Tickets are now on sale for ‘Leading Ladies’, a new theater piece written and performed by Shirley Simpson and staged for the first time for Emerald Coast Theatre Company, a non-profit professional theater company based in Miramar Beach.

In this one-woman show, Simpson will bring to life legendary leading ladies such as Katharine Hepburn, Erma Bombeck, Gracie Allen, Shirley Valentine and more. Simpson has performed each of these unforgettable women to great acclaim during solo performances, but never before has she portrayed them all on stage during the same evening.

UPDATE: The performance has been postponed to a later date. Watch this space for an announcement.

The play will be staged one night only (date to be announced) in the Azalea Ballroom at the Baytowne Conference Center in Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort. The evening will begin at 6:30 p.m. with a welcome reception hosted by the theater company’s founders Nathanael and Anna Fisher and the company’s board, followed by the performance at 7:30 p.m. and then a champagne toast with Simpson.

Simpson is a former producer, writer, and performer on New York’s Madison Avenue, and her TV series, The Vital Link, was nominated for an ACE Award. Currently, she works as an actress, serves on the board of New Stage Theatre and is chair of the Eudora Welty New Play Series. She starred as Laurette Taylor in an off-Broadway premiere in NYC, and recently starred as Daisy in Driving Miss Daisy and performed in the title role of Mrs. Mannerly at New Stage Equity Theatre in Jackson, Miss.

Her work has earned critical acclaim. The Clarion Ledger lauded her for her “commanding presence.” Planet Weekly raved about her “perfect comedic timing,” and the New Jersey Star Ledger wrote, “watching her performance, at once subtle and animated, is pure delight.”

Nathanael Fisher said he is delighted to have a seasoned actress star in its first fundraiser.

“Shirley Simpson is as incomparable as the women she loves to play, and we are honored to have such a gifted actress of stage and screen recognize our efforts to bring quality educational and professional theater to the area,” he said. “Mrs. Simpson has been a talented professional for many years and that distinction is exactly what ECTC plans on bringing to Northwest Florida.”

Tickets are $100 per person and proceeds benefit Emerald Coast Theatre Company. Seats are limited, advance purchase is recommended.

To purchase tickets, visit Emerald Coast Theatre or call 850-687-1637.

Check out this video from Emerald Coast Theater Company: