Hallie Foote (with Matthew Broderick) played the title role in her father's play, The Widow Claire, and will appear at the Public in The Habitation of Dragons.
Over 150 actors were auditioned in New York and Pittsburgh for the Public's season opener The Habitation Of Dragons, a world premiere written and directed by Academy Award-winner Horton Foote. The result is a powerful cast, assembled from among the best talent in the American theater, many of whom will be familiar to Public Theater audiences through their work in films, television and on Broadway.
Marco St. John (Leonard Tolliver) has appeared in leading roles in eleven Broadway productions including Forty Carats. His film credits include Tightrope with Clint Eastwood, Contract on Cherry Street with Frank Sinatra and The Next Man with Sean Connery. He has made many guest appearances on such television series as Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer, Remington Steele and The Equalizer.
Distinguished actress Eugenia Rawls (Miss Helen) made her Broadway debut in Lillian Hellman's The Children's Hour, and later played Tallulah Bankhead's daughter Alexandra in Miss Hellman's The Little Foxes, which toured to the Nixon Theater. Other Broadway credits include The Great Sebastians with Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne, and Noel Coward's Private Lives. She has performed her four one-woman shows, which she also authored and directed, throughout America and abroad She
performed Tallulah, A Memory, which was inspired by her close and lasting friendship with Miss Bankhead, and Women of the West at The Valley Players in Ligonier in 1982
Also in starring roles are Horton Foote's daughter and son, Hallie Foote (Margaret Tolliver) and Horton Foote, Jr. (George Tolliver). This will not be the first time the Foote family has collaborated.
Foote's plays Courtship, Valentine's Day and 1918 starred Hallie in a role based on her grandmother, and Horton Jr. in v~rious supporting roles. The trilogy was filmed for a three part series, The Story of a Marriage, and was seen last year on PBS's American Playhouse.
Hallie's New York credits include the title role in the long running The Widow Claire (opposite Matthew Broderick) at Circle in the Square. Her television credits include a regular spot on the new ABC series Hothouse, as well as appearances in last year 's NBC Movie-of-theWeek The Little Matchgirl, and Miami Vice.
Horton Jr.'s New York credits include The Widow Claire, HB Playwrights' The Old Friends and The Man Who Climbed The Pecan Trees at the Marathon 88 for Ensemble Studio Theatre. He will soon be seen in the film Blood Red with Eric Roberts and Dennis Hopper.
Continued on page 2
iforld
Premiere By Horton ~oote Opens Public's New Season
The Habitation Of Dragons by the award -winning playwright, screenwriter and director Horton Foote will receive its world premiere at the Pittsburgh Public Theater. Previews begin September 20, with a September 28 opening. The play, which will be directed by Mr. Foote, is a bold and absorbing Texan family drama. Themes of profound love, unbearable loss, divided loyalties and, ultimately, triumphant forgiveness resound through this portrait of a proud and troubled Southern family.
Horton Foote , best known for his Academy Award -winning films To Kill A Mockingbird, The Trip To Bountiful and Tender Mercies, is the author of several Broadway and Off-Broadway plays as
well as numerous PBS television dramas
Twenty actors have been cast making this the most ambitious and exciting project the Public Theater has undertaken. "Large cast plays are extremely costly," says Producing Director Bill Gardner. "They're rare events these days, but when an extraordinary play like this comes along, it's a risk well worth taking." The Pennsylvania Council on the Arts, in recognition of the enormous scope and artistic merit of The Habitation Of Dragons, has awarded the Public Theater a special grant of $38,350.00 for the production.
D. Trevor O'Donnell
"Most of my plays have taken place in the imaginary town of Harrison, Texas, and it seems to me a more unlikely subject could not be found in these days . than this attempt of mine to recreate a small Soulhem town and ils people. But Idid not choose this task, this place, or these people ta Mite about so much as they chose me.''
Horton Faate
Marco St. John and Horton Foote, Jr. play lawyer brothers In Habitation.
Habitation actress Eugenia Rawls with Tallulah Bankhead in The Little Foxes, 1941
Ha bita tio n Cast
Continued from page 1
Matt Mulhern (Wally Smith) created · \he role of Wykowski in the original · Broadway cast of Neil Simon's Biloxi Blues, a role he repeated in Mike Nichols' movie version starring Matthew Broderick. Other films include Extreme Prejudice and One Crazy Summer. Ott Broadway he was most recently seen at the W.P.A. Theatre in Wasted.
