Photo Flash: Kathleen Turner Celebrates THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING Opening at Arena Stage

Joan Didion's one-woman drama THE YEAR OF MAGICAL THINKING, adapted from her 2005 bestselling memoir of the same title, just opened at Arena Stage. The production stars Academy Award and Tony Award nominee Kathleen Turner as Didion and is directed by Gaye Taylor Upchurch. The show runs now through Nov 20, 2016 at Arena Stage, and BroadwayWorld has photos from the opening night festivities below!

Turner, who previously appeared in Arena Stage's Mother Courage and Her Children and Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins, portrays the writer in Didion's penetrating and moving examination of grief. Gaye Taylor Upchurch (Studio Theatre's Animal) makes her Arena Stage directorial debut in the company's most intimate venue, the 200-seat Arlene and Robert Kogod Cradle.

In this dramatic adaptation of her memoir, Didion chronicles the sudden death of her husband, the writer John Gregory Dunne, and illness of her only daughter. Her first-person account weaves together an intensely personal yet universal story of hope in the face of inescapable loss.

The creative team for The Year of Magical Thinking includes Set Designer Daniel Zimmerman, Costume Designer Kathleen Geldard, Lighting Designer Jesse Belsky, Original Music & Sound Designer Roc Lee, Stage Manager Kurt Hall and Stage Management Assistant Emily Mellon.

For more about the production, visit arenastage.org/shows-tickets/the-season/productions/the-year-of-magical-thinking.

Photo Credit: Cameron Whitman

Director Gaye Taylor Upchurch and Artistic Director Molly Smith

Actress Kathleen Turner and her daughter Rachel Ann Weiss

Actress Kathleen Turner