Kennedy is Landers in THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS at Cleveland Playhouse 3/27-4/19

The Cleveland Play House is excited to announce that Mimi Kennedy, best known for playing Dharma's hippie mom Abby on ABC's "Dharma & Greg," will star as Ann Landers in The Lady With All the Answers by David Rambo (God's Man In Texas, The Ice-Breaker). Seth Gordon, Associate Artistic Director for The Play House, will direct this hilarious and touching sneak-peek into the inner-life of famed columnist Ann Landers.

The Lady With All the Answers begins in the Bolton Theatre at The Cleveland Play House on Friday, March 27 and runs through Sunday, April 19, 2009.

Tickets are on sale now at The Cleveland Play House box office by calling 216.795.7000 ext 4 or online at www.clevelandplayhouse.com.

The Lady With All the Answers is presented in promotional partnership with Premier Printing.

"Whether you read her or not, Ann Landers' story is remarkable. She 'educated' her 60 million readers on the proper way to install their toilet paper, yet also helped pass the largest medical appropriation in U.S. history when her column on the National Cancer Act was sent to Washington by over one million of her readers," states Artistic Director Michael Bloom.

The Lady With All the Answers, by David Rambo, is drawn from The Life and letters of Ann Landers with the cooperation of her daughter, Margo Howard. The play received its world premiere at the Cassius Carter Centre Stage at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego, California, opening on August 6, 2005.

The one-woman comedy is about Esther "Eppie" Lederer, also known as Ann Landers. Advisor-in-chief to over sixty million people a day for almost fifty years, Ann Landers proved to be highly influential in both journalism and American culture. The first person to talk about such explosive and relevant subjects as abortion, homosexuality and the most intimate issues of marriage in newsprint, Ann Landers once compelled over a million readers to write their congressmen urging them to vote for the National Cancer Act. Once she asked her readers, "Has your sex life gone down after marriage? And if so, why?" She received 141,000 detailed responses, creating a national conversation on the topic when it would not otherwise have been possible. 

On the night that the play takes place, however, Eppie must compose her most difficult column. Facing a personal setback of her own, she now must share this with her readers and assure them that, sometimes, even the lady with all the answers might not have the answer to everything. Her challenge is to do so with the spirit and dignity that made her one of our nation's most cherished cultural icons.

Mimi Kennedy (Eppie Lederer, a.k.a. Ann Landers) is perhaps best known for playing Abby, Dharma's hippie mom, on the ABC sitcom "Dharma and Greg." Her last appearance in Cleveland was at City Hall in 2003, as emcee for Representative Dennis Kucinich when he formally entered the Democratic presidential primary as the lone anti-war candidate-a landmark moment for the 21st century peace movement. She debuted in the role of Eppie Lederer/Ann Landers, inThe Lady With All the Answers, at Pasadena Playhouse last fall. Other theater credits include Jules Feiffer'sGrown- Ups, Mark Taper Forum; Wendy Graf'sLeipzig,in which she played a Catholic woman who discovers her Jewish roots; Long Day's Journey Into Night, Contemporary and Classic American Plays; and a one-night-only, sold-out reading of Tony Kushner'sOnly We Who Guard The Mystery Shall Be Unhappy,playing Laura Bush. Early television roles included regular starring roles in the sketch-comedy-variety seriesThree Girls Three,with Debbi Allen and Ellen Foley (Meatloaf's partner inParadise by the Dashboard Light) andThe Big Show opposite guest comics including Sid Caesar, Steve Allen, Steve Martin, and Graham Chapman. She co-starred with Peter Cook in his only U.S. sitcomThe Two of Usand with Jeff Goldblum in one of A&E's first television specials, the comedy Popular Neurotics, by the late Cleveland playwright Aubrey Wertheim. Feature film credits includeErin Brokovich, Pump Up the Volume, Death Becomes Her, Man In The Chair,and the upcomingIn The Loopfrom BBC Films; after a smash-hit premiere at Sundance, it will be in U.S. theaters this summer; Ms. Kennedy plays a U.S. assistant secretary of state trying to stop a war with Pentagon help from James Gandolfini and a team of gifted British actors. Ms. Kennedy starred in Disney Television Halloween films Mr. Boogedy andBride of Boogedyin the title role. Behind the camera, she was story editor for the nighttime soap Knots Landing (1990 - 1991 season). She blogs regularly onHuffington Post and on the website of Progressive Democrats of America, an organization she serves as national chairperson (As Ann/Eppie once served the Democratic Party on a County level while living in Eau Claire, Wisconsin). Ms. Kennedy's mid-life autobiographyTaken to the Stage: The Education of an Actress(Smith & Kraus) was praised by the late Wendy Wasserstein as "one of the great theatrical memoirs." She is currently at work on a play about 19th century suffragist writer Matilda Joslyn Gage.

