Tickets are now on sale for Mark St. Germain's comedy Becoming Dr. Ruth, starring Debra Jo Rupp (That '70s Show) as real-life sex therapist Dr. Ruth Westheimer. Directed by Julianne Boyd, the show will begin previews on October 11 and is scheduled to play a limited engagement through January 12, 2014 at off-Broadway’s Westside Theatre. Opening night is set for October 29.
Everyone knows Dr. Ruth from her career as a pioneering radio and television sex therapist. Few, however, know the incredible journey that preceded it. From fleeing the Nazis in the Kindertransport and joining the Haganah in Jerusalem as a scout and sniper, to her struggles to succeed as a single mother coming to America, Becoming Dr. Ruth is filled with humor, honesty and life-affirming spirit of Karola Ruth Siegel, the girl who became “Dr. Ruth.”
Originally titled Dr. Ruth, All the Way, the show premiered at the Barrington Stage Company (where Boyd is the artistic director) in Pittsfield, MA, in 2012, then transferred to TheaterWorks in Hartford, CT, in May 2013. Becoming Dr. Ruth features set design by Brian Prather, costume design by Jen Moeller, lighting design by Scott Pinkney and sound design by Jessica Paz.