Season Mainstage Productions Educating Rita
Educating Rita
By Willy Russell
Directed by Rosina Reynolds
Previews: January 9 – 11, 2013
January 12 – February 3, 2013
- "An effervescent crowd-pleaser." - The Boston Globe
"Superb, humorous and deeply moving. A truly great play." - Daily Telegraph
From the author of SHIRLEY VALENTINE: In this award winning comedy,
Frank, an university lecturer, needs to earn some extra money, so he agrees
to tutor Rita, a brash, earthy hairdresser with a recently discovered passion
for higher education. The result is a delightful Pygmalion-style comedy filled
with self-discoveries, temptation, and heartfelt humanity that tackle personal
and social issues with insight and grace. Made into a highly successful film
starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters, see why the play captivated audiences
from London to New York with it's humor, heart, and intelligence.
Willy Russell (Playwright) is one of the most successful playwrights of his generation. His plays have been performed in countries across the globe and have won countless awards. He has said that his work is concerned with the essential goodness of humanity, and although his characters are often depicted in bleak circumstances, there is an underlying optimism and warmth in his view of the world. Born in Liverpool in 1947, he began his writing career as a songwriter. At the age of 20, he decided to complete his education and became a schoolteacher. His first play, Keep Your Eyes Down, was produced in 1971, but he made his name with John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert, a musical about the Beatles. This had been commissioned by the Liverpool Everyman Theatre, where it ran for a (then) unprecedented eight weeks before transferring to the West End where it won the Evening Standard and London Theatre Critics awards for the best musical of 1974. Russell was commissioned to write a play for the Royal Shakespeare Company. The result, Educating Rita, which was inspired by his own experience of returning to education, has been performed all over the world and was made into a motion picture starring Michael Caine and Julie Walters. Educating Rita won London's SWET Award for Best Comedy, and in 1981, an Academy Award nomination for screenplay adaptation. In 1983 he won the Olivier Award for Best New Musical for Blood Brothers, which also garnered a Tony nomination for Best Book (Musical) in 1993. His play, Shirley Valentine, won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play. His television plays include “Our Day Out,” which he later adapted as a musical. “The Wrong Boy,” Russell's first novel, was published in 2000 to critical acclaim and, as with his all his plays, has been translated into many different languages. In 2003 his first album – “Hoovering The Moon” - was released, and was followed by a successful tour with fellow wordsmith Tim Firth and a full band. Willy Russell continues to live and write in his home city of Liverpool and is currently working on a number of projects. 
Meghan
Andrews* (Rita)
Bjørn
Johnson* (Frank)
