ELEANOR AND DOLLY Comes to Randall Theater

An ambitious high school senior is determined to fulfill one of her life goals: to marry her high school sweetheart - problem? - she doesn't have one. In Jenny Stafford's ELEANOR AND DOLLY, straight-A student Ellie has a strict schedule for life. Channeling the advice of her hero, Eleanor Roosevelt, she enlists the help of her best friend when her last chance comes in the form of a mid-year exchange student.

ELEANOR AND DOLLY, directed by Brandon McShaffery, will be performed September 14 - 24, 2023, at Randall Theater, 2020 N. 13th St., Philadelphia, PA. Tickets can be purchased through this ticketing link: https://our.show/temple-university-school-of-tfma/78259

McShaffery is excited to work with the cast and crew on this new piece by Stafford, who is also described as a treasured colleague. It is the first staged production ELEANOR AND DOLLY has received, and he notes that he is excited to lead students through a new play development process.

"I hope the audience walks away not only moved by the relationships," McShaffery said, "but a reassurance that if you have the courage to follow your passions, your life will be richer than you ever could have planned."

Jenny Stafford is an award-winning bookwriter, lyricist, and playwright whose works have been heard on Broadway, regionally, and internationally. She recently joined the Temple Theater Department's staff as the new head of the Playwriting/Musical Theatre Bookwriting MFA Program.

Set in the months leading up to prom, the stakes for the characters are high as they hurtle towards a turning point in all of their lives, but Stafford effortlessly injects every crisis with warmth, patience, and humor. Ellie, her best friend Jana, and her mom Claire face everything from the mundane to the absurd: heartbreak to prom dress shopping, Eleanor Roosevelt to Dolly Parton.

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