Portrait of Churchill productions Presnts CHURCHILL, 10/1-11/7

By: Sep. 27, 2010
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Portrait of Churchill Productions is thrilled to present the West Coast Premiere of a powerful play about one of history's most powerful men, CHURCHILL, written by Andrew Edlin, directed by James Horan and starring Edmund L. Shaff as Winston Churchill.  CHURCHILL will preview on Thursday, September 30 at 8pm and will open on Friday, October 1 at 8pm and run through Sunday, November 7 at the Whitmore/Lindley Theatre, 11006 Magnolia Blvd., in North Hollywood.

 It is April 4, 1955.  Winston Spencer Churchill, Prime Minister of Great Britain, is in his secret bunker beneath Whitehall in London.  At age 80 he is faced with the dilemma of retiring from office and stepping down from a career that has spanned 55 years in Parliament.  He led England through World War II, inspiring and rallying the British Empire to withstand the tyranny of Hitler and Mussolini.  He garnered the Nobel Prize in Literature for his history of The Iron Duke, Marlboro, his forebear.  He was a pivotal figure in the British Empires history.   He was a statesman, an orator of tremendous skill, a prolific writer with over 56 volumes of history as well as innumerable newspaper articles, and an impetuous strategist.  But throughout his life he maintained a marvelous wit.                                                                                                                                             

ANDREW EDLIN (Playwright) was born in Brighton, England, the youngest of three brothers, and the grandson of comedian and actor Tubby Edlin.  He was educated at Cranleigh School, Surrey. He went to Magdalen College Oxford on a scholarship, and his time there honed his love of history and writing. Andrew has lived in Fairfield, Iowa since 1991.  'I have been collecting Churchill anecdotes since childhood, and read over a hundred books on Churchill, by Churchill, or about his times and contemporaries. I have lost track of how many drafts and edits Churchill has been through over sixteen years - a lot!'  Andrew enjoys editing plays, and has written several others, but Churchill is the most successful. When he is not acting or writing  - he has taken up some musical theater roles including Mr. Bumble and Henry Higgins.  Andrew has performed Churchill many times since its 1997 premiere; most recently at Hoyt Sherman Place in Des Moines. His website is churchillplay.com.

EDMUND L. SHAFF (Churchill) made his professional stage debut at the age of 12 in Maurice Evan's touring production of "The Devil's Disciple". He has appeared on Broadway in a George Abbott directed production "A Call of Kuprin", Off-Broadway in "Tis Pity She's A Whore", "Henry IV" at John Houston's Phoenix Theatre, national road companies "The World of Susie Wong", "Gigi", "Complaisant Lover", summer and winter stock as well as industrial shows.  He received a Drama-logue Award for his performance in West Coast Ensemble's "Old Goat Song", was invited to appear in Berlin, Germany in "Painting Churches".  For 9 years he directed and acted with the Glendale Center Theatre. Other favorite performances include "Loot" and "Servant to Two Masters" at International City Theatre in Long Beach, Sir in "The Dresser" at Pacific Palisades.

He has appeared in over a dozen feature films, at least 50 TV shows, and more than 150 commercials, the most recent being "Washington Mutual" as one of the stodgy old bankers in the "pen" and a national campaign for Jiffy Lube.  His recently appeared in "Evan Almighty" which starred Steve Carrell.  In January he made a guest appearance on "Desperate Housewives" and the highly awarded "Mad Men".

CHURCHILL has assembled an award-winning design team. The lighting design is by Derrick McDaniel. The sound design is by Tu Lips Studios.

CHURCHILL will preview on Thursday, September 30 at 8pm and open on Friday, October 1 and will run through Sunday, November 7.  Performances are Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm and Sunday matinees at 3pm.

Ticket prices are $20.00 for preview, $100.00 for opening night including post performance gala ($50.00 tax deduction as contribution to Opera League of Los Angeles Student Bus Assistance Fund), and $25.00 for all other performances. 

CHURCHILL is performed at Whitmore/Lindley Theatre, 11006 Magnolia Blvd. in North Hollywood. For Tickets, please call 800-595-4849 or visit www.tix.com or www.portraitofchurchill.com.



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