January 7, 2011
For Immediate Release
Joan Didion’s
The Year of Magical Thinking
Jan. 27 – Feb. 13, 2011
MST – Rice Village
Joan Didion’s dramatic adaptation of her best-selling memoir, The Year of Magical Thinking, unfolds, in her
words, “with the nonsequential inexorability of a dream.” The stream of consciousness delivery of this hugely personal
and powerful one-woman show demands a tour de force performance from actor Claire Hart-Palumbo.
With previews January 22, 23, and 25, The Year of Magical Thinking opens January 27 and runs through February
13 at Main Street Theater – Rice Village, 2540 Times Blvd. Performances are on Thursdays at 7:30pm, Fridays and
Saturdays at 8pm, and Sundays at 3pm. Tickets range from $26 - $40 (Previews are $10, and $5 Friday is January 28),
depending on date and section, and are on sale in person at the Main Street Theater Box Office, 2540 Times Blvd., via
phone at 713.524.6706, or online at MainStreetTheater.com.
About Joan Didion and The Year of Magical Thinking
The play is Didion’s own adaptation of her stunning memoir about the sudden death of her husband, John
Gregory Dunne, and the prolonged illness of her only daughter. “Capturing the compassion, humor, and bewilderment of
a fiercely intelligent woman whose world lurches suddenly from the ordinary to the unimaginable, The Year of Magical
Thinking is a love letter to a child and a tribute to an extraordinary, unconventional marriage told with raw candor and a
storyteller's gift for the absurd." (Playbill)
Joan Didion is best known for her novels, personal essays, and screenplays – as well as the powerful story of her
grief she captured in The Year of Magical Thinking which she wrote in 88 days, finishing on New Year’s Eve, 2004. It
won the National Book Award in 2005.
In 2007 she began writing the stage adaptation of The Year of Magical Thinking. Vanessa Redgrave played
Didion in the Broadway production and was nominated for both a Tony and a Drama Desk Award.
Post-Show Discussion Series
Main Street is pleased to continue its Post-Show Discussion Series with The Year of Magical Thinking.
Following the performance on Sunday, February 6, Dr. Susan Lieberman - author, Interfaith minister, thanatologist, and
co-founder of Y Collaborative, helping prepare for end-of-life concerns - will lead a discussion on some of the themes and
issues of the play with the audience, Ms. Hart-Palumbo, and director Rebecca Greene Udden.
More…
Main Street Theater –The Year of Magical Thinking
Page 2
About Claire Hart-Palumbo
At Main Street Theater Claire Hart-Palumbo has played Beatrice in Much Ado About Nothing, Lady Catherine in
Pride and Prejudice, Philly in How to Say Goodbye, Ginny in It's Only a Play, Christine in De Donde, Belle Starr in
Wilde West, Heidi in The Heidi Chronicles (1992), Martha in A Piece of My Heart, Olga in Chekhov in Yalta, Hannah in
Arcadia (1996), Sara in Sisters Rosensweig, Mrs. Allen/Annette in Northanger Abbey, Lee in Chemistry of Change,
Regina in Little Foxes, Margrethe in Copenhagen, Amy in But Not Goodbye. She directed Herroner, Red Scare on
Sunset, Pride and Prejudice (revival production), Uncle Vanya, Hayfever, Blithe Spirit, The Trust, The Countess, On
Approval, Private Lives, Design for Living, Present Laughter. Ms. Hart-Palumbo received her training from Sam
Houston State, American Conservatory Theater, and the University of Texas, where she was a Morton-Brown Fellow.
She has worked in Houston theater with the Alley Theatre, Main Street Theater, Stages Repertory Theatre, Texas
Repertory Theater, Express Theater, New Heights Theater, Young Audiences, Bayou City Concert Musicals, Houston
Shakespeare Festival, Houston Shaw Festival, the Group Theater, and Stage West. She was recently seen on the small
screen leading up to the election in Judge Ed Emmett’s political ad “Where’s the Judge?” This summer's new production
of Blithe Spirit at MST will be the ninth Noël Coward production on which she has worked as either an actress or director.
About the Production
MST Executive Artistic Director Rebecca Green Udden directs. The design team includes Daniel Polk (lighting
design), Shawn W. St. John (sound design), and Pamela Miltenberger (Properties Design). Lauren Smith is the
production stage manager.
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Since 1975, Main Street Theater has produced high quality professional theater for audiences of all ages through its MainStage productions
and Main Street Youth Theater. The Main Street Theater Kids On Stage program offers performing arts classes and camps for children 5 years to 14
years of age. The organization produces plays at two locations, 2540 Times Boulevard in Rice Village and 4617 Montrose Boulevard at Chelsea
Market.
Main Street Theater is a member of the Fresh Arts Coalition, a collaboration of 25 arts organizations that work collectively to raise
awareness of the size and diversity of the arts in Houston, and a constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national service
organization for not-for-profit theaters. Main Street Theater offers a lively year-round repertory of classic and contemporary plays for audiences of
all ages and provides a much-needed showcase for Houston theater professionals. Main Street Theater is also a member of Actors’ Equity
Association and of ASSITEJ, the world theatre network of theatre for children and young people. Main Street Theater is funded in part by grants
from the City of Houston through the Houston Arts Alliance, and the Texas Commission on the Arts.
Media Contact Only (not for print publication):
Shannon Emerick, Marketing Director
713.524.3622 ext 105 / [email protected]