GRACE AND GLORIE Comes to Act II Playhouse This Month

Act II Playhouse has announced its latest production, “Grace and Glorie,” a heartwarming comedy/drama by Tom Ziegler. The production stars Penelope Reed.

Previews for “Grace and Glorie” begin Tuesday, January 28, 2025 and the production opens Friday, January 31, 2025. The production runs through February 23, 2025. 

Grace Stiles is a 90-year-old spitfire who has checked herself out of the hospital to return to her home nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains. Gloria Whitmore is her volunteer hospice worker and a recent transplant from New York City. On the surface, this mismatched pair have nothing in common. Soon, however, they will find new perspectives on all of life’s challenges in this odd-couple comedy/drama that is sure to inspire laughter, tears, and hope. 

Penelope Reed, a favorite performer of Act II audiences, returns to the Playhouse in the role of Grace Stiles. Reed is best known to Playhouse patrons as Eleanor Roosevelt in “Eleanor” (2022) and she has also appeared in “Steel Magnolias,” “Boca,” and “Gaslight” (all 2023). 

Joining Reed in the production is Genevieve Perrier who returns to Act II after “Any Given Monday” (2010). 

“We are thrilled to have these two powerhouse performers together in ‘Grace and Glorie’,” said Act II Artistic Director, Tony Braithwaite. “This production is perfect for the Playhouse: an intimate story of two people that is sure to come to life in our cozy space. This play is guaranteed to surprise and delight audiences and have them laughing and crying in equal measure.”

This is not the first time that “Grace and Glorie” has been produced at Act II - it was one of the very first shows performed at the Playhouse in 2001.

Behind the scenes, resident Act II Stage Manager, Patricia G. Sabato makes her directorial debut. Matthew Owitz is the Production Stage Manager, Alex Elishevah Lewis the Assistant Stage Manager, James Leitner the Lighting Designer, Janus Stefanowicz the Costume Designer, Megan Rose Weider the Assistant Stage Manager, Parris Bradley the Scenic Designer, Adam Danoff the Sound Designer, Jess and Christna Sabato are Prop Masters, Neill Hartley the Dialect Coach, Britt Plunkett the Technical Director and Scenic Builder, and Eliot Curtis the Scenic Artist and Second Assistant Stage Manager. 

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