Colony Theatre Co Presents GRACE & GLORIE, Previews Begin 6/9

The Colony Theatre Company is thrilled to present its first production of its 36th sensational season, GRACE & GLORIE, written by Tom Ziegler, directed by Cameron Watson (Trying) and starring Ovation Award winner Beth Grant and Melinda Page Hamilton. GRACE & GLORIE will preview on Wednesday, June 9; Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11 at 8:00pm and will open on Saturday, June 12 at 8:00pm and continue through Sunday, July 18 at The Colony Theatre, 555 North Third Street (at Cypress) adjacent to the Burbank Town Center.

Grace is a feisty illiterate 90-year-old who has checked herself out of the hospital and returned to her ramshackle cottage in the mountains of Virginia. Enter Gloria, a transplanted New Yorker with a Harvard MBA, now volunteering as a hospice caregiver. Which one do you think needs saving? At first, cultures and generations hilariously collide, but over time they realize they have more in common than they ever could have imagined. A celebration of the strength and resiliency of women at every age, "Grace & Glorie" is a poignant comedy about love, loss, and the search for meaning in all of our lives.

ABOUT THE CREATIVE TEAM

CAMERON WATSON (Director) directed the award-winning hit Trying at The Colony (eight Ovation Award nominations, Garland Award for Best Director) as well as Educating Rita. He directed the critically acclaimed American premiere of I Capture the Castle at the El Portal (six Ovation Award nominations) and Natasha Wood's unique one-woman show Rolling with Laughter, which went on to play the Edinburgh Festival and Her Majesty's Theatre in London's West End. Cameron directed the highly lauded production of Horton Foote's The Habitation of Dragons at the Actor's Co-Op. Later this season, Cameron will be directing the east coast premiere of I Capture the Castle at the renowned Shakespeare Theatre Of New Jersey. Cameron's feature film directing debut was the Miramax film Our Very Own, which he also wrote and produced. The film stars Allison Janney in an Independent Spirit Award-nominated performance, alongside Jason Ritter, Keith Carradine, Cheryl Hines, Autumn Reeser, Mary Badham, Faith Prince, and Beth Grant. The movie garnered national attention on the festival circuit and picked up numerous awards before being distributed by Miramax. Cameron began his professional acting career studying in New York with the legendary Herbert Berghof, which led to Horton Foote giving Cameron his first acting job in the original Off-Broadway production of The Widow Claire at Circle in the Square. His lengthy acting credits include leading roles at The Pasadena Playhouse, Portland Center Stage, Laguna Playhouse, Lost World, and on many L.A. stages. His numerous television and film appearances include Grey's Anatomy, Bones, CSI: Miami, King of Queens, and Vanilla Sky, among many others. Grace & Glorie marks yet another collaboration with Beth Grant after having acted opposite her in the world premiere of Foote's The Day Emily Married, directing her in a feature film, and currently developing her new project, The New York Way.

Beth Grant (Grace) has performed on stages all over southern California including Picnic and Summer and Smoke at The Ahmanson Theatre. World premieres in L.A. and New York include Holy Ghosts by Romulus Linney, On A Southern Journey by Maya Angelou, The Day Emily Married by Horton Foote, Sordid Lives and The Trials And Tribulations of a Trailer Trash Housewife by Del Shores (Ovation Award, Drama Critics Circle Award, and Backstage Garland Award for Lead Actress), and last year's production of Cornelia by Mark V. Olsen at The Old Globe in San Diego. Grant attended Governor's School of North Carolina and received a BFA in acting and directing from East Carolina University, and she was a longtime student of Milton Katselas at the Beverly Hills Playhouse. Grant has co-starred in over seventy feature films including the Best Picture Oscar winners No Country for Old Men (SAG Ensemble Award) and Rain Man, Best Picture Oscar nominee Little Miss Sunshine (SAG Ensemble Award), Donnie Darko, Sordid Lives, Speed, A Time To Kill, and Extract. Soon-to-be released is Operation Endgame from Darko Productions, and recent television includes The Office, Pushing Daisies, Criminal Minds, Medium, Wonderfalls, and Malcolm in the Middle. In August, Grant will workshop her play, The New York Way, written with Judy Nagy and directed by Cameron Watson.

Melinda Page Hamilton (Gloria) has starred in numerous plays regionally and in New York. Recent credits include the title role in the world premiere of Cornelia by Mark V. Olsen at The Old Globe in San Diego. Additional credits include Bell, Book and Candle and All My Sons, also at The Old Globe, The Royal Family at The Ahmanson Theatre, To Fool the Eye at The Guthrie Theatre, Cyrano de Bergerac at The Cleveland Playhouse, The Royal Family at The Arena Stage, Our Lady of Sligo at the Irish Repertory Theater in New York, The Seagull at George Street Playhouse, and numerous plays at New York's Ensemble Studio Theatre. Television credits include NCIS, Private Practice, Criminal Minds, The Mentalist, The Closer, Castle, Without A Trace, The Ghost Whisperer, Nip/Tuck and recurring roles on ABC's Desperate Housewives, HBO's Big Love, and AMC's Mad Men. She also starred in the 2006 Sundance favorite Sleeping Dogs Lie directed by Bobcat Goldthwait for which she received a Gotham Award nomination. She received her MFA from NYU.

GRACE & GLORIE has assembled an award-winning design team. The Scenic Design is by Jeff McLaughlin (Ovation Award winner for A Skull in Connemara). The Lighting Design is by Luke Moyer (Celadine, Life Could be a Dream). The Costume Design is by Terri A. Lewis (Educating Rita). The Sound Design is by Cricket S. Myers. Prop Design is by Colony Theatre resident designers MacAndME.

ABOUT THE SCHEDULE AND PRICING

GRACE & GLORIE will open on Saturday, June 12 and perform through Sunday, July 18, 2010. There will be no performances over the July 4th weekend. Performances for GRACE & GLORIE are Thursdays, & Fridays at 8:00pm; Saturdays at 3:00pm & 8:00pm; and Sundays at 2:00pm. Ticket prices range from $20.00 - $42.00 (student, senior and group discounts are available). GRACE & GLORIE will preview on Wednesday, June 9; Thursday, June 10 and Friday, June 11 at 8:00pm. Opening night performance with reception - all tickets $50.00. There are question-and-answer talkbacks after the performances on Friday, June 18, and Thursday, July 8 For tickets, call the Colony Theatre Box Office at 818/558-7000 ext. 15 or online at www.colonytheatre.org.