Shirley Valentine added to Laguna Playhouse's 2011-2012 season

The Laguna Playhouse has announce that the Tony Award-winning comedy, Shirley Valentine, has been added to the 2011-2012 season.

Shirley Valentine run September 27 - October 23, 2011. The play is directed by Andrew Barnicle, who most recently directed The Laguna Playhouse's acclaimed production of Private Lives. Shirley Valentine will star Dee Dee Rescher, who has previously performed at The Playhouse in productions such as Red Herring, The Underpants and The Pursuit of Happiness.

Described as a play filled with gems of wisdom, a good dose of laughter and a lot of poignancy, the story follows a middle-aged Liverpool housewife who finds herself in the rut of her dull daily life and in a loveless relationship with her husband. When her best friend wins a trip for two to Greece, she packs her bags, leaves a note on the kitchen table, and sets off on an "Eat, Pray, Love" style adventure in a search of her own joie de vivre.

Shirley Valentine was written by Willy Russell and premiered in 1986 at the Everyman Theatre in Liverpool. The play has won several awards, including the 1988 Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Comedy and a 1989 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play. Russell adapted his play for the 1989 film version, directed by Lewis Gilbert and starring Pauline Collins.

Shirley Valentine rounds out an exciting 2011-2012 season at Laguna Playhouse, which begins July 5 with the hit musical I Left My Heart: A Salute to the Music of Tony Bennett. Other sensational shows on the season schedule include the holiday treat This Wonderful Life, the World Premiere Concert Tour of the musical Lonesome Traveler, the return of "Sister" Maripat Donovan in the all new Sister's Easter Catechism, and the World Premiere of comedienne Rita Rudner's semi-autobiographical Tickled Pink.

Tickets to Shirley Valentine are $30 to $65. For more information, call 949-497-2787 or visit www.lagunaplayhouse.com.