An Icon Returns to Her Roots: Angela Lansbury Revisits Career-Launching Theatre in Washington D.C. Tonight

By: Mar. 18, 2015
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Pictured: Angela Lansbury & Bert Lahr in HOTEL PARADISO, 1957; Lansbury in BLITHE SPIRIT, 2014

Angela Lansbury returns to her stage roots tonight.

BLITHE SPIRIT, the acclaimed production starring the five-time Tony winner, opens tonight in Washington D.C. at the National Theatre - the same theatre that housed the pre-Broadway tryout of HOTEL PARADISO in 1957, the production that would later mark the legendary actress' Broadway debut. Lansbury took the stage alongside Bert Lahr in the farce, which would eventually transfer to Broadway's Henry Miller's Theatre (now the Stephen Sondheim Theatre) for a total of 108 performances.

In BLITHE SPIRIT, "researching for his new novel, Charles Condomine invites the implausible medium Madame Arcati to his house for a séance. While consumed in a trance, Madame Arcati unwittingly summons the ghost of Charles' dead wife Elvira. Appearing only to Charles, Elvira soon makes a play to reclaim her husband, much to the chagrin of Charles' new wife Ruth. Now if he wants his latest marriage to stand a ghost of a chance, he'd better conjure up a solution quickly."

Lansbury has enjoyed a seven-decade career, as a screen star and as an award-winning stage actor in New York and London. She made her Broadway debut in 1957 asBert Lahr's wife in Hotel Paradiso. Her other Broadway credits include A Taste of Honey (1960), Anyone Can Whistle (1961),Mame (1966, Tony Award), Dear World (1968, Tony Award), Gypsy (1974 revival, Tony Award), Sweeney Todd (1979, Tony Award), Blithe Spirit (2009 revival, Tony Award), A Little Night Music (2009 revival), and The Best Man (2012).

Recently, she appeared with James Earl Jones and Boyd Gaines in the 2013 Australian tour of Driving Miss Daisy. From 1984-1996 she starred as Jessica Fletcher on "Murder She Wrote," the longest running detective drama series in the history of television. Named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth in 1994, she received the Kennedy Center Honor in 2000. In addition to her 5 Tony Awards, she is also the winner of 6 Golden Globe Awards and has been nominated for 3 Oscars and 18 Emmys.

Tickets to BLITHE SPIRIT at the National Theatre are available at the National Theatre Box Office, online at thenationaldc.com, or by calling (800) 514-3849.

Below, check out an inside look at the tour's opening night last fall in Los Angeles!



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