Linda Lavin to Headline 2010 UNA Summer Theatre Program

May. 24, 2010

FLORENCE, Ala. – Acclaimed actress Linda Lavin, best known for her starring role on the television sitcom “Alice,” is headlining this year’s UNA Summer Theatre Program. Lavin, currently a Tony Award nominee for Best Performance, will perform in one of three Summer Theatre productions taking stage at UNA in June and July. Other shows include the two-man comedy “Greater Tuna” June 24-27 and a major production of the Robert E. Sherwood play “Idiot’s Delight” July 15-18.

Tickets go on sale June 7. Producer’s Circle Sponsorships, which include a ticket to each show, are available for $90. Sponsorships also include priority seating at each show and recognition in the event programs.

Information on each production, including show times, is available at www.una.edu/summertheatre.

“Greater Tuna,” June 24-27

The 2010 UNA Summer Theatre Program will kick off with four performances of “Greater Tuna,” a hilarious comedy about the small town of Tuna, Texas, and its inhabitants. In the satire about small-town American life, two actors portray all the characters – men, women, children and animals.

“Greater Tuna” will take stage in the UNA Performance Center at 7:30 each evening June 24-26 and a 2 p.m. matinee June 27. Tickets — $15, and $5 for students – are available at the UNA athletic ticket office at Flowers Hall or by calling 256-765-INFO.

Linda Lavin, July 9

Lavin will perform her one-woman musical presentation, “Songs and Confessions of a One-Time Waitress,” along with her jazz trio, including famed musical director/pianist Billy Stritch. Show time is 7:30 p.m. July 9 in Norton Auditorium. Tickets – $25, and $10 for students – are available at the UNA athletic ticket office at Flowers Hall, the Kennedy-Douglass Center for the Arts, ColdWater Books, Rivertown Coffe Co. and Pegasus Records and Tapes, or by calling 256-765-INFO.

Lavin is currently nominated for the Tony Award for Best Performance by an actress for her starring role in “Collected Stores,” showing now on Broadway. The Tony Awards, which air nationally in late June, recognize the very best in the world of live theatre. Lavin has won the Tony Award for previous performances as well as the Emmy for her role on “Alice.”

“Idiot’s Delight,” July 15-18

The Summer Theatre Program will conclude with Sherwood’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Idiot’s Delight.” Set in the Italian Alps not long before World War II, the play centers around a host of interesting characters who are prevented from leaving the country because of the impending war outbreak. Tensions are high as no one, including local authorities, knows which country will attack, or when. Meanwhile, the would-be travelers are detained at an Italian resort. While Sherwood’s account of the start of World War II is fictional – being written three years before the actual outbreak of war – the play does give an excellent portrayal of Europe in the 1930s, when war was expected at any moment. Sherwood won his first Pulitzer Prize for “Idiot’s Delight” in 1936.

“Idiot’s Delight” will take stage in the UNA Performance Center at 7:30 each evening July 15-17 and a 2 p.m. matinee July 18. Tickets — $18, and $8 for students – are available at the UNA athletic ticket office at Flowers Hall or by calling 256-765-INFO.

About the UNA Summer Theatre Program

The only professional summer theatre program in the Tennessee Valley, the UNA Summer Theatre Program is a revival of the UNA program of the 1970s that achieved regional and national recognition each summer for hosting some of the brightest stars of stage, screen and television to perform and share their experiences in the entertainment industry.

Personalities such as Van Johnson, Janis Paige, Mercedes McCambridge, Peggy Cass, Sal Mineo, Broderick Crawford and many others graced the Norton Auditorium stage as part of the series. UNA was one of the only universities in the Southeast to undertake such an ambitious project.

In 2008, the program was revived by UNA alumnus Will Stutts, who, as a UNA student, had been involved with the first Summer Theatre Program. He has since earned recognition as a professional actor, director, producer and playwright. In 2008 and 2009, the revived Summer Theatre Program presented Stutts’ own one-man play “Mark Twain’s America,” major stage productions such as “Stand by Your Man” and “Amadeus,” and Emmy Award winner Vicki Lawrence of “The Carol Burnett Show” and “Mama’s Family.”

For More Information

For more information about the 2010 UNA Summer Theatre Program, call 256-765-INFO or visit www.una.edu/summertheatre.