Seth Gordon (Director) is associate artistic director of The Cleveland Play House, where he produces FusionFest, runs the Playwrights' Unit, and assists with season planning. Mr. Gordon directed Play House productions of Dinner with Friends, Proof, Forest City (world premiere), Vincent in Brixton, Tuesdays with Morrie, A Christmas Story, The Wind in the Willows (Play House Theater for Children series), RFK, Of Mice and Men, Ferdinand the Bull(Theater for Children series), The Chosen, and Doubt. He served as associate producer of Primary Stages in New York City, where he produced and/or directed countless productions, workshops, and readings of new plays by America's leading playwrights. Here in Cleveland Mr. Gordon has directed for Dobama Theatre, The Beck Center for the Arts, and Cleveland Shakespeare Festival. He directed the Arabic premiere of Our Town at el-Hanager Theatre in Cairo, Egypt. Mr. Gordon has directed at many New York theaters, including Ensemble Studio Theatre and Theatre for the New City; and directed and lectured at various universities, including Case Western Reserve University. He received the Northern Ohio Live Award for Excellence in Theatre in 2004 and 2006.

David Rambo (Playwright) plays include God's Man in Texas, The Ice-Breaker, The Spin Cycle, a new adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' Babbitt and an all-new book for the classic Lerner and Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon. His plays have been widely produced throughout the country, including productions at Actors Theatre of Louisville, the Geffen Playhouse, The Old Globe, Denver Center Theatre, ALLIANCE THEATRE, Actors Theatre of Louisville, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, Northlight Theatre, the Magic Theatre, Laguna Playhouse, L.A. TheatreWorks and the Florida Stage. He has adapted several classic screenplays for live performance, including All About Eve, Casablanca and Adam's Rib. His adaptation of the Sunset Boulevard screenplay was performed at the Hollywood Bowl accompanied by the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra playing Franz Waxman's original film score. David is a writer and supervising producer of the most widely viewed TV show in the world, "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

The design team for The Lady With All the Answers includes Tom Burch (Scenic Designer), Charlotte Yetman (Costume Design), Diane Ferry Williams (Lighting Designer), and James C. Swonger (Sound Design). The Cleveland Play House's Production Staff is responsible for the sets, costumes, lighting, props, furniture, scenic painting, sound, special effects and/or wigs used in this production.

SPECIAL EVENTS

· First Friday Tasting Series - Friday, March 27, 2009 - Mingle with other theatre fans and enjoy drink tastings and complimentary hors d'oeuvres starting at 6:30pm in our lobbies. Specially priced preview tickets include this pre-show reception and admittance to the play.

· Girls Night Out Series - Thursday, April 9, 2009 - Enjoy a night out on the town with your girlfriends at The Cleveland Play House. Starting at 6:00pm, indulge in special pre-production festivities including specialty drinks, appetizers, shopping and spa pampering treatments. Specially priced ticket of $40 gets you into the pre-party as well as admittance to the play.

· Pre-show discussions - Join us 45 minutes before every performance for a lively discussion with a member of the cast or creative team.

· Playbacks - Wednesday, April 8 and Sunday, April 12, 2009 - Join Mimi Kennedy for these post-play discussions moderated by a member of the artistic staff.

Tickets forThe Lady With All the Answers range from $42 to $64, with discounts available for groups of ten or more, for senior citizens aged 60 and over, and for military reservists and their families. Tickets are $10 for all students under the age of 25. A limited number of $10 rush tickets go on sale 90 minutes before curtain and remain on sale until 30 minutes before curtain, based on availability. The Cleveland Play House is located at 85th and Euclid Ave. next door to the Cleveland Clinic near University Circle.

Founded in 1915, The Cleveland Play House is the first permanently established professional theatre in the United States. More than 12 million people have attended over 1,300 productions at The Play House - including more than 130 American and/or World Premieres. Today, under the leadership of Artistic Director Michael Bloom and Managing Director Kevin Moore, The Cleveland Play House is an artist-driven theatre that serves the Greater Cleveland community by holding true to its mission: To produce plays of the highest professional standards that inspire, stimulate, and entertain our diverse audiences, to conduct training and educational programs that enhance the quality of life for those we serve and help to insure the future of theatre.

The Cleveland Play House is funded through the generosity of Cuyahoga County residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture and The Ohio Arts Council which helps to fund The Cleveland Play House with state tax dollars to encourage economic growth, educational excellence and cultural enrichment for all Ohioans.

 

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