Elaine Bromka to Star in TEA FOR THREE at Smothers Theatre, 10/9

Particularly pertinent in an era of heightened politics, TEA FOR THREE: Lady Bird, Pat & Betty humanizes the political scene with a whimsical and deeply moving performance at Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, October 9.

Tickets, priced starting at $15 for the public and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or online at http://arts.pepperdine.edu/. More information: http://teaforthree.com/

A behind-the-scenes look at the fishbowl worlds of Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, and Betty Ford, this one-woman show stars Emmy Award-winning actress Elaine Bromka, who starred as eight first ladies opposite Rich Little in the PBS show The Presidents. Intrigued by their stories, Bromka went on with playwright Eric H. Weinberger to create TEA FOR THREE.

After starring in the Off-Broadway run of TEA FOR THREE: Lady Bird, Pat & Betty, Bromka has toured the show across the country for several years. She can also be seen in film and television roles, such as Uncle Buck, Without a Trace, The Sopranos, Providence, Dharma & Greg, and Days of Our Lives, among others, as well as Catch a Rainbow, for which Bromka won an Emmy. She has also appeared on Broadway in The Rose Tattoo, I'm Not Rappaport, and Macbeth, and Off-Broadway in Cloud 9 at the Lucille Lortel, Roundabout's Inadmissible Evidence, the world premiere of Michael Weller's Split at E.S.T. and Candide with the National Theatre of the Deaf. She has played leads at regional theaters across the country, including Long Wharf, Hartford Stage, Center Stage, Actors Theatre of Louisville, ACT/Seattle, the Eugene O'Neill Playwrights Conference, Shakespeare and Company, McCarter Theatre, Pittsburgh Public Theater, George Street Playhouse, and the Folger Theatre Group.

The three women Bromka portrays in TEA FOR THREE have much in common: they are small town girls who married future presidents and, while their husbands served under particularly extraordinary circumstances, remained strong, life-embracing, and vigilant in their quests to make a difference in the country while maintaining the balance in their unusual home life. "Over the centuries women have been the prodders," says Lady Bird, "You just have to know when to prod."

TEA FOR THREE: Lady Bird, Pat & Betty is sponsored by the Great Books Colloquium of Seaver College.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from 460 zip codes annually through performances, rehearsals, museum exhibitions, and master classes. Located on Pepperdine's breathtaking Malibu campus overlooking the Pacific, the center serves as a hub for the arts, uniquely linking professional guest artists with Pepperdine students as well as patrons from surrounding Southern California communities. Facilities include the 450-seat Smothers Theatre, the 118-seat Raitt Recital Hall, the "black box" Helen E. Lindhurst Theatre, and the Frederick R. Weisman Museum of Art.