Main Street Theatre Presents A YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, 1/27-2/13
By: Nicole Rosky Jan. 20, 2011
Joan Didion's dramatic adaptation of her best-selling memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, unfolds, in her words, "with the nonsequential inexorability of a dream." The stream of consciousness delivery of this hugely personal and powerful one-woman show demands a tour de force performance from actor Claire Hart-Palumbo.
With previews January 22, 23, and 25, The Year of Magical Thinking opens January 27 and runs through February 13 at Main Street Theater - Rice Village, 2540 Times Blvd. Performances are on Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets range from $26 - $40 (Previews are $10, and $5 Friday is January 28), depending on date and section, and are on sale in person at the Main Street Theater Box Office, 2540 Times Blvd., via phone at 713.524.6706, or online at MainStreetTheater.com.
The play is Didion's own adaptation of her stunning memoir about the sudden death of her husband, John Gregory Dunne, and the prolonged illness of her only daughter. "Capturing the compassion, humor, and bewilderment of a fiercely intelligent woman whose world lurches suddenly from the ordinary to the unimaginable, The Year of Magical Thinking is a love letter to a child and a tribute to an extraordinary, unconventional marriage told with raw candor and a storyteller's gift for the absurd." (Playbill)
Joan Didion is best known for her novels, personal essays, and screenplays - as well as the powerful story of her grief she captured in The Year of Magical Thinking which she wrote in 88 days, finishing on New Year's Eve, 2004. It won the National Book Award in 2005.
In 2007 she began writing the stage adaptation of The Year of Magical Thinking. Vanessa Redgrave played Didion in the Broadway production and was nominated for both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award.
Main Street is pleased to continue its Post-Show Discussion Series with The Year of Magical Thinking. Following the performance on Sunday, February 6, Dr. Susan Lieberman - author, Interfaith minister, thanatologist, and co-founder of Y Collaborative, helping prepare for end-of-life concerns - will lead a discussion on some of the themes and issues of the play with the audience, Ms. Hart-Palumbo, and director ReBecca Greene Udden.
At Main Street Theater Claire Hart-Palumbo has played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Catherine in Pride and Prejudice, Philly in How to Say Goodbye, Ginny in It's Only a Play, Christine in De Donde, Belle Starr in Wilde West, Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles (1992), Martha in A Piece of My Heart, Olga in Chekhov in Yalta, Hannah in Arcadia (1996), Sara in Sisters Rosensweig, Mrs. Allen/Annette in Northanger Abbey, Lee in Chemistry of Change, Regina in Little Foxes, Margrethe in Copenhagen, Amy in But Not Goodbye. She directed Herroner, Red Scare on Sunset, Pride and Prejudice (revival production), Uncle Vanya, Hayfever, Blithe Spirit, The Trust, The Countess, On Approval, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter. Ms. Hart-Palumbo received her training from Sam Houston State, American Conservatory Theater, and the University of Texas, where she was a Morton-Brown Fellow. She has worked in Houston theater with the Alley Theatre, Main Street Theater, Stages Repertory Theatre, Texas Repertory Theater, Express Theater, New Heights Theater, Young Audiences, Bayou City Concert Musicals, Houston Shakespeare Festival, Houston Shaw Festival, the Group Theater, and Stage West. She was recently seen on the small screen leading up to the election in Judge Ed Emmett's political ad "Where's the Judge?" This summer's new production of Blithe Spirit at MST will be the ninth Noël Coward production on which she has worked as either an actress or director.
MST Executive Artistic Director Rebecca Green Udden directs. The design team includes Daniel Polk (lighting design), Shawn W. St. John (sound design), and Pamela Miltenberger (Properties Design). Lauren Smith is the production stage manager.
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