Actress Michael Learned Joins Cast of Theater Previews at Duke's World Premiere of Gore Vidal's On the March to the Sea
Durham, N.C. – Michael Learned, who won three Emmy Awards for her protrayal of Olivia Walton on TV's The Waltons, has signed on as one of the leads in the premiere of On the March to the Sea by Gore Vidal, according to Theater Previews at Duke. The play will run Feb. 22 – March 6, 2005 at Reynolds Theater on the Duke campus in Durham, N.C.
A distinguished Broadway actress, Ms. Learned’s recent productions include Edward Albee’s All Over with costar Rosemary Harris, and Gore Vidal’sThe Best Man on Broadway, in which she costarred with Chris Noth, who will again appear alongside her in the production at Duke. Ms. Learned has had an extensive film career as well, and has appeared in many TV movies and series.
Ms. Learned will play Mrs. Blair, a Southern aristocrat who gets drawn into a volatile family drama as her community is overtaken by Union forces during General Sherman’s march through the Carolinas.
“We are thrilled that Michael Learned has agreed to join the cast of our premiere here at Duke,” says Zannie Giraud Voss, producing director at Duke. “With the addition of Ms. Learned, we are ever more excited about the production and discussion opportunities we are making available to the Triangle community. There is an outstanding caliber of talent involved in the project, a testament to Mr. Vidal’s legendary artistry.”
On the March to the Sea will be directed by Warner Shook and produced as a staged theatrical concert reading.
Tickets go on sale for the production Monday, Jan. 10 at University Box Office (919-684-4444, www.tickets.duke.edu). Prices range from $20 to $39, with discounts for students and groups.
Gore Vidal, known as a “literary lion” of our times, is an outspoken and prolific American novelist, playwright, screenwriter, historian and essayist, one of the great stylists of contemporary American prose. He has written 22 novels, short stories, political and literary essays, reviews and a volume of memoirs. Vidal remains active in several other arenas, including politics, television and publishing. In 1993, a collection of his criticism, United States: Essays 1952-1992, won the National Book Award.
Theater Previews at Duke’s mission is to serve as a breeding ground for professional, innovative and high quality new plays and musicals, and to offer audiences the opportunity to engage in productions in a variety of stages of development. The presence of the playwright is an essential part of the program. Theater Previews provides the personnel, space, time and support required to bring his or her vision to fruition in the course of producing work that makes a contribution to the field on a national scale.
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