Wallis Annenberg- SISTERS IN LAW Starring Tovah Feldshuh & Stephanie Faracy

Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, In Association with Elizabeth Weber, Dale Franzen and Don Franzen Presents the West Coast Premiere of SISTERS IN LAW Starring
Tovah Feldshuh as Ruth Bader Ginsburg ​ &  Stephanie Faracy  as Sandra Day O’Connor.

Wednesday, September 18 through Sunday, October 13, 2019. Single Tickets Now Available.

​The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts, in association with Elizabeth Weber, Dale Franzen (Hadestown) and Don Franzen, presents the West Coast Premiere of SISTERS IN LAW, starring Tovah Feldshuh (Golda’s Balcony, “The Walking Dead,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”) as Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephanie Faracy (Hocus Pocus, The Great Outdoors with Dan Aykroyd and John Candy, “Sneaky Pete” and “Modern Family”) as Sandra Day O’Connor. Directed by Patricia McGregor (Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole, Skeleton Crew), with an all-female design team, performances begin Wednesday, September 18 through Sunday, October 13, 2019, in The Wallis’ Lovelace Studio Theater. Written by Jonathan Shapiro, this new production, based on Linda Hirshman’s New York Times bestseller, celebrates the friendship – and conflict — between two modern-day legends who became the United States Supreme Court’s first female justices. Sisters in Law transcends party, religion, and culture with a tale of Democrat Ginsburg and Republican O’Connor, two polar opposites, as they grapple with matters of the law and personal belief. Hirshman’s book was lauded by NPR as “[A] funny … and moving tale of two women so similar and yet so different.” Single tickets are now available.

Sandra Day O’Connor, appointed by President Ronald Reagan, is the charismatic former Arizona State Senator, fond of compromise, who was raised to rope and ride on the Lazy-B Ranch. Ruth Bader Ginsburg, appointed by President Bill Clinton and called “Mother of the Feminist Movement,” is a New York intellectual and former director of the ACLU’s litigation strategy, eager to achieve gender equality as soon as possible. Almost immediately after Ginsburg’s appointment, the women are confronted by a case that lays bare their most deeply held personal and political beliefs, pitting them against one another in a battle over the future of the Court, the soul of the country and the meaning of justice. Sisters in Law raises timely questions of how we can resolve our deepest differences.

“Sisters in Law is the story of two remarkable women,” says The Wallis’ Artistic Director Paul Crewes.  “Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sandra Day O’Connor are two trailblazers whose influences on the Supreme Court and the country have been immense. This play is moving, funny and explores how we find agreement and hope in a partisan world.”

Co-producers Elizabeth Weber, Dale Franzen and Don Franzen added, “We are pleased to be working with The Wallis, not only because of their outstanding producing reputation and track record, but  because our visions closely align for this timely work.”

In addition to Director Patricia McGregor, Sister in Law‘s all-female design team includes Scenic Designer Rachel Myers, Costume Designer Melissa Trn, Lighting Designer Leigh Allen and Sound Designer Cricket Myers.

Subscription packages are currently available and single tickets are on sale for $60 each (prices subject to change). The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is located at 9390 N. Santa Monica Blvd, Beverly Hills. To purchase tickets and for more information, please call 310-746-4000 or visit TheWallis.org/Sisters.

About the Artists:

