FOR MEDIA INFORMATION
Contact: Cathy Johnson or Susan Claassen
Administration: (520) 884-0672
1400 N. First Ave, Tucson, AZ. 85719
www.invisibletheatre.com
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE INVISIBLE THEATRE
Presents
RACHEL AND JULIET
Written and Performed by Award-winning Actress
LYNN REDGRAVE
Through the generous support of Bob and Mary Ann Stubbs
WHERE: The Berger Performing Arts Center
1200 W. Speedway Blvd.
Tucson, AZ 85745
WHEN: Saturday, January 16, 2010 at 8:00 PM
Sunday, January 17, 2010 at 3:00 PM
TICKETS: Ticket Price: $42
Call (520) 882-9721 for reservations and information
Discounts available for groups of 10 or more
RUSH TICKETS: One half-hour prior to curtain for any scheduled performance, tickets are available for half price – subject to availability
RUNNING TIME: 90 minutes with no intermission
December 22, 2009, Tucson, Arizona; Celebrated actress, Lynn Redgrave, comes to the Invisible Theatre with her one-woman show, RACHEL AND JULIET, for two performances only, January 16 and 17, 2010. Ms. Redgrave has written this show to pay tribute to her mother, actress Rachel Kempson, whose love affair with the role of Juliet and search for her own Romeo lasted her whole life. Interweaving remembrances, Ms. Kempson's own words and passages from Shakespeare, Ms. Redgrave creates an unforgettable companion piece to her Tony Award-nominated SHAKESPEARE FOR MY FATHER (which traces her relationship with her father, the late Michael Redgrave). RACHEL AND JULIET is the fourth play Ms. Redgrave has written about her famous family which includes THE MANDRAKE ROOT (loosely based on her mother, actress Rachel Kempson) and, most recently, NIGHTINGALE (inspired by memories of her maternal grandmother, Beatrice Kempson).
LYNN REDGRAVE
Lynn Redgrave was born in London into a family of actors and has enjoyed a remarkable career on stage, screen and beyond spanning four decades. She has been nominated for 3 Tony Awards, 2 Oscars, 2 Emmys, a Grammy and most recently was the recipient of a 2008 New York Emmy. Film highlights include Georgy Girl (Oscar nomination, Golden Globe, New York Film Critics awards), Gods and Monsters (1999 Golden Globe, Independent Spirit Award, Oscar nomination), Shine (BAFTA and SAG nominations) and Kinsey. She was a founding member of The Royal National Theatre and is the author of four plays, Shakespeare For My Father (which examines her relationship with Sir Michael Redgrave), The Mandrake Root (loosely based on her mother, the actress Rachel Kempson) and Nightingale (a fictional meditation on the life of her maternal grandmother, Beatrice Kempson, Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Solo Performance), which enjoyed its New York premiere at Manhattan Theatre Club this year. She recently performed her newest work, Rachel and Juliet, at Washington, D.C.'s Folger Theatre and appeared Off Broadway in MCC Theater's Grace, under the direction of Joseph Hardy. She has also written the text for Journal, A Mother and Daughter's Recovery From Breast Cancer, featuring photographs by her daughter, Annabel Clark, currently in its third printing from Umbrage Editions. Recent film credits include The Jane Austen Book Club and the final Merchant / Ivory production, The White Countess, acting alongside sister Vanessa and her niece, the late Natasha Richardson. Recent television credits include ABC's "Desperate Housewives," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and with America Ferrera in this fall's season premiere of "Ugly Betty." She can also be heard as the voice of Nanny in the animated film series of Me, Eloise and in the animated feature My Dog Tulip, which premiered in September at the Toronto International Film Festival. Ms. Redgrave is a prolific "voice on tape" and her latest audio book release is Roald Dahl's The Witches (Grammy nomination).
www.redgrave.com
THE FAMILY OF LYNN REDGRAVE
No biography of Lynn Redgrave could be complete without detailed information about her family. The Redgraves are among the most famous family names in the world, and perhaps the most illustrious family of entertainers of the 20th century. They have been treading the boards and flickering across the silver screen for over 70 years.
ROY REDGRAVE: George Ellsworthy "Roy" Redgrave, Lynn's grandfather, made his theatrical debut in 1899 and by 1902 appeared at Sadlers Wells Theatre, topping the bill with the outrageous title ROY REDGRAVE - DRAMATIC COCK O' THE NORTH. Later he starred in popular stage productions in London, many at the Brittania Theatre in Hoxton. He left his wife and young son, Michael, to find his fortune in Australia, where he became a star of silent pictures such as Robbery Under Arms (1920). After his death in 1922, he was buried in an unmarked grave in Sydney. In 1980, Lynn rediscovered the gravesite, and commissioned a headstone that reads "Roy Redgrave, Actor."
DAISY SCUDAMORE REDGRAVE, Lynn's grandmother, was an actress who came from a line of theatrical personalities, publicans and playwrights.