Fans of the soap opera Guiding Light will recognize Harley Venton (Billy Dalton) from his two year stint as lawyer Derek Colby. On Broadway Venton played Barnett Lloyd in Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning Crimes of the Heart. Venton has a recurring role as Susan St. James' ex-husband on Kate and Allie.
Conrad Mclaren (Uncle Virgil Tolliver) will also be familiar to television watchers as Kate's father on Kate and Allie, and as the newspaper editor, Briggs, on One Life To Live. Mclaren recently appeared in the Lincoln Center production of And A Nightingale Sang with Joan Allen, and in the Papermill Playhouse production of Inherit The Wind with E.G. Marshall and Robert Vaughn.
Isa Thomas (Lenora Tolliver) was a member of the resident company of the Asolo State Theater where she performed over 100 roles including Mrs. Warren in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Juno in Juno and the Paycock and Ranevskaya in The Cherry Orchard. Her television credits include the recent A Flash of
David Butler
Emmett O'Sullivan Moore (Mr. Charlie) has appeared in the Off Broadway plays Bottom of the Ninth and Who'll Save the Plowboy? Included in his Off Off Broadway repertoire are Road to the Graveyard and Mirage. On television he has been seen on The Cosby Show, Loving, All My Children and As The World Turns.
Peter Francis James (Lonny) performed in four productions with the New York Shakespeare Festival under such prominent directors as Geraldine Fitzgerald, Joseph Chaikin and Michael Langham. On Broadway James understudied six roles in The American Clock. On television, he has appeared in several soap operas, and as Edmund in the ABCArts presentation of Long Day's Journey Into Night.
Ann Kittredge (Bernice Dayton) last performed at the Public in She Loves Me. She was most recently featured Off Broadway in the musical hit Nunsense. Her performances with the Carnegie Repertory include Sunday in the Park with George, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Doctor in Spite of Himself and Oh, Kay!
The cast of Habitation will also include some of our finest local actors. One of Pittsburgh's favorites is David Butler(Sheriff), a veteran of productions at City Theatre (Glengarry Glen Ross, Fool for Love, Tamer of Horses), Pittsburgh Playhouse and St. Vincent's Summer Theatre, where he most recently appeared in Orphans.
Another prominent Pittsburgh actor is Denise du Maurier (Evelyn Sparks) who last appeared at the Public in Life With Father. This summer's audiences saw her as Mrs. Malaprop in All In Love and Miss Prism in The Importance of Being Earnest at the Carnegie Mellon Theater Co. Among her Broadway credits is The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, in which she understudied Zoe Caldwell in the title role.
William Thunhurst, Jr. (Mr. Smith), the former Executive Producer of the Civic Light Opera, previously appeared at the Public Theater in Room Service and Life With Father. He has performed leading roles at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in such shows as Side By Side By Sondheim, All My Sons and Green Grow The Lilacs. On Broadway he appeared in the original production of South Pacific.
Ben Tatar (Lester Whyte) last appeared at the Public in Life With Father. Other Pittsburgh credits include appearances at the Metro Theatre Company and Nuts, Glengarry Glen Ross and Principia Scriptoriae at City Theatre. Among several film appearances is Gigotwhich starred Jackie Gleason and was directed by Gene Kelly.
Pittsburgh native Douglas Rees (Harry Brightman) currently makes his home in New York and has performed such roles as Paris in Romeo and Juliet, Chapuys in A Man For All Seasons and Seyton in Macbeth. He has been seen on the soap opera One Life to Live and in the film Small Circle of Friends.
Talarico Native Pittsburg her Zachary Mott (Edward Janeck) was last seen as Brodie in The Real Thing and in See How They Run, both at St. Vincent's Summer Theatre. Last winter he appeared as Ed in You Can't Take It With You at the Pittsburgh Playhouse. His film credits include Dominick and Eugene, Street/aw, Rappin' and Lady Beware.
Three young Pittsburgh actors are making their Public Theater debuts.
