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Return to Shirley Valentine
Willy Russell (Author) His first play, Keep Your Eyes Down, was produced in 1971, but he made his name with John, Paul, George, Ringo … and Bert, a musical about the Beatles. This had been commissioned by the Liverpool Everyman where it ran for a (then) unprecedented eight weeks before transferring to the West End where it won the Evening Standard and London Theatre Critics awards for the best musical of 1974. Thereafter his plays have won widespread popular and critical acclaim. Two of his best-known plays have female protagonists, Educating Rita and Shirley Valentine. Both plays were made into very successful films. Willy Russell’s other huge theatrical success has been Blood Brothers, ‘a Liverpudlian folk opera’ about a pair of twins separated at birth and brought up in completely different environments. It continues to enjoy a very long run in London’s West End and played a two year run on Broadway. The British touring version continues to play to packed houses.
 Richard Hopkins (Artistic Director) Artistic Director of Florida Studio Theatre since 1980, Richard Hopkins has guided the company from a small touring group to a professional regional theatre. Mr. Hopkins began his professional theatre career as a resident actor with Asolo State Theatre in Sarasota, Florida. In 1974 he founded the Palisades Theatre Company in Washington, DC, which subsequently moved to St. Petersburg to become American Stage. He served as its Producing Director from 1974-1980. Additional experiences include: President of the Florida Professional Theatres Association (1983-1985), Panelist for Theatre Program of Florida Arts Council, and Director/Instructor for Ringling Brothers Barnum and Bailey Circus’ Clown College (1981). His many directing credits include: Metamorphoses, The Bully Pulpit, God’s Man in Texas, Hysteria, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, 2: Goering at Nuremberg, Six Degrees of Separation, Execution of Justice, Death by Misadventure, Hi-Hat-Hattie, Invictus, Agnes of God, Beyond Therapy, True West, La Ronde, and Betrayal and numerous other plays and Cabaret projects including Sophie Tucker, Inspired Lunacy, and Shakespeare’s Greatest Hits, Over the Rainbow.
 Kate Alexander (Director) Ms. Alexander is the Associate Director of FST. In this capacity, she ministers to the artistic needs of the theatre and its many community and state educational programs. On the FST stages some of the plays she has directed are Black Pearl Sings!, ...and L.A. is Burning, Pure Confidence, Underneath the Lintel, The Miamians, Wit, Proof, Lobby Hero, Ten Unknowns, The Exonerated, Brooklyn Boy as well as the company developed pieces, the Playmakers and Under Six. Ms. Alexander has created a vast Education and Touring Program for FST, and oversees the award-winning Write A Play program touching the lives of over 55,000 children annually in the US, Scotland, Israel, Russia and China and serving as a model for theatres throughout the nation. Ms. Alexander has also pioneered an acting training method for children which serves as the foundation for the FST school, serving 600 children yearly. Ms. Alexander has also been a resident actress with Florida Studio Theatre for the past 20 years. Some of her leading roles were seen in the plays: Golda’s Balcony, Master Class, The Play about The Baby, The Goat, Filumena, Three Tall Women and most recently, Edward Albee’s Occupant. Ms. Alexander is the recipient of numerous acting, directing and public service awards. Most recently, FST’s Write A Play program was a feature of the PBS special Kids in the Arts and she co-authored the book Ideas for the Animated Short: Finding and Building Stories.
CAST
 Susan Greenhill (Shirley Valentine) FST: Edward Albee’s Occupant (Director), …and L.A. is Burning, Southern Comforts, Dinner With Friends, Fiction. Broadway: Crimes of the Heart. Off-Broadway: Primary Stages, Actors Studio Theatre, Playwrights Horizons, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Urban Stages. Regional: The Clean House, Cincinnati Playhouse (Acclaim Award); Sideman, Philadelphia Company (Barrymore Award); We Won’t Pay! We Won’t Pay!, Long Wharf Theatre; The Glass Menagerie, St. Louis Rep; The Importance of Being Earnest, Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey; Born Yesterday, Indiana Rep; Expectations, Stamford Center (with Eartha Kitt). Television & film: Chapelle Show, Law & Order, Clarissa Explains It All, Loving, Guiding Light, Pecker (directed by John Waters), High Stakes, Noon Blue Apples (Sundance Festival).
*Denotes member Actors' Equity Association. The Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers in the United States.
Production Staff
Production Manager...........................................Bruce Price
Company Manager.............................................Rob Thomas
Production Stage Manager.................................Dean Curosmith*
Costume Design.................................................Marcella Beckwith
Scenic Design....................................................Lauren Feldman
Lighting Designer...............................................David M. Upton
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