Broadway's Beale, Emond and Barbour Relive History in PBS' "John & Abigail Adams"
By Ernio Hernandez
15 Jan 2006
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From Top: Simon Russell Beale and Linda Emond in "John & Abigail Adams".
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| photo by Webb Chappell and Brian McDairmant | Broadway stars Simon Russell Beale, Linda Emond and James Barbour appear in the upcoming PBS American Experience presentation of "John & Abigail Adams."
The series, filmed in Boston and Philadelphia, has set a Jan. 23 airdate at 9 PM (ET). Check local listings.
In the work, Beale and Emond bring to life the historic title characters in sequences recreating pre-Revolutionary America to Colonial times. Barbour plays the second president's political adversary, Thomas Jefferson. Both signers of the Declaration of Independence would die 50 years to the day of the celebrated passing of their document.
Written and produced by Elizabeth Deane, the work which features the words (from letters, diaries and other writings) of each noted Adams. The storyline is complemented by insight from historians such as David McCullough, Joanne Freeman, Joseph Ellis and more. Peter Jones directs.
Beale, the current star of Monty Python's Spamalot made his Broadway debut last season in Jumpers. The Associate of the Royal Shakespeare Company, the National and Almeida Theatres has earned awards for his performances in stagings including Othello, Candide, Hamlet, Uncle Vanya and Twelfth Night. He was awarded a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 2003.
Emond earned a Tony Award nomination for her work in Life x 3. Other stage credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (National Actors Theatre), Homebody/Kabul (NYTW), Nine Armenians (Manhattan Theatre Club), Craig Lucas's The Dying Gaul (Vineyard), Kander and Ebb's Over and Over (Signature), Peter Hedges's Baby Anger (Playwrights Horizons), A.R. Gurney's Far East (Williamstown) and Ancestral Voices (Lincoln Center). The actress made her Broadway debut in 1776 in the role of Abigail Adams.
Recent Assassins star Barbour portrayed the presidential assassin Leon Czolgosz, killer of William McKinley. He has appeared on Broadway as Rochester in Jane Eyre, the Beast in Beauty and the Beast, Billy Bigelow in Carousel and Officer Lockstock in Urinetown. Other credits include the original Broadway cast of Cyrano, the Los Angeles staging of Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates and the national tour of The Secret Garden. His new CD, Love Songs, will be released in conjunction with a concert tour this fall.
For more information visit the "American Experience" section on www.pbs.org.
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