Tucson: Arizona Theatre Company presents Lynn Redgrave in THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST

________________________________

From: Arizona Theatre Company [mailto:aztheatreco@aztheatreco.pmailus.com]
Sent: Sunday, January 15, 2006 7:18 AM
Subject: Arizona Theatre Company presents Lynn Redgrave in THE IMPORTANCE OF
BEING EARNEST

For Immediate Release

January 15, 2006

Media Contact: Jennifer Spencer, 602.256.6899 x 6202

ARIZONA THEATRE COMPANY PRESENTS LYNN REDGRAVE IN THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING
EARNEST

Six performances only of Theatre Royal Bath production directed by Sir Peter
Hall

Sir Peter Hall's new Theatre Royal Bath production of Oscar Wilde's comic
masterpiece, The Importance of Being Earnest, comes to Phoenix for an
exclusive, limited engagement - 6 performances only at the Herberger Theater
Center, 222 E. Monroe St., March 23 - 26. The production underwriters for
The Importance of Being Earnest are Sky Harbor Airport and U.S. Airways.
Arizona Theatre Company's season underwriters are I. Michael and Beth
Kasser.

Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest is one of the funniest and
most popular plays ever written. Brimming with wit and wisdom, Wilde's
brilliant play is the tale of two young men in late 1890s England who bend
the truth to add a dash of excitement to their lives, and the hilarious
misadventures and romantic entanglements that ensue. Prim-and-proper Jack
Worthington is in love with the equally prim-and-proper Gwendolyn Fairfax.
His friend, Algernon Moncrieff is in love with Cecily Cardew. But both
Gwendolyn and Cecily are in love with Ernest, and the men must prove
themselves as "Earnest" to win their lady loves. Add the magnificently
imposing Lady Bracknell, a nanny with a dubious story about a handbag, and
the result is a delightful entertainment as fresh and funny as when it was
first performed in 1895.

Lynn Redgrave stars in this production of The Importance of Being Earnest as
the formidable Lady Bracknell. Lynn Redgrave won the Drama Desk, Obie and
Outer Critics Circle Awards for her performance off-Broadway as Miss Fozzard
in Alan Bennett's Talking Heads. Her numerous Broadway credits include The
Constant Wife, Black Comedy, My Fat Friend, Mrs. Warren's Profession (TonyR
nomination), Aren't We All, Moon over Buffalo and Strike up the Band. Her
one-woman play Shakespeare for my Father brought her a second TonyR
nomination, and after the Broadway run, Ms. Redgrave toured nationally and
worldwide, including an acclaimed run for Arizona Theatre Company in 1996.

Sir Peter Hall is a giant of British theatre and one of the world's most
distinguished theatre and opera directors. Founder of the Royal Shakespeare
Company, he was also Director of the National Theatre from 1973-1988 and
Artistic Director of Glyndebourne Festival Opera from 1984-1990. A recipient
of two TonyR Awards and an Olivier Award for Lifetime Achievement in 1999,
Peter Hall was knighted in 1977 for services to British theatre.

The Importance of Being Earnest also stars Miriam Margolyes, whose film
appearances include The Age of Innocence and Little Dorrit and recently the
role of Professor Sprout in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, will
portray Miss Prism in this national tour of The Importance of Being Earnest.
In the West End, she was first seen in The Threepenny Opera (with Vanessa
Redgrave), in Orpheus Descending and She Stoops To Conquer (both for Sir
Peter Hall) and The Killing of Sister George. In Los Angeles, she was the
Nurse in Peter Hall's production of Romeo & Juliet, which she had previously
filmed with Baz Luhrmann in Mexico. In Australia, she was Madame Arcati in
Blithe Spirit and Lady Wishfort in The Way of the World. Her one-woman show,
Dickens' Women in which she plays 23 characters from Charles Dickens'
novels, was nominated for an Olivier Award and has been presented in
Edinburgh, New Delhi, Sydney, Jerusalem and Johannesburg; Terrence Rigby as
the Rev. Chasuble, whose film work includes Mona Lisa Smile and Elizabeth.
Mr. Rigby has recently played Pozzo in Waiting for Godot, Davies in The
Caretaker at the Old Vic in Bristol, David Hare's Skylight in Chester, MA
and Pinter's The Birthday Party at ART. Further work in the USA includes
premiers of Pinter's plays The Homecoming, No Man's Land, both on Broadway
directed by Peter Hall, also on Broadway, Hamlet with Ralph Fiennes and
Amadeus, as well as, in New York, Richard III with Ian McKellen, Saved by
Edward Bond, Troilus and Cressida, Smelling a Rat an early Mike Leigh play -
and at Seattle The Last True Believer by Robert W. Sherwood; Bianca Amato as
Gwendolyn (off-Broadway's Mr. Fox); Charlotte Parry as Cecily (Broadway's
The Real Thing); Robert Petkoff as Algernon (Broadway's Fiddler on the Roof
with Alfred Molina); James Waterston as Jack (off-Broadway's As You Like
It); and Geddeth Smith, James A. Stephens, Greg Felden, Margaret Daly and
Diane Landers.

Produced by Danny Moar for Theatre Royal Bath Productions and directed by
Sir Peter Hall, The Importance of Being Earnest opens at Los Angeles'
Ahmanson Theater on January 17 with performances running through March 5,
2006. A short national tour includes stops in Columbus, OH (Southern
Theatre, March 9-12); New Haven, CT (Shubert Theater, March 14-19); Phoenix,
AZ (Arizona Theatre Company at the Herberger Theater Center, March 23-26);
and New York's BAM (Harvey Theater, April 18-May 14).

This new production of The Importance of Being Earnest is designed by Kevin
and Trish Ridgon, with sound design by Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen. The
national tour is under the general management and tour direction of CAPA,
one of America's most respected theatre managers and producers. CAPA's
website address is www.capa.com.

Tickets for performances of The Importance of Being Earnest range from
$40-$70 and are available at (602) 256-6995.

***
The Importance of Being Earnest Fact Sheet
For more information about specific performance dates and times for The
Importance of Being Earnest, please visit the Fact Sheet.
<http://aztheatreco.pmailus.com/pmailweb/ct?d=BaNAvwA9AAH-----AACLTA>

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