffen Playhouse and enjoyed an extended engagement there through January 2007. Following that premiere, the show has completed successful runs at a number of not-for-profit theatre organizations around the country including Berkeley Repertory Theatre (February 2008), Arena Stage (September 2008), Huntington Theatre Company (October 2008) and Seattle Repertory Theatre (April 2009). Roundabout Theatre Company is pleased to welcome Carrie Fisher to Studio 54.
Wishful Drinking will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:00PM. Prices range from $31.50-$111.50.
Wishful Drinking the book, based on the Broadway Play, was on the New York Times bestseller list for 14 weeks, and will be available in paperback from Simon & Schuster in fall 2009
Carrie Fisher (Creator, Performer). Carrie Fisher has been a compelling force in the film industry since her feature film debut opposite Warren Beatty in the 1975 hit Shampoo. The daughter of Eddie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, she became a cultural icon when she played Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. Her star-studded career includes roles in countless films such as The Blues Brothers, The Burbs, Charlie's Angels, Garbo Talks, Hannah and her Sisters, The Man with One Red Shoe, This is My Life, and When Harry Met Sally, In 1987, Fisher's book, Postcards from The Edge, leapt onto the New York Times' bestseller list and netted her the Los Angeles Pen Award for Best First Novel. Four more bestsellers have followed: Delusions of Grandma, Surrender the Pink, The Best Awful and Wishful Drinking. Fisher turned Postcards into a screenplay for the hit film starring Shirley MacLaine and Meryl Streep, and is currently adapting The Best Awful for Lifetime & Sony television with producers Bruce Cohen and Dan Jinks. Her writing has also appeared in Details, Harper's Bazaar, the New York Times, Travel & Leisure, Vogue, and many other major publications. Her television credits range all the way from Laverne and Shirley to Sex in the City, with a recent Emmy nomination for her appearance on the popular NBC program 30 Rock. Her experiences with addiction and bipolar disorder-and her willingness to speak honestly and candid about them-have made her a sought-after speaker and respected advocate for these communities.
Tony Taccone (Director) is completing his 12th year as artistic director of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, where he has staged more than 35 shows - including world premieres by Culture Clash, Rinde Eckert, David Edgar, Danny Hoch, Geoff Hoyle, Quincy Long, and Itamar Moses. Taccone made his Broadway debut with another solo show, Bridge & Tunnel, which was universally lauded by the critics and won a Tony Award for its star, Sarah Jones. He commissioned Tony Kushner's legendary Angels in America, co-directed its world premiere at the Mark Taper Forum, and has collaborated with Kushner on seven projects. Their production of Brundibar featured designs by beloved children's author Maurice Sendak; it debuted at Berkeley Rep and then traveled to Yale Repertory Theatre in New Haven and the New Victory Theatre in New York, where it sold out its run and was nominated for two Drama Desk Awards. In 2004, his premiere of Continental Divide transferred to the Barbican in London after playing the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Berkeley Rep, La Jolla Playhouse, and England's Birmingham Rep. Taccone frequently works in Ashland, where he has also directed Coriolanus, Othello, Pentecost, and the American premiere of Seamus Heaney's The Cure at Troy. His other regional credits include Actors Theatre of Louisville, Arena Stage, Arizona Rep, Center Theatre Group, Hartford Stage, the Huntington Theatre, The Public Theatre, San Jose Rep, and Seattle Rep, as well as San Francisco's Eureka Theatre where he served six years as artistic director before coming to Berkeley. Taccone has served on the faculty at UC Berkeley and the board of Theatre Communications Group, and acted as a regional representative for the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers.
For more information visit, www.roundabouttheatre.org.
Photos by Peter James Zielinski
Robert Osborne
Salman Rushdie
Debra Monk
Craig Bierko and Megan Batterson
Howard McGillin
Jane Fonda
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda
Kathleen Marshall
Carolyn McCormick
Justin Bond
Martha Plimpton
Bobby Steggert
Charles Strouse
Tovah Feldshuh
Tovah Feldshuh
Mario Cantone
Mario Cantone and Tovah Feldshuh
Will Swenson and Audra McDonald
Will Swenson and Audra McDonald
Nolan Gerard Funk
