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Miss Barbara Hird, Actor/Singer
Miss Barbara
Hird, a
native
of Yorkshire, England, studied and
performed at the Bradford Playhouse and Film Theater before coming to
America. Her work in Elizabeth R has brought her high
acclaim, honorary citizenships, and the Order of the Long Leaf
Pine, the highest civilian honor from the state of North Carolina.
 While she
has performed in numerous theater, film, and television roles, Miss
Hird is best known for her interpretations of English monarchs: Queen
Anne Boleyn in Anne
of the Thousand Days, Elinor of Aquitaine in The Lion in
Winter, Queen Elizabeth in Paul Green's The Lost Colony,
The Virgin Queen in Bloody Mary and
the Virgin Queen, Queen Elizabeth I in Shepherd of the Ocean and the
title role in lebame houston's Elizabeth R.
Miss Hird's
blend of
talent,
technique, and
intelligence and her commitment to authenticity inspired lebame houston
to write
and produce Elizabeth R. Critics and
scholars agree that in Elizabeth R Miss Hird hits the mark of
re-creating Queen Elizabeth's charisma, persona,
and style.
Miss Hird joined
with lebame
houston to co-edit, Roanoke
Revisited: The Story of the First English Settlements in the New World
and the Fabled Lost Colony of Roanoke Island,
an easily readable
retelling of the Roanoke voyages and settlements. To this end the
editors researched countless original documents carefully preserving
writing styles while modernizing awkward structure and archaic spelling.
lebame houston, Author/Director
A recognized
scholar
on
Elizabethan England, Ms houson has written
several publications on the subject. The line of history which holds Elizabeth
R
together is a result of her original research and her creative
script is an example of one of her unique techniques of theatricalizing
history. A former associate of the National Humanities
Faculty and former educational theatre specialist for the NC
Department of Public Instruction, Ms houston is the author/director of
video productions for educational and commercial use. Ms
houston serves on the board of the Roanoke Island Historical
Association as Historian.
As an
educational and
professional stage director in Los Angeles, Metropolitan Washington,
DC, and for the US Air Force, Ms houston has directed some 80
productions
including, Julius Caesar, The Colony That Was Lost,
The Sound of Music, Camelot, Funny
Girl, Canterbury Tales, A Midsummer Night's Dream,
Antigone, Mourning Becomes Electra, St.
Joan, Anastasia, The Miracle Worker, Ashes,
Gloria, and The American Way. Ms houston
has worked with NBC
in Burbank, Squaring
the Circle in the Square in New York, Design Setters
and Lorimar in Los Angeles, and Eldridge Productions in Los Angeles.
She is the
author/director of
Elizabeth R and Shepherd
of the Ocean, a whimsical comedy about the
tumultuous relationship between Queen Elizabeth I and Sir Walter
Ralegh. Director of Bloody Mary and the Virgin Queen, Ms houston edited
and Americanized the outrageous musical
comedy about Queen Elizabeth I and her half-sister, Queen Mary I.
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