Eleven year old Mac Fleischmann (Leonard Tolliver, Jr.) recently appeared as Fang in The Good Woman of Setzuan and as a No-Neck Monster in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, both at Carnegie Mellon University.
Eight year old Stephen Robert Hanna (Horace Tolliver) was recently a Munchkin in the Civic Light Opera's Wizard of Oz and has been a dancer in many area high school and American Legion productions.
Fourth grader Richard Talarico (Standby for Leonard Jr. and Horace) was a super in the Pittsburgh Opera's productions of Cavalleria Rusticana and I Pagliacci at the Benedum.
Join us at the Public Theater for the world premiere of The Habitation of Dragons and experience the best talent the theater has to offer. See your old favorites and meet some new faces as this excellent cast breathes life into the simple yet noble people of Harrison, Texas. Kimberly Lewis
Green with Ed Harris a11 d Blair Brown.
H a rley Venton on Guiding Light.
Conrad McLaren
Isa Thomas
Emmett O'Sullivan-Moore
Peter Francis James in Mozart's opera Abduction from the Seraglio.
Ann Kittredge
Denise du Maurler
Wllll a m Thunhurat, Jr.
Ben Tatar
Douglas Rees
Zachary Mott
Stephen Robert Hanna
Richard
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PUBLIC THEATER 1988-89 SEASON
WORLD PREMIERE BY ACADEMY AWARD-WINNER! THE HABITATION OFDRAGONS
WRITTEN AND DIRECTED BY HORTON FOOTE SEPTEMBER20-OCTOBER23
Bold and absorbing, Horton Foote's Texan family drama resounds with themes of profound love, heartrending loss, divided loyalties and, ultimately, triumphant forgiveness.
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l'M NOT RAPPAPORT
av HERB GARDNER• NOVEMBERS· DECEMBER 18
This joyfully funny Tony Award-winning comedy, by the author of A THOUSAND CLOWNS, features a pair of crusty, cantankerous Central Park bench-warmers who keep the rabble-rousing faith!
THE IMMIGRANT
A HAMILTON COUNTY ALBUM
BYMARKHAREUK • JANUARY 3 • FEBRUARY 5
Told with loving affection, this heartwarming comedy-drama is the true story of its author's own grandparents. These European Jewish immigrants find the American dream in a small, skeptical Southern ta.Nn.
FALLEN ANGELS
BYNOELCOWARD•FEBRUARY21-MARCH26
Classic Coward comedy-an intoxicating romp bubbling over with giddy, good fun. Philip Minor, director of the Public's 1985 runaway hit, PRIVATE LIVES, returns to direct this devilishly impudent bit of British wit.
HEDDA GABLER
BYHENRIKIBSEN • ADAPTED BY CORINNE JACKER
APRIL 11 • MAY 14
Helena Ruoti, star of EDITH STEIN, returns to the Public _ to portray Hedda, one of the greatest female roles in world dramatic literature. Critically-acclaimed Lee Sankowich directs this innovative adaptation.
TO BE ANNOUNCED
MAY23-JUNE25
We hope to get the rights to produce FENCES by Pulitzer Prize-winning, Pittsburgh native August Wilson. Other titles on our list of possibilities include DRIVING MISS DAISY, STEEL MAGNOLIAS and Pirandello's THE RULES OF THE GAME.
When Herb Gardner's Tony Awardwinning comedy, I'm Not Rappaport, opens at the Public, two actors will face the challenge of playing feisty curmudgeons, many years older than themselves, who share the stage for most of the show. David S. Howard and Samuel E. Wright, who won raves for their Rappaport performances at George Street Playhouse and Pennsylvania Stage Company, will recreate their roles at the Public in November.
The comedy's main characters, Nat and Midge, are two modern day heroes who handle their difficulties of being old with grace and dignity. For Howard and Wright, the roles are equally desirable and demanding. Beyond the heavy layers of old-age makeup and the use of a walker or cane, the actors are confronted with the idea of their own approaching seniority. "I've learned one thing from my role as Midge," Wrighisay_s,, "Pe.ople who walk with a three-point cane have muscles in their arms. I wouldn't fight an old person with a sword!"
