Marion Ross Is Joe DiPietro's Leading Lady in West Coast Premiere of The Last Romance, Opening Aug. 5 | Playbill

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News Marion Ross Is Joe DiPietro's Leading Lady in West Coast Premiere of The Last Romance, Opening Aug. 5 Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro's The Last Romance, a romantic comedy written for Marion Ross and her longtime partner Paul Michael, gets its official West Coast premiere Aug. 5, when it opens following previews from July 30, at The Old Globe's Sheryl and Harvey White Theatre in San Diego.
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Marion Ross Photo by Craig Schwartz

Performances continue to Sept. 12, representing an extension of one week. In addition to Ross and Michael, the cast of The Last Romance includes Patricia Conolly (as Rose Tagliatelle) and Joshua Jeremiah (as The Young Man). Richard Seer directs.

Here's how The Old Globe describes The Last Romance: "On an ordinary day in a routine life, an 80-year-old widower named Ralph decides to takes a different path on his daily walk — one that leads him to an unexpected second chance at love. Relying on a renewed boyish charm, Ralph attempts to woo the elegant, but distant, Carol. Defying Carol's reticence — and the jealousy of his lonely sister Rose — he embarks on the trip of a lifetime and regains a happiness that seemed all but lost."

Ross — famous for her role as Mrs. Cunningham on TV's "Happy Days" — and Michael have previously appeared on stage together in DiPietro's Over the River and Through the Woods.

The production team includes Alexander Dodge (scenic design), Charlotte Devaux (costume design), Chris Rynne (lighting design), Paul Peterson (sound design) and Lavinia Henley (stage manager).

DiPietro recently won two Tony Awards for co-writing the musical Memphis, which also received the 2010 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Musical. His other plays and musicals include I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change (the longest-running musical revue in Off Broadway history), The Toxic Avenger and The Thing About Men (both winners of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off Broadway musical), the much-produced comedy, The Art of Murder (Edgar Award winner for Best Mystery Play) and the Broadway musical All Shook Up. His drama, Creating Claire, debuted this past spring at George Street Playhouse, and his newest musical, Falling for Eve, is playing this summer at the York Theatre Company in New York City. Ross is an associate artist of The Old Globe and has appeared in numerous productions on the Globe's stages. She starred in the Broadway and national touring productions of Arsenic and Old Lace (with Jean Stapleton) and the national tour of Steel Magnolias. She also performs a one-woman show celebrating the life, loves and poetry of Edna St. Vincent Millay in A Lovely Night. Ross also starred in the acclaimed television series "Brooklyn Bridge" for which she was twice nominated for an Emmy.

Michael has appeared in 14 productions on Broadway and countless musicals, comedies and dramas on stage, television and film. His career began with the 1956 Broadway musical Bells Are Ringing starring Judy Holliday, followed by Whoop Up, 13 Daughters, Bajour, Do Re Mi, Tovarich, Breakfast at Tiffany's, Illya Darling, Fade Out, Fade In, Arturo Ui, Zorba, Man of La Mancha, Music Is and 1,000 performances as Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof throughout the country.

Conolly first appeared at The Old Globe as Rosalind in Jack O'Brien's production of As You Like It. Other Globe appearances include Mrs. Alving in Ghosts, the Fool in King Lear, Wendy in Clap Your Hands and Emilia in Othello. She recently completed a critically-acclaimed run in the Off-Broadway production of Gabriel at Atlantic Theater Company. Her many Broadway credits include Mark Twain's Is He Dead?, Waiting in the Wings, Judgment at Nuremberg, The Heiress, The Circle, The Sound of Music, A Small Family Business, Blithe Spirit, roles with the APA-Phoenix Repertory Company and The Coast of Utopia at Lincoln Center Theater.

Jeremiah was nominated for a 2010 Grammy Award in the Best Opera category for his role in John Musto's opera, Volpone. An artist with Glimmerglass Opera in their 2009 season, he performed the role of Alidoro in La Cenerentola as well as understudying John Sorel in The Consul. On the concert stage, he has most recently performed the music of Victor Herbert at Lincoln Center's Alice Tully Hall.

Director Seer has directed and/or performed on Broadway, Off Broadway, on film and television, and in over 70 productions at regional theatres in the U.S. and Great Britain. He originated the role of Young Charlie in the 1978 Tony Award-winning Broadway production of Hugh Leonard's Da. At The Old Globe, he has directed productions of The Price, Romeo and Juliet, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Trying, Fiction, Blue/Orange, All My Sons, Da and Old Wicked Songs.

Tickets can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE or by visiting the box office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park.

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Marion Ross, Patricia Conolly and Paul Michael Photo by Craig Schwartz
 
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