Bob Boyett and Harriet Newman Leve will produce the play in association with Lincoln Center Theater. Benjamin Endsley Klein (resident director of War Horse) directs. Ann is executive produced by Kevin Bailey, who has spearheaded the production since its inception.
The first preview date, playing schedule and ticketing information including Lincoln Center Theater Membership advance-sale date will be announced shortly.
"I am so passionate about this new American play which also happens to be written by one of this generation's greatest actors," Boyett said in a statement. "We have been waiting for the right time and venue to bring this piece to New York, and are so pleased the Beaumont became available at this moment as it is the ideal theatre for our play."
Ann played to sold-out audiences at Galveston’s Grand 1894 Opera House in the summer of 2010, San Antonio's Empire Theatre in fall 2010, and Austin's Paramount Theatre in spring 2011. In fall 2011, it played Chicago's Bank of America Theatre, and went on to have a hit run at Washington, DC's Kennedy Center in winter of 2011-12.
Lincoln Center Theater's artistic director André Bishop said in a statement, "We are thrilled to continue our association with Bob Boyett, and we are very grateful that he has extended the opportunity for our Members to see Holland Taylor in this wonderful play in our already busy LCT season." Here's how the play is characterized: "Holland Taylor steps into the shoes of Ann Richards, the impassioned Governor of Texas who dedicated her life to empowering, expanding and enriching the lives of her constituents, friends and family. Ann is an inspiring and hilarious new play that brings you face to face with a complex, colorful and captivating character bigger than the state from which she hailed. Taylor takes the audience on a journey, neither political nor a history lesson, swirling together the past and present to reunite Ann Richards with old friends and introduce her to a new generation."
The play "began as a project and quest for Taylor to understand what it was about this housewife, mother, grandmother, leader and iconic patriot that affected so many people so deeply. Writing the play became a four-year journey for Taylor, crisscrossing the country, interviewing people who knew the Governor, watching countless hours of video coverage, and pouring over reams of Richards' personal and public papers at the University of Texas. In the end, her greatest resources were the family, friends, staff and colleagues of the Governor who allowed Holland to 'know' Ann Richards."
