Alan Alda's RADIANCE to Open at the Geffen Playhouse, 11/9

The world premiere of acclaimed actor/writer Alan Alda's Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie, a bioplay about the passions and conflicts of the first woman to be awarded a Nobel Prize, will feature Anna Gunn as the title character. Gunn has previously appeared at the Geffen Playhouse in the world premiere of Donald Margulies' Time Stands Still and is most recognized by television audiences for her role on AMC's Breaking Bad. Joining Gunn on stage is tv/film star Annabeth Gish (Mystic Pizza, X-Files), John de Lancie, best known to Star Trek fans as "Q," and acclaimed stage actors Hugo Armstrong, Dan Donohue, Leonard Kelly-Young and Sarah Zimmerman. Helmed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie opens in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at the Geffen Playhouse on November 9, 2011.

Timed perfectly with the 100th anniversary of Madame Curie's second Nobel Prize as well as the first International Year of Chemistry, Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie delves into the life and romance of one of the most brilliant female scientists in history. Famous for her groundbreaking research in radioactivity, Curie was the only person ever to win two Nobel Prizes in multiple sciences, but not without a struggle. For all the answers that come to her in the lab, Curie's life is peppered with questions of how to realize the passion she has for both knowledge and love. Celebrated but then rejected by the popular press as both a woman and scientist, Curie is left to define her place in society - and history - on her own terms.

The Geffen Playhouse run marks the world premiere of this production. Festivities during the run of Radiance: The Passion of Marie Curie include the theater's special Signature Series options for no additional cost. These evenings include an intellectual, thought-provoking post show Q&A at Talk Back Tuesdays; a scintillating, one-of-a kind after-party at Girls Night Out; a cultural happy hour with Lounge Fridays and complimentary wine tastings during Wine Down Sundays. For more information, please view www.geffenplayhouse.com/radianceevents. In addition, the Geffen Playhouse Story Pirates have created a special companion show entitled Brilliance! for children age five to 11, which will run on the Radiance set in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater for four Saturdays at 11am from November 12 - December 10, 2011. For more information on Brilliance!, please visit www.geffenplayhouse.com/brilliance.

RADIANCE: THE PASSION OF MARIE CURIE
Written by Alan Alda
Directed by Daniel Sullivan
Preview Performances: Tuesday, November 1 - Tuesday, November 8
Opening Night: Wednesday, November 9
Closing Night: Sunday, December 11

Cast
Hugo Armstrong (Émile)
John de Lancie (Pierre)
Dan Donohue (Paul)
Annabeth Gish (Jeanne)
Anna Gunn (Marie Curie)
Leonard Kelly-Young (Terbougie / Törnebladh)
Sarah Zimmerman (Marguerite)

Production Credits
Set Designer Tom Lynch
Costume Designer Rita Ryack
Lighting Designer Daniel Ionazzi
Sound Designer Jon Gottlieb
Production Stage Manager Young Ji

Performance Schedule
Monday No performances*
Tuesday - Friday 8:00pm
Saturday 3:00pm; 8:00pm
Sunday 2:00pm; 7:00pm
*Please note: There will be no performance on Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 24; as such a makeup performance is scheduled for Monday, November 21.

Ticket Info
Ticket prices for preview performances are $69; current ticket prices for the regular run range from $84 - $89. Tickets are now on sale to subscribers at the Geffen Playhouse box office, via phone at 310-208-5454 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.com. Single tickets are available to the general public beginning on October 11, 2011.

Biographies

Alan Alda (Playwright)
Alan Alda has written five feature films (including The Four Seasons and The Seduction of Joe Tynan), two best selling books and 19 episodes of the television series MASH, for one of which he was awarded an Emmy for writing. His long-time interest in science led him to interview hundreds of scientists around the world for 11 years on the award-winning PBS series Scientific American Frontiers. In 2010, he hosted the science series The Human Spark on PBS. On Broadway, he appeared as the physicist Richard Feynman in the play QED. In 2006, for his efforts in helping to broaden the public's understanding of science, he was presented with the National Science Board's Public Service Award. He is a visiting professor at Stony Brook University's Center for Communicating Science where he helps develop innovative programs that enable scientists to communicate more effectively with the public.