SIR MICHAEL REDGRAVE, CBE, MA, actor/manager, author, director, teacher, was born in Bristol, March 20, 1908 and died in London March 21, 1985, a victim of Parkinson's disease. His first professional appearance was at the Playhouse, Liverpool in 1934, where he met and married actress Rachel Kempson in 1935. His first season in London was with the Old Vic in 1936 before joining John Gielgud's company at the Queen's Theatre in 1937. He entered films in 1938 with Hitchcock's The Lady Vanishes, then starred In Kipps, The Stars Look Down, The Browning Version, The Importance Of Being Ernest, The Dam Busters, The Quiet American, The Go-Between, Dead Of Night, and Mourning Becomes Electra, which brought him an Oscar nomination. Sir Michael first appeared at The Haymarket in 1940 as Macheath in THE BEGGAR'S OPERA, and again in 1971 with John Mortimer's A VOYAGE ROUND MY FATHER. But he is perhaps best remembered for his classic roles (UNCLE VANYA) and especially his Shakespearean performances. Appearing with the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre Company, Stratford-Upon-Avon, between 1951 and 1959, the parts included Richard II, Prospero, King Lear, Antony, Shylock and Hamlet. He played Claudius in the National Theatre Company's inaugural production of Hamlet in 1963, his daughter Lynn as a lady-in-waiting. His first Broadway appearance was as MACBETH in 1948, and then Hector in TIGER AT THE GATES (1955, NY Critics Award) and THE COMPLAISANT LOVER (1961). Sir Michael chose to bring his Shakespeare to the world during the years 1974 - 78 in THE HOLLOW CROWN, PLEASURE AND REPENTANCE and SHAKESPEARE'S PEOPLE. As Parkinson's took over his life so that he could no longer learn lines, he was, in 1979, seen in his final performance at the National in Simon Gray's CLOSE OF PLAY, directed by Harold Pinter. He had only one short line, but was on stage throughout. He wrote THE ACTOR'S WAYS AND MEANS, MASK OR FACE, THE MOUNTEBANK'S TALE, and a play THE ASPERN PAPERS. He was knighted for services to the theatre in 1959.
RACHEL KEMPSON, Lynn's mother, debuted at Stratford in 1932, famously as Juliet in Bridges Adams' production of ROMEO AND JULIET. In 1935 she was asked by William Armstrong to star in the Liverpool Repertory production of FLOWERS OF THE FOREST. Her leading man was Michael Redgrave. Within a few weeks they fell in love and they married on July 18. 1935. She appeared in more than 15 films over six decades, including OUT OF AFRICA (1985), THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE (1968, with daughter Vanessa), TOM JONES (1963, with me), and THE CAPTIVE HEART (1946, co-starring with her husband Michael Redgrave). More recently, she was in DÉJÀ VU (1998, with Vanessa) directed by Henry Jaglom. Her television appearances include UNCLE VANYA (1991), THE BLACK TOWER (1985), THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN (1984), and JANE EYRE (1970). Her 1986 autobiography, "Life Among the Redgraves" was published by Dutton. Rachel Kempson died on May 24, 2003 at the age of 92.
VANESSA REDGRAVE has had an extraordinary career which has been marked by numerous stage and screen accolades, including an Oscar® as best supporting actress for "Julia," five Academy Award® nominations, an Emmy Award for "Playing for Time," and a nomination for "Second Serve," the Cannes Film Festival best actress award for "Morgan, A Suitable Case for Treatment" and "Isadora" and the Venice Film Festival award in 1996 for "Little Odessa." Vanessa trained at London's Central School of Speech and Drama and the Ballet Rambert School. Among her numerous film credits are "A Man for All Seasons," "Blowup," "Camelot," "The Devils," "Agatha," "Yanks," "Young Catherine," "The House of the Spirits," "Howard's End," "A Month by the Lake" and "Mission Impossible." Her autobiography was published in 1994 by Random House.
CORIN REDGRAVE'S first stage appearance was at the Royal Court in 1961 as Lysander in Tony Richardson's production of A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM. Immediately afterwards he played the Pilot Officer in John Dexter's production of Wesker's CHIPS WITH EVERYTHING at the Royal Court, The Vaudeville, and the Shubert Theater in New York. He joined the Royal Shakespeare Company in 1972 for a season at Stratford and at the Aldwych, playing Octavius in JULIUS CAESAR and ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA and Antipholus of Ephesus in THE COMEDY OF ERRORS. At the Young Vic Corin has played Rosmer in ROSMERSHOLM, Danforth in THE CRUCIBLE, Brutus, Angelo, Coriolanus, and Major Howard in Les Smith's SOME KIND OF HERO with Trevor Etienne. In 1993, he took part in the World Poetry Festival at Pittsburgh, USA, with his sister Vanessa, Kika Markham, and Mikhail Shatrov in a programme of Russian Poetry, "A Cloud in Trousers." He is a founding member of Symposium 90, an international association researching the origins and consequences of Stalinism. In the cinema he has worked with some great directors, including Richardson, Roeg, Zinneman and Christine Edzard, in whose brilliant study of Victorian plutocracy and poverty The Fool, he played Sir Thomas Neathouse. Corin starred as Dixon in Jim Sheridan's Name Of The Father and played Andie MacDowell's husband in the Mike Newell film Four Weddings And A Funeral.
A photo of Lynn Redgrave is available to download at
www.invisibletheatre.com (click on the media center)
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