Hi, folks, Packy here, and it's time for a little promotional announcement.

I am very pleased to announce that the Delta Xi cast of Alpha Psi Omega is producing "The Lion in Winter" at the RPI Playhouse on September 7, 8, 13, 14 & 15, and I will be playing John. Curtain is at 8pm, and reservations (highly reccommended) can be made by calling the box office at (518) 276-6503.

Since this list has a very wide distribution, not everybody may know where the RPI playhouse is. It's on 15th Street in Troy, NY, which is approximately 10 miles outside Albany.

For those readers not familiar with "The Lion in Winter", it's a 1966 Broadway play by James Goldman, which tells the story of Henry II, King of England, championing his youngest son John against his oldest son Richard, who is controlled by the Queen, Eleanor of Aquitaine, for the English crown. The 1968 film film adaptation was nominated for 7 Acadamy Awards, and starred Peter O'Toole, Katharine Hepburn, Jane Merrow, Timothy Dalton, Anthony Hopkins, John Castle, Nigel Stock and Nigel Terry (the film was Dalton's and Hopkins' film debuts).

For those wanting to know more, I found this review of the 1968 film at http://www.dvdjournal.com/quickreviews/l/lioninwinter.q.shtml

It's Christmastime and a family is gathering together. Trouble is, it's A.D. 1183 and the family is aging King Henry II of England (Peter O'Toole), his imprisoned wife, fiery Queen Eleanor of Acquitaine (Katharine Hepburn), and their three power-hungry princes: proud Richard the Lionhearted (Anthony Hopkins in his big-screen debut), the "walking pustule" John of later Magna Carta fame (Nigel Terry), and the Machiavellian Geoffrey (John Castle). Also along for the reunion is young King Philip of France (Timothy Dalton, all of 22 in his screen debut), and King Henry's long-time mistress and the would-be wife of whichever son becomes his successor, Alais (Jane Merrow). Jesus himself would have a hard time bringing peace to this yuletide household. Here's a family whose every deed and word is a chess move or a dagger stroke. After all, there's more at stake than merely the future of England and France. Alliances (political and sexual) rise and fall amid skillful maneuvering, clashing, and scheming for Henry's throne. At the center of this regal melee are Henry and Eleanor, whose combination of high mutual fondness and take-no-prisoners warfare -- on battlefields and in bedrooms -- make them cinema's all-time "complicated relationship." Loosely based on real historical events, 1968's The Lion in Winter was written by James Goldman, who adapted his own hit Broadway play for the big screen. So although swords are brandished and the dungeon door slams open and shut, there's little outright action. Instead we have a medieval Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? driven by its performances and dialogue -- and what dialogue! Witty lines come fast and cut like sword thrusts, one barbed rejoinder can topple kingdoms, and cleverness is any formidable foe's weapon of choice. The Broadway play was billed as "a comedy in two acts," and while there are plenty of sharp laughs in The Lion in Winter, this is at its heart a deliciously vicious drama where the personal really is the political and vice versa. Goldman's script earned its Academy Award, and Hepburn also walked away with an Oscar for one of her finest performances. Her Eleanor is every bit Henry's equal in brain-power, military cunning, and verbal combat -- a powerful figure in Women's Liberation 1968 and still one hell of a juicy role now. John Barry handily won the statue for his moody musical score. Further Oscar nominations were for Best Picture, O'Toole's powerhouse performance as Henry, Anthony Harvey's directing, and Best Costume Design. Add to the virtues on display here the location shooting in England, Wales, and Ireland coupled with the realistic scenic design recreating 12th century England's dank, cold, and desperate barbarism, the perfect setting for this otherwise thoroughly modern First Family.

-packy