[NoHo Arts District, CA] – Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground by Richard Hellesen, was such a successful hit, they are extending the show yet again from January 6 – 22.

Read the NoHo Arts Theatre Review HERE>>

Show Synopsis

Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground by Richard Hellesen was developed by New LA Repertory Company and will be produced by Theatre West in association with New LA Rep. The world premiere of this new play, featuring Tony Award winner John Rubinstein, directed by Peter Ellenstein, and is the cornerstone of New LA Rep’s Plays for Peace series, tackling issues of why and how human beings go to war, all the people war affects, and the leaders who stop or prevent it. Eisenhower’s wisdom and brilliance, now recognized, speaks volumes to our current world and political divisions. It is a funny, riveting, important and thoroughly entertaining piece.

Hellesen’s latest work, Eisenhower: This Piece of Ground is a candid and fascinating fictional eavesdropping on President Dwight D Eisenhower at his Gettysburg, Pennsylvania farm on the morning of the publication of the very first New York Magazine Presidential list, ranking the American presidents in order of greatness. Eisenhower is in the midst of writing his second book, the subject about his presidency. However, now furious at being ranked at No 22, he examines his life, from his Kansas upbringing to being a young West Point Cadet to his decorated Army career, victories in World War 2, and his two terms as president. As his frustration subsides he ponders on what qualities and adversities make a great president. As he reflects, it is his own character, purpose and fortitude, as well as his many regrets that shape the story and reveal the man. The play is fiction, but is adapted from a vast array of General Eisenhower’s memoirs, speeches, and letters.

With permission from David and Susan Eisenhower and the Eisenhower family.

Cast and Production Team

John Rubinstein – Dwight D Eisenhower
Richard Hellesen – Playwright
Peter Ellenstein – Director
Joe Huppert – Projection & Sound Design
Pierre Vuilleumier – Set Design
Esquire Jauchem – Lighting Design
Doug Spesert – Costume Design
Alicia Maccarone – Creative Consultant
Malcolm Wilson – Technical Supervisor
Courtney Rhodes – Stage Manager
Madison Chmielewski – Assistant Stage Manager
Anne Taplin – Propmaster
Jacks McLaughlin – Social Media Director
Lee Greengross & Douglas Haverty – Graphic Design
Johnny Cho – New LA Rep Webmaster
Sandra Kuker PR – Publicist
Eugene J. Hutchins – Theatre West Managing Director
Peter Ellenstein – New LA Rep, Producing Artistic Director

Covid Policy:

Currently we require proof of full vaccination and a booster along with wearing a mask while inside the theatre.

BIOS

RICHARD HELLESEN (Playwright) is the author of numerous plays and musicals for adult and young audiences. His work has been seen at the Denver Center, South Coast Repertory, Geva, Florida Stage, Gretna Theatre, Sacramento Theatre Company, Los Angeles Repertory Company, Sundance Children’s Theatre, Imagination Stage, People’s Light & Theatre, City Theatre in Miami, and Ford’s Theatre in Washington, DC, where he is an Associate Artist. A member of the Dramatists Guild, he has received playwriting awards from the National Theatre Conference, the Beverly Hills Theatre Guild, and the Philadelphia Festival Theatre for New Plays. Additionally, he has worked on the literary staffs of Berkeley Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory, and the B Street Theatre in Sacramento, and twice served as Playwright-in-Residence at the William Inge Center for the Arts in Kansas.

JOHN RUBINSTEIN (Dwight D. Eisenhower) John Rubinstein originated the title role in the Broadway musical Pippin, directed by Bob Fosse, and won the Tony and Drama Desk Awards for his performance in Children of a Lesser God. Other Broadway appearances include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Ragtime, Hurlyburly, M. Butterfly, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Drama Desk nomination), Getting Away with Murder, Fools, Love Letters, and the 2013 Pippin revival. He appeared off-Broadway in Counsellor-at-Law (2005 Lucille Lortel Award, Outer Critics’ Circle and Drama League nominations), Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, Urban Blight, Cabaret Verboten, and Morning’s at Seven. Regionally: Wicked in LA, and the international tour of the Pippinrevival. He starred in the TV series, Family (Emmy nomination), and Crazy Like A Fox, and over 300 episodes. Films include Being the Ricardos, Hello, I Must Be Going, 21 Grams, Red Dragon, The Boys from Brazil, Someone to Watch Over Me, Daniel, Zachariah, and Getting Straight. He directed the world premiere of A. R. Gurney’s The Old Boy, and Counsellor-at-Law, Company, Brigadoon, Macbeth, The Three Sisters, Phantasie, Nightingale, The Rivals, A Little Night Music, Guys and Dolls, Into The Woods, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, and The Rover. He composes film and TV music (Jeremiah Johnson, The Candidate, The Dollmaker, China Beach, among others), hosted two classical music radio programs, played keyboards in a rock band, and has recorded over 200 audiobooks, most numerously Jonathan Kellerman’s Alex Delaware series of Los Angeles crime novels. He is married to Bonnie Burgess, and their son Max is the youngest of his five children, joining Jessica, Michael, Peter, and Jacob.

THEATRE WEST

Established in 1962 and celebrating its 60th season, Theatre West is the oldest continually running professional theatre company in the city of Los Angeles. It is a membership collective of actors, playwrights, directors, and technicians. Theatre West’s alumni members include Ray Bradbury, Beau Bridges, Richard Dreyfuss, Sally Field, Betty Garrett, Martin Landau, Lee Meriwether, Jack Nicholson, Carroll O’Connor, Sherwood Schwartz, Joyce Van Patton, and Paul Winfield. Theatre West has produced more than 300 plays and musicals. Of these plays, nearly 70% are original works developed in its workshops and many have led to Broadway, regional tours, and feature films, including A Bronx Tale by Chazz Palminteri and A Very Brady Musical by Lloyd J. Schwartz and Hope Juber. Its 60th season continues with Winter Wishes: A Holiday Cabaret Theatre by Victoria Lavan Liberty, 18 Minutes of Fame by Barbara Minkus, Moose on the Loose by Dina Morrone, in addition to its Storybook Theatre season of Little Red Riding Hood in the fall and Hansel and Gretel in the spring.

Theatre West is supported in part by The Ahmanson Foundation, California Arts Council, Peter Glenville Foundation, Kaplan-Loring Foundation, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors through the Los Angeles County Department of Arts and Culture, Department of Arts and Culture, Los Angeles Department of Cultural Affairs, and National Endowment for the Arts.

NEW LOS ANGELES REPERTORY THEATRE COMPANY

The New LA Rep is inspired by the vision of the original co-Founder and Artistic Director, Robert Ellenstein (also a co-founder of Theatre West). LA Rep’s aims are both educational and inspirational. Our main concern is vivid theatre, maintaining high standards for production of important plays reaching out to new audiences. In our productions, we seek to ensure that no single element dominates (be it the acting, setting, lighting, costumes, music), but rather, everything serves to clarify and enhance the experience of the total play.

The New LA Rep was reborn in 2021, under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Peter Ellenstein and many of our past members and collaborators. We are carrying the original Rep’s stellar legacy of productions into an exciting future; reigniting the intense theatrical passion and attention to detail that the original LA Rep’s Founders envisioned back in 1966.

New LA Rep’s first initiative is Plays for Peace. A series of productions that focus on mankind’s fascination with war, highlighting leadership that prevents war and strives for the common humanity and prosperity that leads to peace.