Born Edna Rae Gillooly in Detroit, Michigan, Ellen Burstyn debuted on Broadway in 1957 in Fair Game. Her starring role in Same Time, Next Year in the 1974-75 season brought her a Tony Award as Best Actress, as well as the Drama Desk and Outer Circle Critics Awards.  In 1978, she created the role in the film version and was awarded a Golden Globe and received an Academy Award nomination. Her other theatre credits include 84 Charring Cross Road and Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, Driving Miss Daisy, Shirley Valentine, Shimada, Sacrilege, The Trip to Bountiful and Death of Papa. Most recently, Ms. Burstyn starred in Eugene O’Neill’s Long Day’s Journey Into Night at Houston’s Alley Theatre and at Hartford Stage in Connecticut.

A five-time Academy Award nominee, Ms. Burstyn’s role in Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore won her the Oscar for Best Actress in 1974 (making her the first actress to win a Tony and an Oscar in the same year). She has been nominated for Oscars in four other film roles: The Last Picture Show (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Resurrection (1980), and Requiem for a Dream (1999). Other film credits include Goodbye Charlie, Providence, Twice in a Lifetime, Hannah’s War, Dying Young, The Cemetery Club, The Spitfire Grill and Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, among others. On television, Ms. Burstyn received an Emmy nomination for her title role in The People vs. Jean Harris. She received a second nomination for her starring role in Pack of Lies, a 1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame television production.  She also starred in Act of Vengeance (HBO), Into Thin Air (CBS), Getting Out (ABC), My Brother’s Keeper (CBS), Disney’s Flash, Showtime’s Mermaid, and the CBS series That’s Life, among many others. Ms. Burstyn has received Career Achievement Awards from the 2000 Boston Film Festival and from the National Board of Review in 2001. She was nominated for a Grammy (Best Spoken Word category) as the narrator of Growing Old Along With Me, The Best Is Yet To Be. Ms. Burstyn was the first woman to be elected President of Actor’s Equity Association (1982-85), and served as the Artistic Director of the Actors Studio for six years, where she studied with the late Lee Strasberg. She continues to serve there as Co-President with Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel. Ms. Burstyn also teaches in the Actors Studio/New School M.F.A. program at the New School for Social Research and lectures throughout the country on a wide range of topics. She is also in the process of writing her autobiography, which will be published by Riverhead Press in 2003.

Martin Tahse began his theatrical career in summer stock as a producer. After three years, he formed a company in New York to produce the national tours of Broadway plays and musicals, including The Miracle Worker, Fiorello, Two for the Seesaw, The Dark at the Top of the Stairs, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and Funny Girl. Interested in exploring new areas, he accepted an offer to produce films for ABC Television. Besides producing, he began writing as story editor on the films. His credits include co-writing The Look-Alike and an adaptation of the novel, Country of the Heart, for Universal and USA Cable. The latter was nominated for a Writers Guild Award. He returned to writing alone and in all produced and/or wrote 28 films. He is returning to the theater with Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, which is his first play.

Don Scardino’s directing career spans television, film, and theatre. He staged the Broadway and national touring productions of A Few Good Men. He directed Ellen Burstyn in Sacrilege on Broadway, and won an Obie Award for his direction of A.R. Gurney’s A Cheever Evening. He served as Artistic Director of Playwright’s Horizons for four years, where he produced over two dozen new American plays. He has directed extensively off-Broadway, including The Kathy and Mo Show, Neal Bell’s On the Bum; and A.R. Gurney’s Later Life at Playwright’s Horizons; as well as the successful Broadway revival of Godspell at Lamb’s Players Theater. Other credits include Higher Standard of Living, The Hit Parade, Mass Appeal, Pump Boys and Dinettes, Sister Mary Ignatius…and many more. For television he served as co-Executive Producer (and frequent director) of The Education of Max Bickford, as well as director for multiple episodes of Cosby, Sports Night, The West Wing, Tracey Takes On, Homicide, among others. Mr. Scardino has been nominated for an Emmy, The Ace, and The DGA Award.

 

GLOBE THEATRES

OLDEST LIVING CONFEDERATE WIDOW TELLS ALL 

Fact Sheet

 

What:              Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All 

Adapted for the stage by Martin Tahse

From the novel by Allan Gurganus

  

When:              January 26 through March 8, 2003; Press Opening: Saturday, February 1

                                 Performances:            – Tuesday - Saturday at 8:00 pm; Sunday at 7:00 pm

– Matinees: Saturday & Sunday at 2:00 pm

 

Where:                     The Globe Theatres: Old Globe Theatre, Balboa Park

Who:                         Director: Don Scardino                        Scenic Designer: Allen Moyer

                                 Lighting Designer: Kenneth Posner            Costume Designer: Jane Greenwood

                                 Sound Designer: Peter Fitzgerald            Stage Managers: Diane Trulock, D. Adams

 

                        Cast:            Ellen Burstyn                                    Lucy Marsden

 

Background:

Adapted from the best-selling novel by Allan Gurganus, this heartwarming and often hilarious one-woman drama starring Ellen Burstyn chronicles the life of a Confederate captain's wife, from early courtship through the present day.

Tickets:            $19 – 50; Discounts for students, seniors and active military.

 Box Office:             (619) 239-2255

                        Mon: noon to 6:00pm

Tue – Sat: noon to 8:30pm

Sun: noon to 7:30pm

Visa, American Express, MasterCard, Discover Card accepted

 

The internationally-acclaimed, Tony Award-winning Globe Theatres produces 14 plays annually, from Shakespeare to Stoppard to Sondheim. One of the most outstanding and respected regional theaters in the country, the Globe is a gathering place for the leading theatre artists from around the world such as Nora Ephron, Hal Holbrook, Roger Rees, Cherry Jones, Daniel Sullivan, and many others. The Globe has launched many thrilling world premieres like Into the Woods, Play On!, and The Full Monty, which have gone on to successful Broadway runs. For over 65 years the Globe has been at the forefront of the nation’s leading arts institutions, setting the standard for excellence in American theater.