Valerie Harper, who played the Jewish Rhoda Morgenstern on both "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" and "Rhoda" will now play the former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir in the North American national tour of Golda's Balcony.The one-woman show will first play Chicago's LaSalle Bank Theatre (18 W. Monroe) for a limited engagement from February 14th through 26th, 2006. Written by Tony Award-winner William Gibson (The Miracle Worker, Two for the Seesaw), Golda's Balcony is "A riveting portrait of
one of the great women of our time...and a record-breaking
stage hit that recently completed 15 sold-out months on Broadway" with Tony-nominee Tovah Feldshuh in the title role. The monodrama was nominated as Best Play by the Drama League, and received Drama Desk and Lucille Lortel Awards.Scott Schwartz (Jane Eyre, Bat Boy) will reprise his tasks as director, while the original design team will also be on hand once again--Anna Louizos (sets), Jess Goldstein (costumes), Howell Binkley (lighting), Mark Bennett (sound) and Robin Silvestri (video and projections). The
tour will be produced by David Fishelson, who led the team on Broadway with
veterans Roy Gabay (Metamorphoses)
and Randall L. Wreghitt (Little Women).
Harper most recently appeared on
Broadway in Charles Busch's The
Tale of the Allergist's Wife. After running almost a
year in New York,
Ms. Harper then starred in the national tour. Off-Broadway she co-wrote
and starred in All Under Heaven,
a one-woman play based on the life and work of Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl
S. Buck (The Good Earth) and starred in Elaine May's and Woody Allen's Death Defying Acts. Other Broadway credits include Paul Sills' Story Theatre
and Metamorphoses, Something Different (by Carl Reiner), Subways Are For Sleeping, Wildcat, Take
Me Along, Destry Rides Again,
and Li'l Abner.
Harper has starred in a wide variety of
television films, specials and feature films, as well as five on-air prime-time
series.
She was the recipient of Harvard
University's Hasty
Pudding Woman Of The Year Award, the Golden Globe Award, the Golden Apple
Award, and four Emmy Awards.
Tickets are currently available to groups of 20 or more, and can be purchased by calling 312-977-1710. Golda's Balcony will be part of the Neumann Homes Broadway In
Chicago 2006 Season Series. For more information, visit Chicago.com">www.BroadwayInChicago.com.