Both Rappaport actors have had impressive careers on stage and screen. Samuel E. Wright appeared on Broadway in Jesus Christ Superstar, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Pippin (New York and London), and The Tap Dance Kid, tor which he won a Tony nomination. His
numerous television credits include All My Children, Simon and Simon and Bill Cosby, and he will soon be seen as Dizzy Gillespie in the film Bird directed by Clint Eastwood. Audiences will also recognize Wright as "The Grape" in the Fruit of the Loom commercials.
David S. Howard was standby for Judd Hirsch and Jack Klugman in the Broadway production of I'm Not Rappaport, and was featured in Othello, The Sunshine Boys and The Waltz of the Toreadors. He recently played Irv in the Oscar-winning film Moonstruck, and appeared on television's Another World and The Guiding Light. Rappaport sidekicks Howard and Wright join other dynamic duos who have relished the rapport of Nat and Midge: Hal Linden and Ossie Davis, Carnegie Mellon alumnus Jack Klugman and Ossie Davis, and the Broadway originals, Judd Hirsch (who won a Tony Award _ for his performance) and CleavQn Little. "The play is an uplifting experience," says David S. Howard. "It makes people happy, it makes them think, it makes them laugh, it makes them cry. Nat and Midge immediately appealed to me. They're a dying breed, and I hate to see them go. Thank God Herb Gardner preserved a little bit of them for us."
Catherine L. Creager
Record-Breaking Subscription Season Expected
To date over 14,300 Pittsburgh area residents have reserved their seats for the Pittsburgh Public Theater's 14th season and another subscription sales record is only weeks away.
Last season the Public played to a subscription audience of over 92% of capacity with total attendance for the season topping the 98% mark. Few theaters nationally can match a track record like this, and many feel fortunate to report total attendance of only 85%.
"I'm proud to be a part of one of the nation's most successful regional theaters and I think our subscribers can be proud also," said Bill Gardner, Producing Director. "We're bucking a national trend. While other theaters like ours are reporting declines in subscription sales, we are setting new records every year." The goal for season 14 is 15,500 subscribers which
PLAN YOUR HOLIDAY GROUP OUTING WITH US!
Groups of 10 or more receive substantial discounts to 'Rappaport' or any of this season's shows. Call the PPT Box Office for details: 321-9800.
would represent nearly 95% of subscribable capacity.
Many good seats are still available for those who have yet to subscribe but they're g )ing fast. Saturdays are sold out as are most of the lower priced preview performances. If you like to attend during the week, however, you'll find some great subscriber seats available on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Don't forget, our exchange policy allows you to attend when you want, and still take advantage of all the subscriber benefits.
Subscription sales will continue through the month of October and a limited number of holiday gift subscriptions may be available until the end of the year. For additional information, call the Pub-lie Theater Box Office at 321-9800.
INTRODUCE A FRIEND TO THE PUBLIC WITH A GI" CERTIFICATE.
Subscription or single ticket gift certificates are available at our Box Office, or you may charge by phone: 321-9800.
Samuel E. Wright (left) and David S. Howard use their wit and charm to survive the wilds of Central Park in I'm Not Rappaport. •
D. Trevor O'Donnell
Mondays 10:00 am to 5:30 p.m. Tuesdays thru 10:00 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.
Sundays 12 noon to 6:30 p.m. Holiday and summer hours may vary.
Curtain Times
Tuesday thru Saturday evenings Sunday evenings Matinees
&
Preview Fri.-Sat. eve. $22.00
Preview Sun. matinee $17.00
Student and senior citizen ½ price discounts are available 30 minutes before curtain time (if the performance is not sold-out) with valid identification.
How to Obtain Single Tickets
1. In person at the Box Office.
2. By mail. Enclose payment, note performance desired, include name, address, telephone number and a stamped self-addressed envelope. Mail to: Pittsburgh Public Theater Box Office, Allegheny Square, Pittsburgh, PA 15212-5362.
3. By telephone. You may charge single tickets to your American Express, MasterCard, or Visa accounts by calling the Box Office at (412) 321-9800.
Can't Make it?Too Late to Exchange?
Take a Tax Deduction! If you find you are unable to attend a performance and cannot exchange your tickets, you may take a tax deduction for the amount paid for each ticket not used. Just release your tickets for resale by calling the Tax Deduction Line (412) 321-9807 as soon as possible, but as late as curtain time on
the day of performance, and give your name and seat location. Your seats can then be sold to someone else. The result? A tax deduction for you, a full house for us, and no turnaways at the box office.
