WaterTower Theatre and Stage West to Present RED HOT PATRIOT: THE KICK-ASS WIT OF MOLLY IVINS, 8/18-9/29

WaterTower Theatre Producing Artistic Director Terry Martin has announced the co-production of Red Hot Patriot: the Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins with Stage West, running August 18 -September 29, 2013 in the Studio Theatre at the Addison Theatre Centre. Georgia Clinton reprises her performance as the well-known Texas journalist Molly Ivins.

Tickets on sale now. Tickets range in price from $20 to $27.50 and are available online by visiting www.watertowertheatre.org, by phone at972-450-6232, or in-person at the WaterTower Theatre box office located inside the Addison Theatre Centre.

There will be one preview performance on Sunday, August 18 at 7:30 pm. The opening night performance is August 19 at 7:30 pm.

Dana Schultes is the director of Red Hot Patriot. The creative team includes Jessica Pettit (Production Stage Manager), JimCovault (Set Design), Jim Covault and Peggy Kruger-O'Brien (Costume Design), Jason Domm (Lighting Design), Lynn Lovett (Décor and Props Design), Eliot Haynes (Sound and Video Design).

Molly Ivins is best-known for her pithy and often colorful prose, something which earned her the admiration of many and the rabid enmity of others. Born into an affluent family, she spent most of her undergrad years at Smith College, later earning a Masters Degree from Columbia University. Her journalistic career took her from the Houston Chronicle to the Texas Observer, and then on to the New York Times, where her signature, earthy language often had her at odds with her management. She later returned to Texas, where her formidable wit found an abundance of targets. She died of cancer in 2007. Red Hot Patriot, written by Margaret Engel and Allison Engel, follows Ivins' journey, from her early battles with her authoritarian father to the one battle she was unable to win.

Creative Team:

Director: Dana Schultes

Production Stage Manager: Jessica Pettit

Set Designer: Jim Covault

Costume Designers: Jim Covault and Peggy Kruger-O'Brien

Lighting Designer: Jason Domm

Décor and Props Designer: Lynn Lovett

Sound and Video Designer: Eliot Haynes

Performance Schedule:

Show Run Dates: Monday, August 19 - Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Wednesday, September 25- Saturday, September 29, 2013

Preview Dates: Sunday, August 18 at 7:30pm

Opening Night: Monday, August 19 at 7:30pm

Performances:

Wednesdays & Thursdays: 7:30pm

Wednesday- 2pm (Sept.18 only)

Fridays & Saturdays: 8pm

Sundays: 2pm

Ticket Prices:

Single Tickets: Wednesday and Thursday at $22.00; Friday., Saturday and Sunday at $27.50

Preview performance tickets at $20.00

Buy tickets at www.watertowertheatre.org or 972-450-6232 or in person at WaterTower Theatre Box Office (Tuesday - Friday, 12pm to 6pm) at the Addison Theatre Centre, 15650 Addison Road, Addison, Texas 75001.

About Margaret and Allison Engel (Playwrights): Margaret and Allison Engel, both journalists, were great admirers of Molly Ivins. Having heard Ivins compared to Mark Twain on several occasions, they decided that the theatre would be a great way to keep her voice alive, and despite never having written a play, they took a leap. They delved into her writings, and spoke to many of her friends, and were fortunate enough to have Kathleen Turner, also an admirer, agree to come on board. Seven months after the first reading, the play opened, and it has enjoyed great success.

Margaret Engel was a reporter for the Washington Post, Des Moines Register and Lorain Journal, and was a Nieman fellow at Harvard University. She directs the Alicia Patterson Journalism Foundation and was the managing editor of the Newseum, the museum for news, in Washington, D.C. She co-wrote Food Finds: America's Best Local Foods and the People Who Produce Them with her twin, Allison, and helped turn the book into a show for Food Network, where it ran for seven years. It appears today on the Travel Channel. She serves on the Theatre Washington/ Helen Hayes Awards board, the Fund for Investigative Journalism and chairs the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism awards board. She and her husband, Bruce Adams, wrote three editions of a travel guide to America's baseball parks, with the help of their children, Emily and Hugh.

Allison Engel has been a newspaper reporter for the Des Moines Tribune, San Jose Mercury and Pacific News Service and was a Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. She has also been a political speechwriter and aide for former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack and lieutenant governor Sally Pederson. In Iowa, she was active in the Des Moines Playhouse, serving as president and head of play selection. She has been a food columnist for Saveur, an architecture columnist for Renovation Style, and has written for many other national publications. She recently spent five years as director of communications at USC before becoming the associate director of the Los Angeles Institute for the Humanities at the university. She received an Masters Degree in screenwriting from USC in 2009.

Georgia Clinton was most recently seen as Princess Conti in Theatre Three's La Bete. Ms. Clinton's Stage West roles have included Blanche in Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound, and Mme. Arkadina in The Seagull. Her performance as Molly Ivins at Stage West last year sold-out for seven weeks.

WaterTower Theatre has become a theatrical force of nature through its consistent excellence and sharp programming. Combining Broadway-quality productions with the beauty of an intimate playing space, WaterTower Theatre provides experiences that are powerful and insightful, intense and uplifting. WaterTower Theatre provides the community with an opportunity to examine man's condition from all perspectives and promotes growth through humor and drama.

Now in its 17th season, WaterTower Theatre began life in 1996 with 136 brave subscribers. Today, with over 2000 subscribers and a budget of $1.2 million, it consistently earns rave reviews in The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Dallas Observer, and other local publications. With 104 Dallas Theatre League Leon Rabin Award Nominations and 28 wins to its credit, as well as 17 Dallas Fort Worth Theatre Critics Forum Awards, WaterTower Theatre is home to the finest local talent.

WaterTower Theatre is a Constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for the American theatre and a member of the Dallas Theatre League.

Stage West was founded on October 18, 1979 by Jerry Russell, in a 65-seat storefront theatre next to Russell's European Sandwich Shoppeon Houston Street in downtown Ft. Worth. The success of the first production necessitated the merging of the two spaces into a modest dinner theatre seating around 100. Each of the first four productions doubled the attendance of the previous one.

Before the end of the second season, Stage West formed a Board of Directors, was granted non-profit status, and moved to a new 9,000 square foot space at 821 West Vickery. The former warehouse was converted to a 170 seat theatre with a spacious front area used for Studio Productions and pre-show dining. The theatre would remain at this location for ten more seasons.

A freeway expansion plan necessitated a move, and over the next several years, Stage West moved to the former TCU movie theatre on University Drive, then to the Fort Worth Community Arts Center in the Cultural District, and it has now has returned to its former home on West Vickery. The location offers theatre seating for 147, as well as office, rehearsal, and studio space next door to the main stage space.

Stage West produces a wide range of works, ranging from classic American and world drama to Shakespeare, Shaw, and contemporary Broadway plays and musicals, as well as new works by aspiring playwrights, including 12 world premieres. In addition, the theatre offers a range of educational programs, including community outreach. Stage West is a member of the Live Theatre League of Tarrant County.

 

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