TheatreWorks Serves Up “Tea at Five” Critically-Acclaimed Portrait of Katharine Hepburn Opens January 25

NEW MILFORD, CONN. (January 10, 2008) – TheatreWorks New Milford proudly launches its 2008 season with TEA AT FIVE by Matthew Lombardo – an intimate and compelling portrayal of Katharine Hepburn “as told by” the fiery redhead herself. The one-woman show opens January 25 for a four-week run.

TEA AT FIVE begins in 1938 after the 31-year-old Hepburn (Noel Desiato, Sherman) has just been labeled “box office poison.” Ensconced in her beloved home in Old Saybrook, Connecticut, she waits by the phone to hear whether she nailed the part of Scarlett in a film called Gone With The Wind. The story moves to 1983. Despite being injured in a car accident, Hepburn’s convalescence affords her an opportunity to reflect on the triumphs of her career and her heartbreaking romance with Spencer Tracy. Lombardo’s play unveils to audiences a previously unpainted portrait of one of the great legends of the silver screen that is intuitive, provocative, and at times, downright funny.

“Noel [Desiato] isn’t ‘playing’ Katharine Hepburn, she ‘is’ Katharine Hepburn for 90 minutes on stage,” said Co-Director Jane Farnol of Kent. “To watch her transformation into Ms. Hepburn is simply astounding. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Noel on the TheatreWorks stage when she played Medea in the play of the same name and she has even outdone that performance, which I’d never have thought possible. Yet, here she is, once more, outdoing herself.”

“Portraying Katharine Hepburn has been a wonderful and sometimes complex journey,” said Ms. Desiato. “Her stamina was amazing, having survived over 50 years in show business. What an honor and what fun it is to play her.”

TEA AT FIVE’s production staff includes Co-Director Joseph Russo of New Milford, who also handled set design and collaborated with Bill Hughes on costumes. Lainey Ford will handle stage management.

TEA AT FIVE debuted at The Hartford Stage Company on February 7, 2002 and made its New York premiere on March 9, 2003 at the Promenade Theatre. The New York Daily News called the play “skillfully written and sheer fun,” while Variety hailed the work as “a poignant exploration of the universal joy and anguish of love and loss.”

TEA AT FIVE runs January 25, 26 February 1,2 8,9,10 15,16. Curtain time is 8:00 p.m. Fridays & Saturdays, with a 2:00 p.m. Sunday matinee on February 10. Tickets for all shows are $20.00 for reserved seating.

On Thursday, January 24, senior citizens are invited to a free dress rehearsal at 8:00 p.m. Thursday, January 31 at 8:00 p.m. is TheatreWorks’ Pay-What-You-Want night. At this performance, you name the price for your ticket. Reservations can be made online at WWW.THEATREWORKS.US or by calling the box office at (860) 350-6863.

TheatreWorks is an award-winning, regional theatre company located on 5 Brookside Avenue, just off Route 202 (next to the CVS), in New Milford, Conn.