Tea for Three: A One-woman Show About Three First Ladies

For our December 9th holiday program, Seattle Branch members and guests gathered online to watch Tea for Three, a one-woman play that gave us an entertaining behind-the-scenes peek at the lives of Lady Bird Johnson, Pat Nixon, and Betty Ford during their tenures as First Ladies.

We see an elegant and rather formal Lady Bird Johnson flub her attempt at telling a joke, but then hear about her ease and enthusiasm for giving civil rights speeches. A tightly wound Pat Nixon, smoking non-stop, confesses she loathes politics and can’t wait to leave the White House, but also shares the sweet story of long, poetic letters her husband wrote her during their courtship.

And Bromka’s Betty Ford brims with openness and good cheer: a former dancer who once studied with Martha Graham, she tells us about hosting White House parties that were “the hottest ticket in town”, and her pride in helping to make a difference in women’s lives by sharing her struggles with breast cancer.

In a live Q&A with the actress following the performance, Ms. Bromka shared that the idea for the play came out of a combination of her experience impersonating 8 first ladies for a production focused on their famous husbands and a suggestion from her 12-year-old daughter that she find a way to tell the story from the woman’s point of view. In non-pandemic times, Tea for Three plays in small theaters across the country.

To learn more, visit the website.