The Lion in Winter is a 1966 play by James Goldman, depicting the personal and political conflicts of Henry II of England, his wife Eleanor of Aquitaine, their children and their guests during Christmas 1183.
[1] Directed by Noel Willman, it starred Robert Preston as Henry, Rosemary Harris as Eleanor, James Rado as Richard, Christopher Walken as Philip, and Suzanne Grossman as Alais.
[3] Fontaine had grown enamored of the role of Eleanor to the point of hoping to headline an American tour leading to a Broadway revival:[4] however Fontaine would only be able to headline two regional theatrical productions of the play, firstly at the Fiesta Dinner Playhouse in San Antonio in May/June 1982 followed by a December 1980/January 1981 production at the Beverly Dinner Playhouse in New Orleans, the latter directed by Eric Berry and featuring Andrew Parks as Geoffrey.
[6] The play made its professional British debut in 1994 with a touring version with David McCallum as Henry and Siân Phillips as Eleanor headlining a cast which included Victor McGuire as Richard, Stephen McGann as Geoffrey, and Christien Anholt as Philip.
The Lion in Winter would not make its West End debut until 2011 when a production directed by Trevor Nunn and headlined by Robert Lindsay as Henry and Joanna Lumley as Eleanor opened at Theatre Royal Haymarket on November 15.
Starring Laurence Fishburne as Henry and Stockard Channing as Eleanor, the latter earning a Tony nomination, the production was directed by Michael Mayer, and also featured Neal Huff as Geoffrey, Keith Nobbs as John, Roger Howarth as Philip, and Emily Bergl as Alais.
[9] Hoty would again play Eleanor in a Two River Theater (Monmouth County NJ) production starring Michael Cumpsty as Henry which ran November 18 to December 4, 2016.
[13] Veteran soap opera stars Robert Newman and Kim Zimmer - supercouple Josh Lewis and Reva Shayne on Guiding Light - played Henry and Eleanor in a 2017 production which ran July 25 to August 6 at the Barn Theatre in Augusta, Michigan.
[15] In 2019 Sheldon Epps directed the Laguna Playhouse (November 10 to 24) production which starred Gregory Harrison as Henry, Frances Fisher as Eleanor, and Burt Grinstead as Richard.
Rounding out the talented cast were Rebecca Spence, Kenneth La’Ron Hamilton, Brandon Miller, Shane Kenyon, Netta Walker, and Anthony Baldasare.