The Importance of Being Earnest – Reading
Angela Lansbury stars in Roundabout Theatre Company’s One Night Only benefit reading of Oscar Wilde’s “trival comedy for serious people” Two wealthy London bachelors each pretend to be a fictitious man called Earnest in order to win over two eligible yound ladies, despite the ladies’ avowed preference for that name alone – and the interference of the intimidatingly proper Lady Bracknell (Angela)
Proceeds from The Importance of Being Earnest will benefit Roundabout’s many programs, including Education at Roundabout.
November 18, 2019 | 7:30PM
American Airlines Theatre
Tickets Here at Roundabout
Angela Lansbury
Dame Angela Brigid Lansbury DBE is a British-American-Irish actress who has appeared in theatre, television, and film. Her career has spanned eight decades, much of it in the United States, and her work has attracted international acclaim
Lansbury has received an Honorary Oscar and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) and has won five Tony Awards, six Golden Globes, and an Olivier Award. She has also been nominated for numerous other industry awards, including the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress on three occasions, and various Primetime Emmy Awards on eighteen occasions, as well as a Grammy award for her work on the Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for the 1991 Disney animated film Beauty and the Beast. In 2014, Lansbury was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. She has been the subject of three biographies.
To escape the Blitz, in 1940 she moved to the United States with her mother and two brothers, and studied acting in New York City. Proceeding to Hollywood in 1942, she signed with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and obtained her first film roles, in Gaslight (1944) and The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945), earning her two Oscar nominations and a Golden Globe Award. She appeared in eleven further films for MGM, mostly in supporting roles, and after her contract ended in 1952 she began supplementing her cinematic work with theatrical appearances. Although largely seen as a B-list star during this period, her appearance in the film The Manchurian Candidate (1962) received widespread acclaim and is cited as being one of her finest performances. Moving into musical theatre, Lansbury finally gained stardom for playing the leading role in the Broadway musical Mame (1966), which earned her a range of awards.
In March 1979, Lansbury first appeared as Nellie Lovett in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, a Stephen Sondheim musical directed by Harold Prince. Opening at the Uris Theatre, she starred alongside Len Cariou as Sweeney Todd, the murderous barber in 19th century London
Stage Work
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Hotel Paradiso | Marcelle (Madame Cot) | |
| 1960–61 | A Taste of Honey | Helen | |
| 1964 | Anyone Can Wistle | Cora Hoover Hooper | |
| 1966–68 | Mame | Mame Dennis | Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical |
| 1969 | Dear World | Countess Aurelia | Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical |
| 1971 | Prettybelle | Prettybelle Sweet | closed in Boston |
| 1972 | All Over | The Mistress | London |
| 1973–75 | Gypsy | Rose | Drama Desk Award for outstanding Actress in a Musical Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical |
| 1975–76 | Hamlet | Gertrude | London |
| 1978 | The King and I | Anna Leonowens | Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical |
| 1979–81 | Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street | Mrs. Nellie Lovett | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical |
| 1982 | A Little Family Business | Lillian | |
| 1983 | Mame | Mame Dennis | |
| 2007 | Deuce | Leona Mullen | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play |
| 2009 | Blithe Spirit | Madame Arcati | Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play |
| 2009–10 | A Little Night Music | Madame Armfeldt | Nominated—Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Musical |
| 2012 | The Best Man | Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge | Nominated—Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play |
| 2013 | Driving Miss Daisy | Miss Daisy Werthan | Australia |
| 2014 | Blithe Spirit (London)] | Madame Arcati | 2015 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role |