TOVAH FELDSHUH (Ruth Bader Ginsburg) is a six time Emmy & Tony nominee and has been awarded three honorary Doctorates of Humane Letters. Ms. Feldshuh is the winner of 4 Drama Desks, 4 Outer Critic’s Circle, 2 Dramalogues, The Theatre World, Obie, Lucille Lortel and Helen Hayes Awards for Best Actress. On Broadway: Yentl, Cyrano, Rodgers & Hart, Dreyfus in Rehearsal, Saravá!, Lend Me a Tenor, Golda’s Balcony, Irena’s Vow, and most recently the show stopping trapeze-swinging Berthe in Pippin. Off Broadway: Everything from three Queens of Henry VIII and Tallulah Bankhead, to Yussel “The Muscle” Jacobs , and British Holocaust denier Brenda Goodsen opposite Ed Asner in The Soap Myth. She just closed in the World Première of Wade Dooley’s The Prompter at the Bay Street Theatre where she played aging West Virginian diva Irene Young, who returns to Broadway after 45 years and needs a prompter to get through her performances. On the West Coast, she has starred in five shows for Jack O’Brien at the Old Globe in San Diego: Romeo & Juliet, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, The Country Wife, and Tovah: A Rush-Hour Review. She recently returned there for a one-month run ofGolda’s Balcony. In L.A. she starred at the Ahmanson as Regina in Lillian Helmann’s Another Part of the Forest, at the Geffen in Tovah: A One Woman Show and at the Wadsworth theatre, again, in Golda’s Balcony. Television credits include: POTUS Pauline Mackenzie in “Salvation,” Deanna Monroe, leader of Alexandria in “The Walking Dead,” Defense attorney Danielle Melnick in “Law & Order,” Russian ballet master Ivana in “Flesh and Bone,” and Naomi Bunch in “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” where Feldshuh can be seen singing the dignified showstopper: “Where’s the Bathroom!” Films include: Clifford  for Paramount Pictures (to be released Thanksgiving 2020), Kissing Jessica Stein (Golden Satellite Award—Best Supporting Actress), A Walk on the Moon, Brewster’s Millions, Just My Luck, Daniel, The Idolmaker, The Blue Iguana, and this year, Ms. Feldshuh’s award-winning performance as Prime Minister Golda Meir in  Golda’s Balcony  has been made into a film entitled Golda’s Balcony The Film, which won ten Best Picture awards at its first ten out of 30 Jewish film festivals.  Her one-woman show Tovah is LEONA! sold out in NYC and is on its way to San Francisco’s Feinstein’s at the Nikko, Sept. 20th & 21st. Feldshuh brings back the infamous Leona Helmsley direct from Purgatory to make the Queen of Mean the Queen of Cabaret. Long known for her commitment to social justice, Ms. Feldshuh is a staunch supporter of Seeds of Peace, a non-profit, non-political organization that helps teenagers from regions of conflict. She is a graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the recipient of the McKnight Fellowship in acting, which took her to the Tyrone Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, where she began her career. She has taught at Yale, Cornell and New York Universities and has been awarded, among others, the Eleanor Roosevelt Humanities Award and the Israel Peace Medal.

STEPHANIE FARACY (Sandra Day O’Connor) has enjoyed an enduring career in theatre, film and television.  Soon after arriving in Los Angeles from the Yale School of Drama, she landed her first role in the Warren Beatty classic Heaven Can Wait. She next starred in Mark Medoff’s film of his award-winning play When You Comin’ Back Red Ryder directed by Milton Katselas. Audiences will know her from her appearances in timeless comedy classics like The Great Outdoors and Hocus Pocus. Recent credits include a multi-episode arc on the final season of Amazon’s “Sneaky Pete” and the feature Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates with Zac Efron and Adam Devine. Other credits: the multi-award winning HBO film Temple Grandin opposite Claire Danes, Bad Teacher with Cameron Diaz, Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck and The Five-Year Engagement with Jason Segal and Emily Blunt, Alexander Payne’s Sideways (SAG Award, Best Ensemble), Flight Plan with Jodie Foster, and Mary and Martha with Hilary Swank and Blenda Blethen for HBO. Among her numerous guest star roles are appearances on such television series as “Devious Maids” (multiple episodes), “Modern Family,” “Frasier,” “Will & Grace,” “Ugly Betty,” “How to Get Away With Murder,” and “Grey’s Anatomy.” She also received an L.A. Ovation Award for her work onstage in Two Rooms and appeared in the critically praised Los Angeles revival of Gemini. She holds a Master’s Degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and works with the Freedom to Choose project, volunteering to council women who are incarcerated in California prisons.

