Playhouse On Park Brings A New Play Reading To 'From The Porch - A Summer Series'

The Hill-Stead Museum's 152-acre campus, located in Farmington, CT, will host a completely outdoor summer series. Playhouse on Park will join with a reading of Todd Olson's new play ALTHEA & ANGELA on Sunday, July 12th (Rain Date: Monday, July 13) at 6:30pm (Gates Open at 6pm). This reading of ALTHEA & ANGELA is directed by Sean Harris. Includes a post-show talk back with the cast and director.

In 1955, Althea Gibson and Angela Buxton were world-ranked tennis players... yet no one wanted to partner with them in women's doubles. In fact, few even wanted to talk with them. Post-War America was still very segregated and the tennis world was still very anti-Semitic. Eight years after Jackie Robinson had broken the color line in Major League Baseball, the tennis world lagged behind, clinging to its country club roots. Althea, a black woman from Harlem, and Angela, a Jewish woman from Liverpool, were outcasts in two nations. So they decided to join forces outside their own country - and what happened then made history.

ALTHEA & ANGELA tells the story of their meeting at an exhibition game in New Delhi, pairing up, and winning the French Open and Wimbledon - the first Grand Slam events that any African-American - male or female - had ever accomplished. It also tells the story of the unlikely events that occurred 40 years later, when one fell upon destitute times...and the other saved her life by a mass appeal to the tennis world.

Tickets are $25; they will not be sold at the door. You can order tickets through Playhouse on Park - online at www.playhouseonpark.org, over the phone at 860-523-5900 x10, or in person at 244 Park Road, West Hartford, CT. 06119. Please note Playhouse on Park's abbreviated hours due to Covid-19: 10am -2pm Mon-Fri or by appointment. On the night of the event, you will not need a physical ticket; your name and the size of your party will be on a list at the gate. Bring your own beverages, food, chairs/blankets and masks. Masks must be warn unless you are in your pod. The Hill-Stead Museum is located at 35 Mountain Rd. Farmington, CT 06032. For more information, visit their website at www.Hillstead.org. In addition to the play reading, Playhouse on Park will present COMEDY NIGHT on July 15th and August 21st, as well as a BROADWAY-STYLE CABARET on August 26th.

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