LAGUNA PLAYHOUSE is thrilled to announce
FRANCES FISHER
(“Titanic,” Native Gardens)
will star as QUEEN ELEANOR &
GREGORY HARRISON
(“Trapper John, M.D.,” Chicago, The Hasty Heart)
will star as KING HENRY II in
THE LION IN WINTER
Written by James Goldman
Directed by Sheldon Epps
Winter is Coming.
Wednesday, November 6th at the Laguna Playhouse!
Laguna Playhouse Artistic Director Ann E. Wareham and Executive Director Ellen Richard are thrilled to announce that acclaimed film, TV and theatre veterans Frances Fisher (“Titanic,” Native Gardens, Barbeque), will star as “Queen Eleanor” and Gregory Harrison (“Trapper John, M.D.,” Broadway’sChicago, Steel Pier), will star as “King Henry II” in its upcoming production of THE LION IN WINTER, written by James Goldman and directed by Sheldon Epps. THE LION IN WINTER begins previews on Wednesday, November 6; will open on Sunday, November 10 at 7:00pm and runs through Sunday, November 24, 2019 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach. Additional casting will be announced shortly.
Before Game of Thrones, there was THE LION IN WINTER. It’s Christmas 1183, and King Henry II is planning to announce his successor to the throne. The jockeying for the crown, though, is complex. Henry has three sons and wants his boy, Prince John, to take over. Henry’s wife, Queen Eleanor, has other ideas. She believes their son Prince Richard should be king. As the family and various schemers gather for the holiday, each tries to make the indecisive king choose their option. The Lion in Winter has all the makings of this modern-day classic – sibling rivalry, adultery, and dungeons. Comedic in tone, dramatic in action – the play tells the story of the Plantagenet family, who are locked in a free-for-all of competing ambitions to inherit a kingdom.
FRANCES FISHER (Queen Eleanor) has starred in over 30 theatrical productions (experimental, touring, Regional, off-off and off-Broadway,) including Elia Kazan’s The Chain, Hay Fever, Cat on A Hot Tin Roof, Summer And Smoke, Orpheus Descending, 1984, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Fool For Love, Arthur Miller’s last play Finishing The Picture, Three More Sleepless Nights (Drama League Award); The Taper’s The Cherry Orchard, and Barbecue at the Geffen Playhouse, which won three NAACP 2018 Theatre Awards, including Best Ensemble. Recently Ms. Fisher had a ball being funny in Native Gardens at the Pasadena Playhouse. On film, she is perhaps best known for her performance as Kate Winslet’s mother in “Titanic,” which garnered Fisher a Screen Actors Guild nomination for Best Ensemble Cast. The film went on to receive eleven Academy Awards. Her numerous film credits include the Oscar-winning “Unforgiven,” “In The Valley of Elah,” “True Crime,” “The Big Tease,” “Tough Guys Don’t Dance,” “Laws of Attraction,” “Awake,” among many others. Television: Ms. Fisher played Lucille Ball in “Lucy & Desi: Before the Laughter” and has guest-starred on “The Shield,” “Eureka,” “Masters of Sex,” “Law & Order.” “Roseanne,” “The Mentalist,” “Two and a Half Men,” “Sons of Anarchy,” “ER,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Criminal Minds,” “Fargo,” among many others. She starred in ABC’s critically acclaimed series, “Resurrection,” and Damon Lindelof’s “Watchmen” premieres on HBO on October 20th.
GREGORY HARRISON (King Henry II) His four-decade career spans television, film, and theater. He has filmed nearly 50 TV movies, two dozen mini-series, and guest-starred on dozens of television series, beginning with “M*A*S*H” in 1975. Harrison has since starred in numerous series, including “Logan’s Run,” “Safe Harbor,” “Falcon Crest,” “Trapper John, M.D.,” “One Tree Hill,” “Judging Amy,” “Strong Medicine,” “Joey” and “Reckless.” Harrison recurs regularly in Hallmark Channel’s “Chesapeake Shores” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered” series, and has starred in the Hallmark Original Movies “Cloudy with a Chance of Love,” “Undercover Bridesmaid,” “The Nine Lives of Christmas,” “After All These Years,” and the upcoming “Love, Fall, and Order.” On the big screen, Harrison has appeared in several feature films, including “It’s My Party,” “North Shore,” “Razorback,” “Running Wild,” “Air Bud II: Golden Receiver,” “Love ‘N Dancing,” “Give ‘Em Hell, Malone,” “The M Word,” and the upcoming “Hour Of Lead.” Harrison made his Broadway debut in 1997 with Kander and Ebb’s Steel Pier and took the Broadway stage again in the 2001 Broadway revival of the critically acclaimed Stephen Sondheim musical Follies, co-starring Blythe Danner, Judith Ivey, and Treat Williams. Additionally, he played slick lawyer Billy Flynn in another Kander and Ebb musical, Chicago, both on Broadway and the national tour. Other dramatic theater roles include 2016 world-premiere of The Snake Can (Odyssey Theater), Surf Report (La Jolla Playhouse), Child’s Play, Jules Feiffer’s Carnal Knowledge, and the US and China tour of Top Secret: The Battle for The Pentagon Papers. Harrison also starred in productions of The Hasty Heart and Picnic (Ahmanson Theater), both taped for Showtime on Broadway. Harrison’s regional musical credits include Pump Boys and Dinettes, Of Thee I Sing, Paper Moon: The Musical, Festival, Guys and Dolls andThe Music Man.