PATRICIA McGREGOR (Director) is an acclaimed director and writer from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands known for the range and vibrancy of her work. She has been profiled twice by the New York Times for her collaborations on world premieres. Recent credits include Lights Out: Nat “King” Cole and Skeleton Crew (Geffen Playhouse), Good Grief (Center Theatre Group), Place (BAM Next Wave Festival) A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Measure for Measure (The Old Globe) The Parchman Hour (Guthrie Theater), Hamlet (The Public Theater), Ugly Lies the Bone (Roundabout Theatre Company), Hurt Village (Signature Theatre Company), A Raisin in the Sun, The Winter’s Tale, and Spunk (California Shakespeare Theater) Indomitable: James Brown (Apollo Theater) Holding It Down (Metropolitian Museum) and Blood Dazzler (Harlem Stage). She served as consultant for J Cole’s 4 Your Eyez Only tour. For several years she has directed the 24 Hour plays on Broadway. She is also the co-founder of Angela’s Purse with her artist/activist sister Paloma McGregor. McGregor was a Paul and Daisy Soros Fellow at the Yale School of Drama where she was also Artistic Director of the Yale Cabaret.

JONATHAN SHAPIRO (Playwright) is a Peabody, Humanitas, and Emmy Award-winning writer and producer. With David E. Kelley, he is the creator/executive producer of Amazon’s “Goliath” (Golden Globe winner for Best Actor in a Drama, Billy Bob Thornton), executive producer of Audience’s “Mr. Mercedes” (adapted from the Stephen King novels), and consulting producer on the HBO series “The Undoing,” starring Nicole Kidman and Hugh Grant. His writing credits include multiple episodes of “The Blacklist,” “Life,” “The Firm,” “Boston Legal,” and “The Practice,” among other series. He is the author of two books, Deadly Force and Lawyers, Liars, and the Art of Storytelling, and has taught at USC, Loyola, and UCLA law schools. He received degrees from U.C. Berkeley Law School, Harvard College, and Oxford University, where he was a Rhodes Scholar. He is married to television writer Betsy Borns. They have three children. This is his first play.

About the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts:
The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts is a dynamic cultural hub and community resource where local, national and international artists share their artistry withever-expanding audiences. The campus, located in the heart of Beverly Hills, CA, is committed to robust and distinctive presentations and education programs curated with both creativity and social impact in mind. Distinguished by its eclectic programming that mirrors the diverse landscape of Los Angeles and its location in the entertainment capital of the world, The Wallis has produced and presented more than 275 dance, theater, opera, classical music, cinema and family programs since its doors opened in October 2013. Hailed as “au courant” (LaLa Magazine), The Wallis was lauded by Culture Vulture, which proclaims, “If you love expecting the unexpected in the performing arts, you have to love The Wallis.” Its programming has been nominated for 48 Ovation Awards and seven L.A. Drama Critic’s Circle Awards. The campus itself, a breathtaking 70,000-square-foot facility celebrating the classic and the modern, has garnered six architectural awards. Designed by acclaimed architect Zoltan E. Pali (SPF:architects), the restored building features the original 1933 Beverly Hills Post Office (on the National Register of Historic Places), which serves as the theater’s dramatic yet welcoming lobby, and includes the contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Bram Goldsmith Theater; the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater; an inviting open-air plaza for family, community and other performances; and GRoW @ The Wallis: A Space for Arts Education, where learning opportunities for all ages and backgrounds abound. Together, these elements embrace the city’s history and its future, creating a performing arts destination for L.A.-area visitors and residents alike. The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts isled by Chairman of the Board Michael Nemeroff, Executive Director & Chief Executive Office Rachel Fine and Artistic Director Paul Crewes.

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WHEN:
Wednesday, September 18 through Sunday, October 13, 2019
Weekdays, 8 pm; Saturdays, 2:30 pm and 8 pm; Sundays, 2:30 pm and 7:30 pm
No performances on Friday, September 20, Saturday, September 21 and Tuesday, October 8

RUN TIME:
Running time is 90 minutes with no intermission

WHERE:
Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
Lovelace Studio Theater
9390 N. Santa Monica Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90210