The Cherry Lane Theatre's THE LADY WITH ALL THE ANSWERS Opens 10/14

Two-time Tony Award-winning actress Judith Ivey will portray that great woman of American letters -- letters from readers seeking advice, that is -- when she plays the legendary, trailblazing columnist Ann Landers in David Rambo's play The Lady With All The Answers Off-Broadway this fall, starting performances October 7, 2009 at the Cherry Lane Theatre (38 Commerce Street) in New York City.  B.J. Jones directs.  The production will run through November 29.  Opening night is October 14.  

Presented by The Cherry Lane Theatre, The Lady With All The Answers will kick-off the Obie Award-winning theatre company's 2009-10 season on its mainstage at 38 Commerce Street in Greenwich Village. Angelina Fiordellisi is Cherry Lane Theatre's Artistic Director; James King is Managing Director.

For decades, newspaper columnist and American icon Ann Landers dispensed wit and wisdom to lovelorn teens, confused couples and countless others in need of advice in her enormously popular, nationally syndicated column.  In The Lady With All The Answers, Landers finds herself writing a column about a new kind of heartbreak -- her own.  Drawn from Landers' life and letters, The Lady With All The Answers is a touching and comic portrait of a wise, funny, no-nonsense woman who was, in fact, one of the most influential figures in America by virtue of the millions of readers who wrote to her seeking her indispensable advice and sometimes controversial opinions on matters ranging from marriage, divorce, life, death and sexuality, to the proper way to hang a roll of toilet paper in the bathroom.

Ann Landers, who was born Esther "Eppie" Pauline Friedman Lederer in 1918, wrote her first advice column in 1945, and the column ended with her death in 2002.

Judith Ivey, who is currently directing Vanities at Second Stage, won Tony Awards for her performances in the plays Steaming and Hurlyburly.  She is presently playing Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, giving a performance acclaimed by Charles Isherwood in The New York Times, and others.  Her many stage credits include having played "Mommy" in Cherry Lane's celebrated productions of Edward Albee's "American Dream," directed by the playwright last year, and the solo play Women On Fire. Ms. Ivey's film credits include "Devil's Advocate," "Washington Square" and "Brighton Beach Memoirs," and she starred in four television series including "Designing Women."

David Rambo's plays include God's Man in Texas, The Ice-Breaker, The Spin Cycle, a new adaptation of Sinclair Lewis' "Babbitt" and an all-new book for the Lerner and Loewe musical Paint Your Wagon.  He has adapted several screenplays for live performance including All About Eve, Casablanca, Adam's Rib and Sunset Boulevard performed at the Hollywood Bowl.  He is a writer and producer of the hit TV series "CSI:  Crime Scene Investigation."

B.J. Jones is the Artistic Director of Northlight Theatre outside Chicago.  He has directed the world premieres of Craig Wright's Lady, Larry Gelbart's Better Late and Rounding Third, along with productions of Grey Gardens, The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Price and GlenGarry Glenn Ross. 

This Off-Broadway production of The Lady With All The Answers is produced by The Cherry Lane Theatre in association with Northlight Theatre.  The Lady With All The Answers is drawn from the the life and letters of Ann Landers with the cooperation of Margo Howard.  

Tickets to The Lady With All The Answers are on sale starting June 1, and are priced at $40 and $50. The production runs from October 6 to November 29. For ticket reservations and performance information call Tele-charge at 212-239-6200. 

As New York's longest, continuously-running Off-Broadway theater, Cherry Lane Theatre is known as "the birthplace of Off-Broadway," having helped to define American drama by fostering theater that is daring and relevant for the past 83 years.  Earlier this year, Cherry Lane Theatre opened its third and newest performance space, The Cherry Pit (155 Bank St.) with a critically-praised production of Deirdre O'Connor's play Jailbait.  As well, the company presented its 11th annual Mentor Project play, Jakob Holder's Housebreaking directed by Daniella Topol. 

Cherry Lane Theatre is dedicated to sustaining a community of playwrights and supporting seasoned and emerging theater artists that work together to reveal the social consciousness of our ever-changing world. In this way, the company serves the cultural needs of the larger New York City community, while developing a dedicated, returning audience. It is Cherry Lane's guiding tenet that "live" theater be accessible, articulate and provide a social mirror through which we gain greater understanding of ourselves, our families, our government and our global community. Cherry Lane Theatre takes up the challenge to explore the horizons of theatrical content and form, to expand our creative boundaries, and to discover the future of American drama.

Guided by the legacy of iconoclastic writers whose work has been at home at The Cherry Lane since the 1920s - O'Neill, Saroyan, Auden, Albee, Odets, Orton, Mamet, Lanford Wilson and many more - along with such distinctive actors as Ruby Dee, James Earl Jones, Colleen Dewhurst, Cicely Tyson, Frank Langella, Tyne Daly, Estelle Parsons, Dennis Quaid and others who have performed on its stage, Artistic Director Angelina Fiordellisi set out to revive the theatre's spirit and preserve its history, providing opportunities for bold new voices today when she founded a resident non-profit theatre company in 1997.  She also undertook a major renovation of the building (once part of a farm in 19th century New York) and its stages, including the creation of the 60-seat Studio Theatre and the celebrated Cherry Lane Mentor Project in 1998.

Photo by Carol Rosegg