Robert Sean Leonard to Lead PYGMALION at Old Globe Theatre, 1/12-2/17

Stage, television and film star Robert Sean Leonard will star as Henry Higgins in The Old Globe's 100th anniversary production of George Bernard Shaw's masterwork, Pygmalion. The Tony Award-winning actor last appeared on The Old Globe stage as Edgar in Jack O'Brien's renowned 1993 presentation of King Lear starring HAl Holbrook. Directed by Nicholas Martin (Broadway's Butley with Nathan Lane and Present Laughter with Victor Garber), Pygmalion will run on the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the Old Globe Theatre, part of the Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, Jan. 12 – Feb. 17, 2013. Preview performances run Jan. 12 – Jan. 16. Opening night is Thursday, Jan. 17 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, Dec. 9 at 12 noon. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

Robert Sean Leonard has performed in the Broadway productions of The Invention of Love (Tony Award), Long Day's Journey Into Night (Tony nomination), Born Yesterday, The Violet Hour, The Music Man, The Iceman Cometh, Arcadia, Candida (Tony nomination), Philadelphia, Here I Come!, The Speed of Darkness, Breaking the Code and Brighton Beach Memoirs. His Off Broadway credits include Fifth of July, You Never Can Tell and When She Danced. He also appeared in the West End production of Our Town. Born in New Jersey, Leonard began acting at age 14 at The Public Theater in New York. At 19, he made his film debut in the acclaimed Dead Poets Society. His film credits include Much Ado About Nothing, The Age of Innocence, Mr. & Mrs. Bridge, Swing Kids, Tape, Chelsea Walls and Whit Stillman's The Last Days of Disco. He appeared for eight seasons on the Fox medical drama "House."

The Old Globe production of Pygmalion coincides with the 100th anniversary of its 1913 premiere in Vienna, Austria. The Globe has presented Shaw's masterpiece only once before in a 1985 production directed by former Artistic Director and multiple Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien. The story-of speech professor Henry Higgins' bet with a fellow scholar that he can pass off Eliza Doolittle, a common Cockney flower girl, as the pinnacle of English society-is an enduring one. In addition to its long life on the stage, Pygmalion was adapted by Shaw for the screen in 1938 with Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller. It was adapted most famously as the beloved musical My Fair Lady starring Rex Harrison with Julie Andrews on Broadway and with Audrey Hepburn on film.

TICKETS to Pygmalion are currently available by subscription only. Single tickets go on sale Sunday, Dec. 9 at 12 noon. Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Performances begin on Jan. 12 and continue through Feb. 17. Ticket prices start at $29. Performance times: Previews: Saturday, Jan. 12 at 8:00 p.m., Sunday, Jan. 13 at 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 7:00 p.m. and Wednesday, Jan. 16 at 7:00 p.m. Regular Performances: Tuesday and Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m., Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00 p.m., Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m. and Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m. There is a 2:00 p.m. matinee on Wednesday, Feb. 6 and no matinee performance on Saturday, Feb. 9. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors and groups of 10 or more.

The Tony Award-winning Old Globe is one of the country's leading professional regional theaters and has stood as San Diego's flagship arts institution for over 75 years. The Old Globe produces a year-round season of 15 productions of classic, contemporary and new works on its three Balboa Park stages: the Donald and Darlene Shiley Stage in the 600-seat Old Globe Theatre and the 250-seat Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, both part of The Old Globe's Conrad Prebys Theatre Center, and the 605-seat outdoor Lowell Davies Festival Theatre, home of its internationally renowned Shakespeare Festival. More than 250,000 people attend Globe productions annually and participate in the theater's education and community programs. Numerous world premieres such as The Full Monty, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, A Catered Affair and the annual holiday musical, Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!, have been developed at The Old Globe and have gone on to enjoy highly successful runs on Broadway and at regional theaters across the country.