SHELDON EPPS (Director) was honored to be Artistic Director of the renowned Pasadena Playhouse for twenty years (1997-2017). Before beginning his tenure at the Playhouse, he served as Associate Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre for four years. He was also a co-founder of the Off-Broadway theatre, The Production Company. Currently he continues to serve Pasadena Playhouse as Artistic Director Emeritus. Mr. Epps has directed both plays and musicals at many of the country’s major theatres including the Roundabout, Manhattan Theatre Club, the Guthrie, Playwrights Horizons, Seattle Repertory Theatre, Arena Stage, and the Goodman Theatre and Houston’s Theatre Under the Stars in Houston. He conceived the highly acclaimed musicals Play On! and Blues In the Night, which both received Tony Award nominations. He directed productions of both of those shows on Broadway, in London, and at theatres throughout the world. He also co-directed the Broadway production of Baby It’s You!, which had its World Premiere at The Pasadena Playhouse. He has had a busy career as a television director, helming episodes of shows such as “Frasier,” “Friends,” “Everybody Loves Raymond,” “Girlfriends” and many others. Mr. Epps received the James Irvine Foundation Leadership Award for his efforts and accomplishments at the Pasadena Playhouse. Under his leadership the Playhouse earned distinction for productions of artistic excellence, critical and box office success, and highly praised theatrical diversity. Sheldon is happy to be back at Laguna Playhouse, having directed Blues in the Night and Beauty and the Beast, A Christmas Rose here last season.
JAMES GOLDMAN (Playwright) (1927-1998) was an American playwright, novelist, and screenwriter, honored with an Academy Award for the screen adaptation of his own play The Lion in Winter. He is also the author of the screenplays for “Robin and Marion,” “Nicholas and Alexandra,” and “White Nights,” and the book for Stephen Sondheim’s stage musical Follies. Mr. Goldman was born in Chicago and was a graduate of the University of Chicago before beginning postgraduate work at Columbia University in music criticism until he was drafted into the army during World War II. In 1961 his whimsical play They Might Be Giants, about a man who believes he is Sherlock Holmes and is attended by a psychiatrist named Dr. Watson, was produced by Joan Littlewood in London and 10 years later was turned into a film starring George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward and directed by Anthony Harvey, who also directed the 1968 film version of A Lion in Winter. Mr. Goldman’s first play on Broadway was a comedy about life in the army, Blood, Sweat, and Stanley Poole (1961), written with his brother William. Other work for the stage includes A Family Affair, a collaboration with John Kander, starring Shelley Berman; Evening Primrose (1966), his second collaboration with Mr. Sondheim; Oliver Twist (1982), Anna Karenina (1985), Anatasia: The Mystery of Anna (1986) and Tolstoy. Mr. Goldman’s novels include “The Man from Greek and Roman” (1974), “Myself as Witness” (1980), and “Fulton County” (1989).
THE LION IN WINTER begins previews on Wednesday, November 6; will open on Sunday, November 10 at 7:00 pm and runs through Sunday, November 24, 2019 at the Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road in Laguna Beach.
Performances will be Wednesdays through Fridays at 7:30 pm; Saturdays at 2 pm & 7:30 pm; Sundays at 1:00 pm & 5:30 pm.
There will be added performances on Thursday, November 7 & Thursday, November 21 at 2 pm & Tuesday, November 12 at 7:30 pm. There will be no performance on Sunday, November 10 at 1 pm.
There will be Talk-Backs following the performances on Saturday, November 16 at 2 pm and Thursday, November 21 at 7:30 pm.
Tickets range from $50 – $75 and can be purchased online at www.lagunaplayhouse.com or by calling (949) 497-ARTS (2787). Group discounts are available by calling 949-497-2787 ext. 229. Prices subject to change.
The box office is open Mondays – Saturdays: 11a.m. to 5 p.m. (open until showtime on performance days); Sundays: 11a.m. – 4p.m.
Photo Credits: Laguna Playhouse
Founded in 1920, the historic Laguna Playhouse is one of the oldest continuously-operating not-for-profit theatres on the West Coast and is proud to be an active participant in the celebrated Laguna Beach arts community. From classic plays and musical comedies to the current off-Broadway smash, cutting edge and traditional music exhibitions, dance festivals and stand-up comedy performances, Laguna Playhouse brings the magical experience of the performing arts direct to over 80,000 patrons each season.
Laguna Playhouse educational programming includes year-round classes, productions by and for children and teens (Youth Theatre) and is one of the few companies in the region that offer a curriculum-based professional theatre-touring program, TheatreReach, which aligns with the California State Standards for literature, history and performing arts curriculum.
Laguna Playhouse has been recognized in 2017, 2016 and 2015 as one of Orange County Register’s “Best of OC” in the category of Live Theatre, and has been recognized by OC Hotlist in their “Best Theatre Group” winning first place in 2017 and 2016. The Laguna Playhouse has featured many talented performers on stage, including Ed Asner, Leslie Caron, Hershey Felder, Harrison Ford, Melanie Griffith, Val Kilmer, Gregory Harrison, Dan Lauria, Hal Linden, Wendie Malick, Rita Rudner, Charles Shaughnessy, French Stewart, Loretta Swit, and Bette Davis.
Learn What’s Going On at www.lagunaplayhouse.com.
