EgoPo's THE WOMEN to Open 3/4

On March 4, EgoPo presents the opening of Clare Boothe Luce's comic masterpiece, The Women with an all-female cast of 19. Directed by Artistic Director Lane Savadove, EgoPo Classic Theater continues their season of influential female playwrights with Luce, a woman who led an extraordinary life as a Broadway playwright, war journalist, congresswoman, ambassador, and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient. The Women previews March 3 and opens Friday, March 4. The show runs three weeks, closing on Sunday March 20. Tickets start at $25. All performances are at the Latvian Society of Philadelphia on 7th and Spring Garden.

American Giants II: The Women

EgoPo carries on their tradition of producing annual themed festival seasons. This year, they return to the pivotal 1930s, previously explored in last year's American Giants season, to examine the other half of the American Dream. This year, we are featuring four of America's greatest female playwrights: Lillian Hellman (Children's Hour), Clare Boothe Luce (The Women), Sophie Treadwell (Machinal), and Susan Glaspell (Trifles). The American Theater has long marginalized female writers, virtually leaving them out of the traditional canon. Over the course of the 2015-16 season, EgoPo will reconsider this canon and honor the legacy of these playwriting giants.

The Women

American Giants II continues with Clare Boothe Luce's comic masterpiece The Women, co-produced with Rowan University's School of Performing Arts. Luce's comic masterpiece parodies society's expectations of women. Through an all-female cast of characters, we uncover the humanity behind the sharp wit and piercing jabs of five Manhattan socialites. EgoPo creates a bold new staging of this classic Broadway gem that highlights the emotional life of the actors and adds a contemporary theatricality.

Philadelphia Roots

The Women previewed for the public in try-outs right here in Philadelphia in 1936, opening three weeks later on Broadway at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. The Opening Night became one of the most celebrated gatherings of New York artistic elites, including Miss Barrymore herself, Irving Berlin, Gloria Swanson, Billy Rose and Fanny Brice, Max Gordon (the show's producer) and Moss Hart and George S. Kaufman. The show ruffled many feathers as it opened up women's private lives on stage like never before, giving women bawdy power, language, and ferocity while critiquing the powerful elite. The public loved it and it became a hit, running for 657 performances. The play was adapted for film, once in 1939 directed by George Cukor, and then again in 2008.

Unique Collaboration

EgoPo will continue its unique collaborative relationship with Rowan University. This partnership began with GINT, with the staging and design being developed at Rowan before adding the professional cast, and continued with Stairs to the Roof which was made up of Rowan alumni and students with the goals of highlighting the unique training at Rowan's program led by EgoPo's Artistic Director, Lane Savadove. The collaboration reaches its full fruition with The Women which while feature an impressive professional ensemble of Philadelphia's finest actresses paired with advanced student performers from Rowan. The piece will be rehearsed and developed at Rowan before moving to Philadelphia for its professional run.

The Cast

The Women will feature some of the strongest female actors in Philadelphia including: Barrymore Award-winners Cheryl Williams (The Children's Hour) and Genevieve Perrier (Lady from the Sea, The Golem), and EgoPo familiar faces Melanie Julian (GINT, Jesse James, Anne Frank), Mary Lee Bednarek (The Children's Hour, Death of a Salesman), Lee Minora (The Hairy Ape, Houdini),and Karina Balfour (Artaud Unbound, Company). EgoPo is excited to welcome Rebecca Joy, whose credits include a guest spot on "Strangers with Candy," a national tour of Guys & Dolls, and Off-Broadway productions.

Luce

Clare Boothe Luce was one of the most successful women in American history and the most commercially successful female writer of the 20th Century with her work for Vogue, Vanity Fair, and Life Magazine in addition to her theater works. Known for her courageous candor, she was the first woman to be appointed as a US Ambassador.

Directed by EgoPo's Artistic Director, Lane Savadove, The Women, will use Luce's extraordinary life as the seed for this new staging. What drove Luce to such extreme levels of ambition? How did/does society react to a woman who assumes power? Did Luce's extraordinary life result in happiness? Savadove's production will celebrate the theatricality inherent in The Women while also exposing the emotional depth that lingers just below the surface of Luce's characters.

The artistic team includes EgoPo veteran Thom Weaver (Scenic), Bob Thorpe (Lights), Dave Cimetta (Sound) and Rita Squitiere (Costumes).

The Women will be staged at The Latvian Society. Previews begin March 3, with Press Opening on Friday, March 4; the show will run three weeks, closing on March 20.

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