Hugo Armstrong (Émile)
Hugo Armstrong's Los Angeles theater credits include plays at Sacred Fools, The Kirk Douglas Theatre, Electric Lodge, REDCAT, Ghost Road, Theatre of Note, The Powerhouse, The Boston Court, UCLAlive in Medea and the Ahmanson Theatre understudying the male roles in God of Carnage. East Coast credits include plays at Quantum Theatre, The Kitchen and The Kennedy Center. Armstrong received an Ovation Award for Bleed Rail at The Theatre at Boston Court and received both The Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle Award and an Ovation Award for Land of the Tigers with Burglars of Hamm. Film credits include: upcoming Stephen Frear's film Lay the Favorite, Voice on the Line, Nanking, Weak Species, Political Disasters, and his own OK, GOOD which he co-wrote and produced with filmmaker Daniel Martinico. He is also the executive producer for the acclaimed documentary Char-ac-ter featuring Sydney Pollack, Dabney Coleman and Harry Dean Stanton. Television credits include: MONK, Criminal Minds, Mystery ER, and the upcoming pilot for The Honorable. He has collaborated with artists Catherine Sullivan in Five Economies / Armond Hammer Museum, Brody Condon in Death Animations / Machine Project, and Daniel Martinico in The Safeway / MOCA's Geffen Contemporary. Armstrong is a graduate of Cal Arts.

JOHN DE LANCIE (Pierre)
John de Lancie has had an eclectic career. His film and television credits include: The Hand that Rocks the Cradle, The Fisher King, Taking Care of Business, Fearless, Multiplicity, Women on Top, Torchwood, Breaking Bad, West Wing, The Closer, Star Trek, and Legend. He has been a member of The American Shakespeare Festival, The Seattle Repertory Company, The South Coast Repertory, The Mark Taper Forum and The Old Globe. In the world of music, Mr. de Lancie has narrated with most of the major symphony orchestras in the US and Canada. He has also written and directed ten symphonic plays-ninety-minute, fully-staged productions with orchestra- as well as a concert series at Disney Hall that explored the life and music of famous composers. He had directed operas Tosca and Cold Sassy Tree in Atlanta and Madame Butterfly in San Antonio. He is a graduate of Kent State University and The Juilliard School.

Dan Donohue (Paul)
Dan Donohue has been a fixture at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival since 1994, performing in over 30 productions in such diverse roles as Hamlet, Iago, Mercutio, Caliban, Mark Antony and Dvornichek in Rough Crossing. He also had a three-year run as Hal in Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, as well as Henry V. On Broadway, Donohue was Scar in The Lion King. His other theater credits include: The Triumph of Love (Long Wharf Theatre), The Devil's Disciple, The Winter's Tale (Asolo Repertory Theatre), The Beard of Avon, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Game of Love and Chance (Seattle Repertory Theatre), Servant of Two Masters (Intiman Theatre) and Vincent Van Gogh in the world premiere of Inventing Van Gogh (Arizona Theatre Company). Donohue has also performed at Shakespeare Santa Cruz, Portland Center Stage, Utah Shakespeare Festival, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Missouri Repertory Theatre and elsewhere. He was the first recipient of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship. Off the stage, Donohue has guest starred on The Closer and The Drew Carey Show and will soon be a regular on the NBC/Universal web series In Gayle We Trust. He currently resides in Los Angeles.

ANNABETH GISH (Jeanne)
Annabeth Gish is a multi-talented actress with a diverse background in film and television dating well over 20 years. Ms. Gish first gained the attention of critics and moviegoers at the age of 13 in the feature film Desert Bloom. Her expansive list of film credits includes: Mystic Pizza; Double Jeopardy; Wyatt Earp; Nixon and Beautiful Girls. Also well known to television audiences, Ms. Gish's television credits include her starring to great critical acclaim in the award-winning Showtime series Brotherhood, the hit series The West Wing and The X Files. She will next be seen in the upcoming A&E Stephen King miniseries Bag of Bones opposite Pierce Brosnan. Gish is a graduate of Duke University. She currently resides in California with her husband and two sons.