New Im prove me nts A nd Add itio n s
Not since our half-million dollar renovation in 1984, which created more comfortable seating and a new lounge, has the Public Theater undergone the kind of improvements you'll see when you enter the building this season.
Women's restroom facilities were expanded last spring to the delight of both patrons and the theater's house staff. Not only do the women in our audience not have to wait interminably in line, but the risk of being late for the beginning of the second act of a performance has been all but eliminated. We wish to publicly acknowledge the generosity of Mrs. James C. Roddey, the City of Pittsburgh, and The Pittsburgh Foundation in making this project happen.
A striking aluminum plaque is proudly displayed on the wall adjacent to the ticket window, saluting the first two recipients of the George S. Kaufman Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theater - Helen Hayes and Kitty Carlisle Hart. The Public extends special thanks to Mrs. Alice Snyder, who was instrumental in the display design.
Thanks to the generosity of an anonymous donor, a new lighting board and dimmer control system has just been installed in time for this season's opening production.
We hope you enjoy the contributions of the many individuals, corporations, foundations, and government agencies who ta~e active roles in making your visit to the Public more enjoyable. We invite you to join them by discovering how you can offer your direct support of a particular program, activity, or improvement in the quality of professional theater for all of Pittsburgh. For further information please cal I .our Development Department at 323-8200.
Anne-Marie Tristan
leet PPT 's N ew
Academy Award-winning screenwriter Horton Foote brings his Oscar for Tender Mercies home to Texas, the setting for his play, The Habitation of Dragons, which he'll premiere at the Public Theater in September. The writer/director is shown here with his wife Lillian, producer, and (left) Lewis Allen, executive producer of Foote's films 1918 and On Valentine's Day. Lewis Allen was also Broadway co-producer of I'm Not Rappaport, which opens at the Public in November.
Pittsburgh Public Theater is proud to welcome Dan Fallon in his newly created position of General Manager. He arrived at the theater on May 1 overseeing all administrative operations.
Fallon reports directly to Producing Director William T. Gardner. Together they create a dynamic team committed to leading the Pittsburgh Public Theater into the future. "Dan is one of the finest administrators in the American regional theater," says Gardner. "I feel privileged to have him as a colleague and I am optimistic about the growth his appointment makes possible for the Pittsburgh Public Theater."
Fallon, a graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, combines a business background with experience in all areas of theater, including production, acting, and directing. Holding degrees in mechanical engineering, psychology and an MBA in marketing management from Kent State University, Fallon worked as Engineer and Marketing Manager for General Motors and General Electric Corporations. He spent so much time at GE working to support his avocational theater habit, a change was in-
evitable; Fallon's habit became his career.
Founder of the Pittsburgh Renaissance Theater, he directed and choreographed more than 30 shows including productions at the Civic Light Opera. Fallon then became Managing Director for Pennsylvania State Company in Allentown, supervising Development, Marketing and Administrative Operations.
We are proud to introduce Dan Fallon to you, our audience, and to welcome him as a leader and new member of the staff. Here's to the future!
Bob Hofmann
AMessage To N ew Subscr i bers:
On behalf of Bill Gardner and the staff of the Public Theater I'd like to extend a special welcome to al I new subscribers. You, along with the more than 12,000 people who have renewed from seasons past, make up a very special core of PubIic Theater supporters.
In particular, I'd like to welcome those of you who purchased your tickets from one of our telephone sales people. We have ·a large staff of very enthusiastic and devoted sales men and women who appreciate your willingness to subscribe. Theirs, as you can well imagine, is not an easy job.
Many of you may be surprised to learn that for theaters like ours, as well as for music, dance and performance organizations here and across the country, telemarketing is the most effective and cost efficient marketing tool available. Because ,we spend less to sell more, your ticket price stays low and our dollars can be spent on the stage rather than in the newspaper, on the radio oron television. In other words, telemarketing saves you money and helps to improve the quality of the performance you see. We honestly believe that telemarketing helps bring good people to good theater. You, our new customers, are very important to us and we hope that you enjoy the season. If you'd like to let us know what you think give us a call.
Sincerely, Dan Fallon
Dan Fallon
