[Archived] Friends of Commission for Women Kicks Off Fundraising With Theater Performance

City Press Release


	City of Alexandria, Virginia Office of the City Manager Alexandria City Hall 301 King Street, Suite 3500 Alexandria, Virginia 22314-3211 www.alexandriava.gov Telephone: 703.838.4300 Fax : 703.838.6343

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Media Inquiries Lisa Oviatt, Director
October 9, 2001 Office On Women, 703.838.4976

COMMISSION FOR WOMEN TO KICK-OFF FRIENDS FUNDRAISING
WITH ELEANOR AT ARENA STAGE

The Alexandria Commission for Women will kick-off its new fund-raising nonprofit organization called the Friends of the Commission for Women, at the Oct. 24 Arena Stage performance of Eleanor starring Jean Stapleton as Eleanor Roosevelt. A reception to celebrate Friends will follow the 80-minute one-woman play. Friends, a nonprofit organization, will raise funds for the programs of the Commission and the City’s Office on Women.

Tickets for $60, $75 and $100 are on sale through the Commissioners or by calling 703- 370-4407. Cost of the tickets will include a tax-deductible donation to Friends. Proceeds will support programs of the Commission and Office on Women, including the women’s shelter, scholarships for women returning to college after an absence and mentoring programs for new parents.

Eleanor: Her Secret Journey features acclaimed screen and stage actress Jean Stapleton, who may be best known for her role as Edith Bunker on the 1970s television series All in the
Family. Stapleton won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe nomination for her performance as Eleanor Roosevelt in the 1982 CBS television movie: Eleanor: First Lady of the World.”

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Friends of the Commission
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Based on her 1979 book, Eleanor, Rhoda Lerman’s play focuses on Roosevelt at a critical juncture in her life, after her husband’s death, as she is looking ahead. Reflecting on marriage, friendship and the toll of war on America’s men and women, Eleanor celebrates the impassioned, dedicated and determined woman. The play articulates Roosevelt’s private struggle with her husband’s infidelity, her constant battles with an overbearing mother-in-law and how she blossomed into a leading advocate for human rights and world peace.

A lauded screen and stage actress, Stapleton has performed in Hello, Dolly!, Butterflies are Free and Come Back Little Sheba. Her film credits include Damn Yankees, Bells are Ringing and You’ve Got Mail. In 1982, Lerman and Stapleton created a CBS docudrama, First Lady of the World, based on Roosevelt’s declaration of human rights, signed in Paris in 1945. In 1992, Stapleton performed a monologue from Lerman’s book, which evolved in the 80-minute play, Eleanor: Her Secret Journey.

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