Anna Gunn (Marie Curie)
Anna Gunn stars as Skyler White on the Emmy Award winning hit television series Breaking Bad on AMC. Previously, she starred as Martha Bullock in the Emmy Award nominated HBO series Deadwood, earning a SAG Award nomination for best ensemble. Stage credits include: the world premiere of Time Stands Still at the Geffen Playhouse, the world premiere of Uncommon Ground, Keith Reddin's Peacekeeper, the American premiere of Hysteria at the Mark Taper Forum and the role of Isabella in Measure for Measure at the Ahmanson Theatre with director Sir Peter Hall. Gunn was brought to New York to make her Broadway debut opposite Roger Rees in The Rehearsal at the Roundabout Theater. Her film credits include: the blockbuster Tony Scott film, Enemy of the State, appearing opposite Jon Voight as well as the independent feature Without Evidence, the dark comedy Nobody's Baby and Santa Fe, written by Tony Award winner Mark Medoff. Gunn's upcoming films include leading roles in the indie features Sassy Pants and Little Red Wagon. She can currently be seen in Kevin Smith's new film, Red State.

LEONARD KELLY-YOUNG (Terbougie / Törnebladh)
Theater: recently received two Santa Barbara Independent Theatre Awards as Dodge in Buried Child and as Dr. Lyman in Bus Stop; Moonlight and Magnolias (Laguna Playhouse), Titus in Titus Andronicus (The Old Globe Theatre), School for Scandal (The Mark Taper Forum); Assassination 1865 (Goodman Theatre, Jeff Award Ensemble), Of Mice and Men (Missouri Repertory Theater), Treasure Island (Cincinnati Playhouse), Inherit the Wind and Christmas Carol (The Geva Theatre), Man of Mode (Studio Arena Theatre), Hedda Gabler (Worcester Foothills Theatre) and Cyrano, Don Juan, St. Joan and Twelfth Night (The Huntington Theatre). He has performed for many Shakespeare Companies including; American Players Theatre, Three Rivers Shakespeare Festival, Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Virginia Shakespeare Festival and Will Geer Theatricum. Young's TV credits include: House of Lies, The Defenders, Justified, Law & Order Los Angeles, The Mentalist, Madmen, Boston Legal, CSI, The Shield, Life, Married with Children, Ellen, Pros and Cons, Star Trek Enterprise, Method and Red, Hunter, Silk Stalkings, Renegade and many more.

Sarah Zimmerman (Marguerite)
Sarah Zimmerman recently returned from the UK where she performed Till We Have Faces with Lamb's Players Theatre. Favorite theatre credits include: The Full Monty and The Rivals (Broadway); The Matchmaker, for which she received a Helen Hayes Award nomination, and The Rivalry (Ford's Theatre, D.C.); The Seagull, Love's Labour's Lost and The Merry Wives of Windsor (Old Globe Theatre); As You Like It (Weston Playhouse); The Voice of the Turtle (Westport Country Playhouse); The Glass Menagerie, Susan and God, Cold Comfort Farm and The Great Divorce (Lamb's Players Theatre). Zimmerman's voice can be heard on numerous audio books and recordings including: Three Sisters, The Importance of Being Earnest, Summer and Smoke, Major Barbara, Tartuffe, La Bete and Design for Living (for L.A. Theatre Works). TV includes: The Office, Big Love, Without a Trace, The Closer and The Nine. She received her BFA from The Boston Conservatory and her MFA from Old Globe/USD.

ABOUT THE Geffen Playhouse
The Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and musicals, the Geffen Playhouse continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company is helmed by Producing Director and President of the Board Gilbert (Gil) Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney, Managing Director Ken Novice and Chairman of the Board Frank Mancuso. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains an extensive education and outreach program, designed to engage young people and the community at large in the arts. For more information, please visit geffenplayhouse.com.

 

 

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