Ronald Keaton's CHURCHILL Opens Off-Broadway Tonight

CHURCHILL, a new play adapted and performed by Ronald Keaton, has its Off-Broadway premiere at New World Stages and officially opens tonight, February 18th, following an acclaimed 2014 sellout world premiere engagement in Chicago. Under the direction of Kurt Johns, CHURCHILL is based on the life and writings of one of the greatest leaders of the 20th Century.

Experience the man who famously proclaimed, "I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter." In CHURCHILL, the influential Nobel Prize laureate discusses his failures and his successes; his love of art, liquor and women; and the bravery of Britain's finest hour.

It is March 1946. In the past year, Winston Churchill has led Britain and the Allies to victory in the European Theatre of World War II. He has also shockingly been defeated for re-election as Prime Minister. Sitting in forced retirement with his wife Clementine at their Chartwell home, Churchill receives an invitation from President Harry Truman to speak in the States...at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where he will deliver his legendary, emphatic "Iron Curtain" speech. He arrives in Fulton to an informal and esoteric gathering of friends and supporters, and shares his life in flashback and in storytelling.

In his more than four decades as an actor, Ronald Keaton has established himself as one of Chicago's most dependable and versatile character actors at the Goodman, Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Marriott's Lincolnshire Theatre, Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace, Theatre at the Center, Theater Wit, and Oak Park Festival Theatre, among many others. His regional credits include roles at the Indiana Repertory Theatre, Houston's Alley Theatre, the Nat Horne Theatre, and the Coconut Grove Playhouse in Miami.

Director Kurt Johns has numerous credits including THE MISTRESS CYCLE (by Jenny Giering & Beth Blatt), IRON, THE TALE OF THE ALLERGIST'S WIFE, and VINCENT IN BRIXTON at Chicago's Apple Tree Theatre, IOLANTHE at Light Opera Works as well as directing at Chicago College of Performing Arts. As an actor, Kurt appeared in the Broadway productions of ASPECTS OF LOVE and CHESS. He played Enjolras in the First National Tour of LES MISERABLES, starred Off-Broadway in SHARON directed by Geraldine Fitzgerald and performed in Chicago at the Goodman, the Court Theatre, Marriott Lincolnshire, and Drury Lane Oakbrook Terrace.

Scenic and Lighting Design for CHURCHILL is by Jason Epperson, with Projection Design by Paul Deziel and Sound Design by Eric Backus.

CHURCHILL is a joint production of the Greenhouse Theater Center, SoloChicago, and the Wendy and William Spatz Charitable Foundation, with the support and permission of The Churchill Centre.

Performances will be Mondays at 7pm, Wednesday through Saturday evenings at 8pm, with matinees Thursday and Saturday at 2:30pm and Sunday at 3pm at New World Stages, 340 West 50th Street. Tickets are $65 and are available at www.Telecharge.com or by calling 212-239-6200.

Photo Credit: Jason Epperson

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