Photo Flash: First Look At THEY PROMISED HER THE MOON At The Old Globe

The Old Globe today announced that the West Coast premiere of Laurel Ollstein's They Promised Her the Moon has been extended by popular demand and will run through May 12, 2019. The first of two shows in the 2018-2019 Season developed in the Globe's Powers New Voices Festival, it wowed Festival audiences with the story of the powerful forces that kept one woman from reaching orbit. Directed by Giovanna Sardelli (the Globe's The Whipping Man and Somewhere), They Promised Her the Moon runs April 6 - May 12, 2019 in the Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre, part of the Conrad Prebys Theatre Center. Preview performances run April 6-10.

Opening night is Thursday, April 11 at 8:00 p.m. Single tickets start at $30.00, now on sale, and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE, or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. They Promised Her the Moon will also take a short Globe for All Tour to several of our Community Partner venues following performances at the Globe; details to be announced shortly.

In 1960 the famed Mercury Seven trained at NASA to become the first American astronauts. But they weren't alone. Thirteen women also underwent the same rigorous psychological and physical testing. The first woman to be tested, Jerrie Cobb, even out-performed her male counterparts. But while Alan Shepard and John Glenn went on to become household names, Ms. Cobb never got that chance. In vividly theatrical terms, the West Coast premiere of They Promised Her the Moontells the unknown true story of this exceptional and unjustly overlooked woman-skilled aviator, world-record-holding pilot, successful business executive-and the powerful forces that kept her from reaching orbit. Contains strong language.

The cast includes Matthew Boston as Dr. Randy Lovelace and Others (Off Broadway's Education and The Edge of Our Bodies), Mary Beth Fisher as Jackie Cochran (Broadway's The Night of the Iguana and Frank's Home), Morgan Hallett as Jerrie Cobb (the Globe's Time and the Conways, Broadway's The Present, Translations, and Long Day's Journey Into Night), Lanna Joffrey as Helena Cobb and Others (the Globe's A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Profane and Measure for Measure Off Broadway, extensive U.K. credits), Michael Pemberton as Harvey Cobb and Others (Broadway's The Farnsworth Invention, I'm Not Rappaport, Mamma Mia!, and Hedda Gabler), and Peter Rini as Jack Ford and Others (Broadway's Proposals and A View From the Bridge, "Orange Is the New Black," "The Blacklist").

The creative team includes Jo Winiarski (Scenic Design; The Absolute Brightness of Leonard Pelkey at the Globe and Off Broadway, Love, Loss, and What I Wore), Denitsa Bliznakova (Costume Design; 10th Globe show plus The Last Match and The Royale, Carmen at LA Opera, All Is Calm at San Diego Opera), Cat Tate Starmer (Lighting Design; The Winning Side Off Broadway), Jane Shaw (Sound Design; the Globe's The Wanderers, Off Broadway's Actually, I Was Most Alive with You and Men on Boats), David Huber (Dialect and Vocal Coach; 34 Globe productions), Caparelliotis Casting (Casting), and Jess Slocum (Production Stage Manager).

"I was a NASA geek as a boy, and I remember plastic models of the Saturn V around my house, and posters of the Apollo missions on my walls, so it's a real personal joy to revisit America's space program through the wonderful play They Promised Her the Moon," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "But the space program we learn about in this exciting play is different from the one we know, which is all-male. Playwright Laurel Ollstein reminds us of another, fuller story that demands to be told. There were many more astronauts-in-training than the Mercury Seven we all remember, and it's both exhilarating and heartbreaking to know that it could have been a woman who took the first steps at Tranquility Base had the playing field been level and society more equitable. Audiences at last year's Powers New Voices Festival thrilled to this revelatory work when they heard it, and I look forward to sharing the unjustly neglected story of Jerrie Cobb and her extraordinary life with all of San Diego. I'm also excited to tour the production to venues around the county after its Globe run, where I know that Cobb's amazing tale will inspire audiences even as it moves and delights them."

Photo Credit: Jim Cox