Over the course of 90 fascinating and often funny minutes, the play presents an intimate portrayal of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a true American original.
All Things Equal – The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a new play by multiple-Tony Award winning playwright Rupert Holmes, will stop at San Francisco's Curran Theater (445 Geary St.) during its 18-city national tour on Friday, March 15 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets (starting at $40) for All Things Equal are available starting on Friday, January 12 at 11 a.m. at www.broadwaysf.com.
Over the course of 90 fascinating and often funny minutes, the play presents an intimate portrayal of Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, a true American original.
“In creating this play about her richly-lived life and hard-fought struggles, I came to ever more deeply marvel at her strength, tenacity, sly wit, and compassion,” commented Rupert Homes, playwright of All Things Equal. “Our play also reveals the love song that ran through her remarkable life and shares the music that was her giddy delight. All Things Equal offers each theatre-goer the chance to better know this woman, her yearning for equality, and her love for this nation's precious institutions: Ruth ... Justice ... and the American way,” continued Holmes.
Holmes invites the audience into the intimacy of RGB's life and her many trials: losing her mother the day before she graduated as valedictorian of her Brooklyn high school ... being one of only nine young women studying law at Harvard while also raising a daughter and helping her husband battle cancer ... fighting for women's rights in the nineteen-seventies before condescending all-male courts ... and taking courageous stands for human rights as a voice of reason amid a splintering and increasingly politicized Supreme Court.
David Taylor of Dan's Paper said of this production, “…a powerful teaching tool and an intellectually enriching production for the whole family.” “A uniquely intimate experience that's absolutely worth exploring”, he continued.
An evening with a great and compassionate icon of straight-thinking American justice emerges ... an RBG who is not only “notorious” but victorious as she takes a stand for ordinary people facing the many challenges of a changing world. Holmes brilliantly captures RBG's compelling life leaving no wonder why she became a cross-generational role model inspiring tens of millions of Americans and a world-wide following.
Rupert Holmes, Playwright
Award-winning playwright-composer-lyricist-orchestrator-conducter-novelist-singer-songwriter is the first person in theatrical history to singly win Tony awards for Best Book, Music & Lyrics. Broadway: The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony & Drama Desk award winner for Best Musical, Book, Music, Lyrics, Orchestrations); Curtains with Kander and Ebb (Drama Desk award, Best Book; Tony nom. Best Musical, Book, Lyrics); Say Goodnight, Gracie (Tony nom. Best Play; LORT National Broadway Theatre Award, Best Play); Accomplice (Edgar Award, Mystery Writers of America); A Time to Kill (adapting John Grisham's novel); Roundabout Theatre revival The Mystery of Edwin Drood (Tony nom. Best Revival). Over twenty regional musicals and plays performed at major venues around the world. Novels: Where the Truth Lies (adapted for film starring Colin Firth, Kevin Bacon, dir. by Atom Egoyan); Swing #24 all books on Amazon. Coming in 2023:The McMasters Guide to Homicide: Murder Your Employer, Simon & Schuster/Avid Reader Press. Motion Pictures: Contributed songs to Golden Globe-winning score of A Star is Born (Streisand/Kristofferson). Television: Created and scripted all 55 episodes of AMC's first original series Remember WENN. Recording: A Billboard #1 singer-songwriter of the 1970s and 1980s including his own iconic international hit “Escape (The Pina Colada Song)” featured in over 50 motion pictures; wrote, arranged & conducted platinum albums for Barbra Streisand; songs recorded by Barry Manilow, Dionne Warwick, Dolly Parton, Judy Collins, Britney Spears, Rita Coolidge, Renée Fleming, countless others. Recipient of the George M. Cohan Award from ASCAP and recently received an Honorary Doctorate from The Manhattan School of Music.
Michelle Azar, Lead Actress
Azar plays the role of Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Her performance background began in Chicago where she sang with the Lyric Opera of Chicago's children's choir. She received an MA and BFA from NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and started working immediately as Janis Joplin in Beehive. Once moving to Los Angeles, she received Ovation awards for her roles in both dramatic and comedic roles with her theatre company, Neurotic Young Urbanites, and was the 2016 Stage Raw award winner for Best Actress in Eric Coble's My Barking Dog directed by Michael Michetti at the Boston Court Theatre. Other favorite stage credits: Bella in Lost in Yonkers, Berte in Boeing, Boeing ( La Mirada Theatre) Masha in Mayakovsky and Stalin (Cherry Lane Theatre) The Awakening of Spring (Circle Rep) and the creation of Constance Lily in the recent hit musical, Bronco Billy (Skylight Theatre). Select television and film credits include: NCIS LA, HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER, CRIMINAL MINDS, THE MAGICIANS, AQUARIUS, COMMUNITY, and the recently released film, SENIOR MOMENT with Gene Smart and William Shatner.
Laley Lippard (she/her), Director
Lippard has directed and collaborated with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, Guthrie Theater, Round House Theatre, Alliance Theatre, Cleveland Play House, American Theater Company, Magic Theatre, American Conservatory Theater, Court Theatre, Virginia Stage Company, among others.
Scott Stander, Producer
Stander has produced concerts and theatre attractions for the last 20 years. Currently, he is the producer of Tony Winner Rupert Holmes's Broadway bound new play, All Things Equal - The Life and Trials of Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He has also produced Happy 100th Birthday, Judy! - starring internet sensation Debbie Wileman and produced her new CD: "I'm Still Here - The Songs Judy Would Sing". Past hits: An Evening With Sophia Loren (10 city US tour - Spring 2016); Dance To The Movies starring Shirley Jones and Lesley Ann Warren (Spring 2016); Dancing With A Twist-mas (Christmas 2015); Ballroom With Twist – starring TVs Derek Hough, Cheryl Burke, Maksim Chmerkovskiy, Karina Smirnoff, Tony Dovolani and Peta Murgatroyd (National Tour – 5 seasons) Broadway: If You Ever Leave Me I'm Going With You starring Renee Taylor and Joe Bologna (Broadway and Chicago Company and National Tour); Steve Allen and Phyllis Diller – Together Again For The First Time (12 city Concert Tour); An Evening With Shirley Bassey (10 city Concert Tour); Milton Berle's 90th Birthday Celebration (13 city tour); Breaking Legs starring Frank Gorshin (Off Broadway and tour); Say Goodnight Gracie (2nd National Broadway Tour starring Don McArt – 3 year tour); Odd Couple – Female Version starring Barbara Eden and Rita McKenzie (National Tour – 3 seasons); Love Letters starring Barbara Eden and Larry Hagman and Hal Linden (National tour); Bermuda Avenue Triangle starring Renee Taylor, Joe Bologna and Lainie Kazan (National Tour); Ethel Merman's Broadway starring Rita McKenzie (Off Broadway-John Houseman Theatre and National Tour).
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