YOU’LL LIKE IKE BEGINNING WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 14
AT THE LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE IN LAGUNA BEACH!
LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE presents the third show of its 2025/2026 season with the critically acclaimed new American play, EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND, written by Richard Hellesen and directed by Peter Ellenstein. EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND will begin previews on Wednesday, January 14 (with a press opening on Sunday, January 18 at 5:30pm) and will run through Sunday, February 1 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Dr. in Laguna Beach.
This groundbreaking solo performance by Tony Award winner, John Rubinstein, brings the 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s remarkable life to the stage in an extraordinary way. Through captivating storytelling and deep historical insight, the performance immerses audiences in Eisenhower’s personal reflections on leadership, war, and peace. With emotional depth and powerful nuance, it unpacks the complexities of a man who shaped the course of history during one of America’s most pivotal eras. A must-see theatrical experience.
PETER ELLENSTEIN (Director) is Producing Artistic Director of the New Los Angeles Repertory Company. He just returned from Gettysburg, where this play was seen by Susan Eisenhower. He recently produced Ventura Live ’25 (30 shows in 30 days) for Rubicon Theatre in Ventura. From a theatrical family, he’s spent 40+ years in professional theatre, film and television. Peter directed and produced many plays and musicals, receiving multiple nominations and awards. Peter was Artistic Director of the William Inge Center for the Arts (where Eisenhower was commissioned), and Producing Director of the Los Angeles Repertory Company, both for many years. He served as Interim Artistic Director of the Gretna Theatre in Pennsylvania and of the Jerry Herman Ring Theatre at the University of Miami. Peter has aided the development of over fifty full-length plays and hundreds of short plays, including original plays and musicals by Theresa Rebeck, Kristoffer Diaz, Michael Lew, Jonathan Mark Sherman, Michael Silversher, Joe Iconis, and others, www.peterell.com
RICHARD HELLESEN (Playwright) is the author of numerous plays and musicals for adult and young audiences. His work has been seen nationally at the Denver Center, South Coast Repertory, Los Angeles Repertory Company, Olney Theatre Center, Barrington Stage, B Street Theatre, Florida Stage, Gretna Theatre, Sundance Children’s Theatre, Imagination Stage, People’s Light & Theatre, City Theatre in Miami, and Ford’s Theatre in Washington DC, where he is an Associate Artist. A member of the Dramatists Guild and the National Theatre Conference, he has received playwriting awards from NTC, the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild, the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays, and PEN USA-West, and has twice been Playwright-in-Residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts in Kansas.
JOHN RUBINSTEIN (Dwight D. Eisenhower) originated the title role in the Broadway musical Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, and won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his performance in Children of a Lesser God. Other Broadway appearances include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ragtime, Hurlyburly, M. Butterfly, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Drama Desk nomination), Getting Away with Murder, Fools, Love Letters, and the 2013 Pippin revival.
He appeared off-Broadway in Counsellor-atLaw (2005 Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics’ Circle and Drama League nominations), Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground (Outer Critics’ Circle and Off-Broadway Alliance nominations), Morning’s at Seven, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Urban Blight, and Cabaret Verboten. Regionally he has appeared in Wicked in LA, and the international tours of the Pippin revival and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever. Starred in TV series, “Family” (Emmy nomination), and “Crazy Like A Fox,” and over 300 episodes. Films include “Michael,” “Killing Castro,” “Being the Ricardos,” “Hello, I Must Be Going,” “21 Grams,” “Red Dragon,” “The Boys from Brazil,” “Someone To Watch Over Me,” “Daniel, Zachariah,” and “Getting Straight.” He directed the world premiere of Gurney’s The Old Boy, and Counsellorat-Law, Company, Brigadoon, Macbeth, The Three Sisters, Phantasie, Nightingale, The Rivals, A Little Night Music, Guys and Dolls, Into The Woods, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and The Rover. He composes film and TV music (“Jeremiah Johnson,” “The Candidate,” “The Dollmaker,” “China Beach”, among others), hosted two classical music radio programs, played keyboards in the rock band “Funzone,” and has recorded over 200 audiobooks, most numerously Jonathan Kellerman’s “Alex Delaware” series of Los Angeles crime novels. He is married to Bonnie Burgess, and their son Max is the youngest of his five children, joining Jessica, Michael, Peter, and Jacob.
The design team for EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND is as follows: scenic design by Marty Burnett; original costume design by Sarah Conly; costume coordinator is Stacey Nezda; lighting design by Esquire Jauchem; sound & projection design by Joe Huppert. The Production Stage Manager is Joe Huppert.
EISENHOWER: THIS PIECE OF GROUND will preview on Wednesday, January 14 at 7:30pm; Thursday, January 15 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm; Friday, January 16 at 7:30pm; Saturday, January 17 at 2:00pm & 7:30pm; (with a press opening on Sunday, January 18 at 5:30pm) and run through Sunday, February 1, 2026, at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Dr. in Laguna Beach.
Performances are Wednesdays at 7:30pm; Thursdays at 2:00pm and 7:30pm; Fridays at 7:30pm; Saturdays at 2:00pm & 7:30pm; Sundays at 1:00pm & 5:30pm. There will be no performance on Sunday, January 18 at 1:00pm or Sunday, February 1 at 5:30pm.
Tickets range from $56 – $121 and can be purchased online at www.lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling (949) 497-2787. Group discounts are available by calling 949-497-2787 ext. 229. Prices subject to change. The box office is open Mondays – Fridays: 12pm to 4pm; Box Office also open 2 hours prior to show time and until 15 minutes after curtain.
For more information on all shows and programming visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com. LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is located at 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.
