The Lady With All The Answers by David Rambo

Ann Landers elegantly furnished study in a fourteen room high-rise apartment on Lake Shore Drive, Chicago, late June, 1975. Set designer, Chris Waller - Lighting Designer, Glen Dunn
Dear readers, in my twenty years as Ann Landers, this is the most difficult column I have ever tried to put together.
Hey, get a load of this...Jules gave it to me. He had a label sewn in the lining: "E. L." Eppie Lederer. I had it taken out, and a new one put in that said: "Jule's Wife." All my fur coats, they all say: "Jule's Wife".
If you had to do it all over again, would you - Eppie-- marry the same guy?
Margo, I'm on deadline...But, I keep goofing off doing busywork...This book I want to put together of my favorite letters.
But I've got no BS, no M.A., no PH.D., and I want that J-O-B. So, I use what I do have; chutzpah and one hell of a rolodex.
A Louis XVI desk, built by set designer Chris Waller, holds an IBM Selectric typewriter with a sheet of yellow newspaper copy in the roller waiting to be typed upon.

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Reviews

By Andrea Torrence – St. Louis Theatre Snob, May 14, 2011
“Stellie Siteman really nails Ann Landers, down to that Chicago dialect”

By Connie Bollinger – KDHX, May 14, 2011
“Either Stellie Siteman channeled Anne Landers or she’s one of the best actresses I’ve ever come across.”

By Dennis Brown – Riverfront Times, May 19 2011
“Siteman eases her way through the evening with the aplomb of a veteran fly fisherman who can reel in her catch while barely moving her wrist.”

By Judith Newmark – St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 15, 2011
“a charming one-woman showthat stars Stellie Siteman”

By Mark Bretz – Ladue News, May 18, 2011
“makes its local debut in a stylish presentation offered by Max & Louie Productions”

By Richard Green – TalkingBroadway.com, May 17, 2011
“Ill confess here and now that I truly hate to review one-person shows. But, for once, there’s no fear in my mind that I may run out of amazing details to relate.”

Video Clips

Becoming Ann Landers – Hair and Makeup

Synopsis

Esther Pauline “Eppie” Lederer, better know as Ann Landers, took over the Chicago Sun-Times’s ‘Ask Ann Landers’ column in 1955 after the death of its creator, Ruth Crowley.

During the next 47 years, readers across the country wrote to Ann with questions about everything from sex and marriage, to how to properly hang toilet paper. Questions you may not feel comfortable discussing with your priest, friends, or even your spouse could be shared with Ann Landers.

Lederer also weighed in on the more complex issues of the day, including politics, abortion and homosexuality. She became a media celebrity, yet still answered every letter herself, as long as it had a return address, and her column was enjoyed by millions along with their morning cup of coffee.

This 2006 one-woman show, written by David Rambo, and fluently directed by Sydnie Grosberg Ronga, is set in 1975 and was based on Lederer’s letters and life stories.

Cast

Stellie Siteman* – Ann Landers

Production Staff

Sydnie Grosberg Ronga – Director
Eric Nathan Brady – Stage Manager
Christopher M. Waller – Set Designer
Glenn M. Dunn – Lighting Designer
Rusty Wandall – Sound Designer
Paula Johnson – First Act Suit
Mary Peat of Jaleh Coiffures – Wig Stylist
Ann Mayer Eisen by Design Annex – Graphic Design
Christopher Sifford – Makeup Artist

Play Times and Venues

Opening Day: May 10, 2011
Closing Day: May 20, 2011

COCA
(314) 725-6555 ext 130
524 Trinity Avenue, St. Louis MO 63130
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