YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED...
THREE FIRST LADIES,
ONE TOUR-DE-FORCE PERFORMANCE
Illustration: Chris Morris, camorris.com
by Eric H. Weinberger and Elaine Bromka
Starring Elaine Bromka
Directed by Byam Stevens
June 19 through July 6
Most Wednesdays through Saturdays
at 7:00 PM*
* also Tue. 7/2 at 7 PM, no show Wed. 7/3, Thu. 7/4 at 4 PM
Tickets: $35 General Admission
$30 Seniors
$20 Students & Military
Ages 12 and under are free
East Lynne at Cape May Presbyterian Church
500 Hughes Street Cape May, NJ
Starring Elaine Bromka
Directed by Byam Stevens
June 19 through July 6
Most Wednesdays through Saturdays
at 7:00 PM*
* also Tue. 7/2 at 7 PM, no show Wed. 7/3, Thu. 7/4 at 4 PM
Tickets: $35 General Admission
$30 Seniors
$20 Students & Military
Ages 12 and under are free
East Lynne at Cape May Presbyterian Church
500 Hughes Street Cape May, NJ
MEET THREE FIRST LADIES...
What is it like for a woman when her husband becomes the president of the United States—and she is suddenly thrust into the spotlight? This witty, sly and deeply moving script explores the hopes, fears and loves of Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Betty Ford. In three scenes taking place in the family quarters of the White House just prior to the end of living there as the wife of a president, each of the women confides alone to the audience. Secrets are spilled about their early years, their husbands' rise to power, their romances with the men, their unique paths as wives in the White House, and their feelings about imminent retirement.
Lady Bird Johnson, while preparing a tea for Pat Nixon, defends her husband's quirks but finally admits to herself, "Politics is his oxygen." Mrs. Nixon, drinking tea alone in her room on the eve of her husband's resignation, works on her mail, picks at her food and guardedly recalls happier times before exploding in anger about Watergate and the political world. Betty Ford is discovered reading a TIME magazine in her bathrobe. Forestalling preparations for tea with Rosalyn Carter, Betty lightheartedly recalls past escapades, but eventually admits to being quite lost about life after the White House. Defiantly pushing back the fear, she sails out the door to meet Mrs. Carter. Each of the three portraits becomes intimate, by degrees, as the women wrestle with what Pat Nixon called "the hardest unpaid job in the world."
What is it like for a woman when her husband becomes the president of the United States—and she is suddenly thrust into the spotlight? This witty, sly and deeply moving script explores the hopes, fears and loves of Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon and Betty Ford. In three scenes taking place in the family quarters of the White House just prior to the end of living there as the wife of a president, each of the women confides alone to the audience. Secrets are spilled about their early years, their husbands' rise to power, their romances with the men, their unique paths as wives in the White House, and their feelings about imminent retirement.
Lady Bird Johnson, while preparing a tea for Pat Nixon, defends her husband's quirks but finally admits to herself, "Politics is his oxygen." Mrs. Nixon, drinking tea alone in her room on the eve of her husband's resignation, works on her mail, picks at her food and guardedly recalls happier times before exploding in anger about Watergate and the political world. Betty Ford is discovered reading a TIME magazine in her bathrobe. Forestalling preparations for tea with Rosalyn Carter, Betty lightheartedly recalls past escapades, but eventually admits to being quite lost about life after the White House. Defiantly pushing back the fear, she sails out the door to meet Mrs. Carter. Each of the three portraits becomes intimate, by degrees, as the women wrestle with what Pat Nixon called "the hardest unpaid job in the world."
BIOS
ELAINE BROMKA (The First Ladies, Co-Author) has had a long and rewarding career. Her film work includes Uncle Buck (playing Cindy, the mom), In the Family and Without a Trace. Television work includes Girls, The Sopranos, Sex and the City, ER, Providence, Dharma & Greg, Sisters, Law & Order,Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Stella Lombard on Days of Our Lives, the Emmy Award-winning Playing for Time with Vanessa Redgrave and Catch a Rainbow, for which Bromka herself won an Emmy. She has appeared on Broadway (The Rose Tattoo, I'm Not Rappaport, Macbeth) and off-Broadway (Roundabout Theatre's Inadmissible Evidence with Nicol Williamson, the world premiere of Michael Weller's Split at Ensemble Studio Theatre and Candide with the National Theatre of the Deaf). Leading roles at regional theatres across the country range from Much Ado About Nothing's Beatrice to Shirley Valentine, for which she was cited for outstanding solo performance in New Jersey in 1997 by The Star-Ledger. Starring opposite Rich Little in The Presidents for PBS, where she portrayed eight first ladies, led to her co-writing TEA FOR THREE: Lady Bird, Pat & Betty with Eric H. Weinberger. Since its successful off-Broadway run, she has continued to tour with it nationwide. A member of the Actors Studio, a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Smith College and a faculty member at Smith and NYU, she has also taught one-day acting workshops at more than 100 colleges and prep schools.
ERIC H. WEINBERGER (Co-Author) In addition to TEA FOR THREE: Lady Bird, Pat & Betty, which he co-wrote with Elaine Bromka, who performed it off-Broadway and has toured the country with it since 2004, his plays include Class Mothers '68 , which starred Priscilla Lopez at Luna Stage in New Jersey and off-Broadway (Star-Ledger Award for Best New Comedy); Six Hands at Yale University and Luna Stage; The Nightwatchman at Luna Stage and with On The Rock Productions in Key West, Fla.; and three shows for children at Andy's Summer Playhouse in Peterborough, N.H. Musicals include Wanda's World, performed off-Broadway (Drama Desk Award nomination for Outstanding Book of a Musical, Lucille Lortel Award nomination for Outstanding Musical) and published by Theatrical Rights Worldwide (www.wandasworldmusical.com); … And Then I Wrote a Song About It at Luna Stage and the Diversionary Theatre in San Diego (www.andtheniwroteasongaboutit.com); Brothers, Boyfriends & Other Criminals at Zach Theatre in Austin, Texas; a workshop production of Giant Steps, an "urbean" version of Jack and the Beanstalk, at the University of Texas at Austin; and A Dog Story at The Waterfront Playhouse, Key West, Fla. Weinberger produced an annual benefit for the A-T Children's Project for 20 years. Prior to writing plays, he worked in television for NBC and The Phil Donahue Show. He resided in New York City and Key West, Fla.
BYAM STEVENS (Director) was the Artistic Director of the Chester Theatre Company in the Berkshires for eighteen years, and is the Artistic Director of Synapsis Co., a New York based company that promotes the development of new scripts. His directing credits include: the World Premieres of Carbondale Dreams, The Plains Of Ilion, The Darlings, Ohn and Teddy, Home Fires Burning, Rosaline, The Pearl Of The Orient, and Holdouts (co-authored with Gregory Mortensen). American Premieres: Sixteen Words For Water, Beef. Other credits include: An Almost Holy Picture, Valley Song, The Interrogation Of Nathan Hale, Eleemosynary, The Underlings, Shirley Valentine and numerous collaborations with the kids of The 52nd Street Project and The Greylock Project at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. He has taught at HB Studio, American Ballet Theatre, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Adelphi University and Bucknell University, and is a member of the SSDC. With Susan Jaffe, he is co-founder of DanceText, an acting curriculum created specifically for dancers.
