Comedienne Rita Rudner to Headline Pepperdine University This December

By: Oct. 27, 2017
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Consummate comedienne Rita Rudner brings her trademark wit for an evening of laughs to Pepperdine University's Smothers Theatre at 8 p.m. on Thursday, December 7 at the Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts.

Tickets, starting at $40 for adults, and $10 for full-time Pepperdine students, are available now by calling (310) 506-4522 or visiting arts.pepperdine.edu.

Beginning her entertainment career as a dancer in Broadway shows, Rudner first started performing stand-up in New York comedy clubs during the 1980s, and gained wider exposure as a frequent guest on Late Night with Letterman and The Tonight Show. She has since appeared on television shows hosted by Bill Maher, Jay Leno, Bob Hope, George Burns, Tom Snyder, Conan O'Brien, Dennis Miller, Martin Short, Oprah Winfrey, and Regis Philbin and Kathie Lee Gifford.

Rudner is renowned for her critically-acclaimed comedy specials. Her first solo HBO special, Rita Rudner's One Night Stand, was nominated for two Ace Awards, as was her English television show, which later appeared on A&E. Rudner's two one-hour specials for HBO, Born to Be Mild and Married Without Children, were ratings standouts, as was her recent PBS special, Live from Las Vegas.

Runder has also written five books, including two fiction novels, Tickled Pink and Turning the Tables; her other books include the best-selling Naked Beneath My Clothes, I Still Have It... I Just Can't Remember Where I Put It and Rita Rudner's Guide to Men.

Together with her husband Englishman Martin Bergman, Rudner has written several scripts, including their first produced script for the 1992 movie Peter's Friends, which starred Emma Thompson, Hugh Laurie and Kenneth Branagh; the movie won the Peter Sellers Award for Best Comedy Film of the Year, and was nominated for the Best Original Script by the Writer's Guild of America.

This was followed several more collaborations, including the TV movies A Weekend in the Country, which also marked Bergman's directorial debut, and Unfunny Girl, as well as the award-winning independent movie Thanks, which premiered at the Palm Springs Film Festival in 2011.

Rudner recently added "playwright" to her extensive resume with the debut of Room 776 at the Las Vegas Little Theatre; the production was co-written and directed by her husband.

Rudner boasts the longest running one-person comedy show in Las Vegas history; with ticket sales over $50 million, Rudner is one of Las Vegas' most beloved performers.

With a wide-eyed sweetness that belies her legendary acid observations, Rudner is renowned as a comedy legend.

This performance is sponsored by the Pepperdine University Crest Associates.

The Lisa Smith Wengler Center for the Arts at Pepperdine University provides high-quality activities for over 50,000 people from over 800 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.

IF YOU GO:

Rita Rudner

WHEN: Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 8 p.m.

WHERE: Smothers Theatre, Pepperdine University, 24255 Pacific Coast Highway, Malibu, CA

TICKETS: (310) 506-4522 or arts.pepperdine.edu

PRICES: $40-$75 for adults, $10 for Pepperdine students



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