Hal Linden and Sally Struthers Will Lead World Premiere of THE JOURNALS OF ADAM AND EVE

Hal Linden and Sally Struthers will star in the world premiere of a new play – “The Journals of Adam and Eve” by Ed. Weinberger, with a little help from the authors of Genesis, John Milton, and Mark Twain, for six performances only January 18 to 21 (press opening January 19) at the Garry Marshall Theatre.   Tickets are now on sale at garrymarshalltheatre.org
 
The director is Ben Donenberg, Founder and Artistic Director of Shakespeare Center Los Angeles (SCLA).  Donenberg recently directed an acclaimed' and immersive production of “The Tempest” at SCLA. Tickets for “The Journals of Adam and Eve” are now on sale at garrymarshalltheatre.org
 
“The Journals of Adam and Eve” will, for the first time in their own words, tell the true story of the legendary couple -- the world's first love story as only they could tell it.  Among the famous events explained by the participants, it chronicles from Eden to exile … from their first date to their twilight years … and from bachelor and bachelorette to being the world's first parents.
 
The play is a world premiere by Ed. Weinberger.  Weinberger has one of the most storied careers in television history: four of his shows are on the December 20, 2023 Variety The 100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time: he co-created “Taxi” and “The Cosby Show,” wrote and produced for “The Mary Tyler Moore Show,” and wrote for “The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson” for five years.

He also  co-created “Amen,” and “The Cosby Show.”  During his legendary career, Weinberger has written for such diverse comedians as Bob Hope and Richard Pryor, he began his career in the early '60s with Dick Gregory.  He has been honored with three Golden Globe Awards, a Peabody, and nine Emmy Awards. In 2000, he received The Writer's Guild of America Lifetime Achievement Award.
 
About this show, Weinberger said: “I've always been fascinated with the story of Adam and Eve. They've been blamed for so much; bringing into a previously perfect world Original Sin, pain in childbirth, and death. For centuries, various cultures – including our own – have used them to justify the right of men to rule over women. I thought it was about time for Adam and Eve to defend themselves. I tried putting them into a play, but that would mean actors naked on stage for two acts. And casting is hard enough as is.”
 
“The Book of Genesis introduced Adam and Eve over 3,000 years ago, and as far as I know, the only writer since who explored their humanity was Mark Twain. So if there's a similarity between Twain's couple and mine, it's hardly coincidental. As far as Adam and Eve's story being relevant in today's America, I'll leave that up to the audience to decide.”
 
Weinberger continued, “The play is written – like J.R. Gurney's ‘Love Letters' to be read – and can be cast with actors any age and background – I am fortunate that our two actors for this first time out – Hal Linden and Sally Struthers -- are among the most known and loved of our era.  It is a tremendous gift to this production they bring a lifetime – both their own and ours – of associations to the stage and to these characters.”
 
Weinberger is the author of the one-man play “A Man and His Prostate,” which starred the late Ed Asner and toured nationally for over five years.  In 2017, he co-authored the book “The Grouchy Historian: An Old-Time Lefty Defends Our Constitution Against Right-Wing Hypocrites and Nutjobs” published by Simon & Schuster.  His two-man comedic play “Two Jews, Talking” premiered off-Broadway at the St. Clements Theatre in August, 2022, starring Hal Linden and Bernie Kopell.
 
Hal Linden (Adam) is an American actor, singer and musician whose career has spanned more than 65 years. Linden is perhaps best known for his portrayal of police precinct captain Barney Miller in the hit series that aired on ABC from 1975-1982, earning multiple Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for his work. Linden made his Broadway debut in 1957 in “Bells are Ringing.” He later starred in the 1962 revival of “Anything Goes.” He has performed in more than 20 Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. His numerous stage credits include Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” “The Scottsboro Boys,” “Tuesdays With Morrie,” “On Golden Pond,” “Chicago,” “Cabaret,” and “The Rothschilds,” for which he won the 1971 Tony Award for Best Actor In A Musical.
 
His feature film credits include: “Bells Are Ringing” (1960), “When You Comin' Back, Red Ryder?” (1979), “Starflight One” (1983), “Out To Sea” (1997) with Walter Matthau and Jack Lemmon, “A New Life” (1988) with Alan Alda, “Time Changer” and “The Samuel Project” in 2020. His most recent feature film, “You People,” premiered in 2023.
 
Sally Struthers (Eve) is a two-time Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award winner for her performance in the groundbreaking TV series “All in the Family.” She starred in the Fox television series “9 to 5” and her own CBS series “Gloria.” She also recurred on the CBS comedy “Still Standing” and the CW network's highly acclaimed “Gilmore Girls.” She joined the “Gilmore” cast for Netflix's four movie limited revival, which premiered in the fall of 2016. She recently guest starred in the acclaimed IFC comedy series “Maron.”
 
Sally co-starred in two legendary motion pictures in the 70's: “Five Easy Pieces” with Jack Nicholson and “The Getaway” with Steve McQueen and Ali McGraw.
 
Sally's first two Broadway forays were in “Wally's Café” with Rita Moreno and Jimmy Coco and Neil Simon's female version of “The Odd Couple” with Brenda Vaccaro. For three years she starred as “Miss Mamie Lynch” on Broadway and on tour in the Tommy Tune production of “Grease.” In the 20th Anniversary National Tour of “Annie,” Sally played the coveted role of “Miss Hannigan”. Sally was named Best Actress by the Los Angeles Artistic Director Theatre Awards for her role as “Louise Seger” in the musical, “Always, Patsy Cline,” a true story based on the relationship between Seger and Cline. She won the Ovation Award as Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her performance as “Agnes Gooch” in the Los Angeles production of “Mame,” and won a second Ovation Award for “Cinderella.”
 
Director Ben Donenberg is the Founder and Artistic Director of The Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles (SCLA). As a director of populist interpretations of Shakespeare, Ben has built a reputation of creating excellent, accessible productions that are underscored by the canons of modern songwriters and recording artists. His production of “Much Ado About Nothing” at Center Theatre Group starred Helen Hunt and tom irwin and featured Lyle Lovett in the role of the musician Balthasar. The production was supported by progressive bluegrass singers and songwriters Sean and Sara Watkins. Other Shakespearian productions include two productions of “A Midsummer Night's Dream.” One featured Natalie Cole and Obba Babatunde singing Nat King Cole jazz standards with text performed by Tom Hanks, William Shatner, Tracey Ullman, Geoffrey Rush, Christina Applegate, Rita Wilson, Zack Braff, and Kate Hudson (2006, SCLA).

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