Pittsburgh Public Theater Presents The Royal Family 9/30-10/31
Pittsburgh Public Theater opens its 36th season in grand style with George S. Kaufman and Edna Ferber's comedy, The Royal Family. Presented by First Niagara and directed by Ted Pappas, The Royal Family runs September 30 - October 31, 2010 at the O'Reilly Theater, Pittsburgh Public Theater's home in the heart of Downtown's Cultural District. For tickets call 412.316.1600 or visit www.ppt.org.
Written in 1927, The Royal Family is set in the deluxe New York apartment of the Cavendishes, a fictional family of actors who resemble the legendary Barrymores. The play takes us into the lavish lifestyle of these Roaring Twenties theatrical superstars, whose outrageous behavior is matched only by their love for their work.
The cast of 15 is led by Helena Ruoti as Julie, the reigning First Lady of the stage. David Whalen plays her brother Tony, the swashbuckling film idol of the day, and Jenny Sterlin (Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest) returns as their mother, the theatrical trouper Fanny.
Other vivid family members include Ross Bickell as Fanny's brother, the vaudeville star Herbert Dean; Jennifer Regan as his wife, Kitty; Lindsey Kyler as Julie's daughter, the ingénue Gwen; and Larry John Meyers as Broadway starmaker Oscar Wolfe.
The wild household also features a bevy of servants and suitors. Included in the cast are: Zeva Barzell, Tony Bingham, James FitzGerald, Daryll Heysham, and Karen Merritt. The design team is: James Noone (Scenic), Susan Tsu (Costumes), Kirk Bookman (Lighting), and Zach Moore (Sound). Ruth E. Kramer is the Production Stage Manager and Adrienne Wells is the Assistant Stage Manager.
About the Playwrights
Born in Pittsburgh in 1889, George S. Kaufman received two Pulitzers and a Tony for Best Director (Guys and Dolls). Kaufman's plays were written mainly in collaboration. His most acclaimed writing partners include Moss Hart (You Can't Take It With You and The Man Who Came to Dinner) and Edna Ferber (Dinner at Eight). For the Marx Brothers he wrote The Cocoanuts and A Night at the Opera.
Edna Ferber, the author of dozens of stories and novels, received a Pulitzer Prize for her book, So Big. Her most famous works of fiction are Show Boat and Giant. Show Boat became a groundbreaking musical with music by Jerome Kern and book by Oscar Hammerstein. In 1956, Giant was made into an acclaimed movie starring ElizaBeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean.
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