NYU Grad Snags Choice Subject Was Roses Role Opposite Pullman and Ivey | Playbill

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News NYU Grad Snags Choice Subject Was Roses Role Opposite Pullman and Ivey Steve Kazee, a recent graduate of New York University's Graduate Acting Program, will play the ex-soldier son in the new 2006 production of The Subject Was Roses, with previously announced Judith Ivey and Bill Pullman as his feuding folks.

Jeffrey Finn Productions is behind the revival of the award-winning 1964 drama by Frank D. Gilroy, directed by Leonard Foglia and presented at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.

Finn, Foglia and the Kennedy Center were key ingredients in the 2004 staging of On Golden Pond that moved to Broadway and earned Tony Award nominations in 2005.

Kazee was the missing piece in the Roses casting until the Dec. 7 announcement.

The Tony Award-winning and Pulitzer Prize-honored play will run Jan. 7–29, 2006, at the Kennedy Center's Eisenhower Theatre. The staging opens Jan. 12.

The role of Timmy Cleary has been a launchpad for talented young actors; the part was originated in 1964 by a then-unknown Martin Sheen. In addition to his Broadway debut in the current Seascape, for which he is an understudy, Kazee has appeared Off-Broadway in As You Like It at The New York Shakespeare Festival and been featured in the Williamstown Theatre Festival productions of Cabaret and Main and Eurydice. Here's how Jeffrey Finn Productions characterizes the play: "After serving in World War II, Timmy Cleary (Kazee) returns home to find his parents (Pullman and Ivey) are strangers — to him and each other. When Timmy insists his father take credit for roses he bought his mother, long-hidden resentments rise to the surface, as this attempted act of kindness instead becomes the epicenter of domestic warfare. When the deception is uncovered, the tenuous ties still holding them together begin to unravel and each person's doubts — about marriage, family values and Timmy's achievements overseas — threaten to destroy any hope for reunion. This new production intimately explores a family in crisis while echoing the experiences of a contemporary society at war."

Bill Pullman's starred in Edward Albee's Tony Award-winning The Goat, or Who Is Sylvia? and the films "Independence Day" and "Sleepless in Seattle." Two-time Tony Award winner Judith Ivey is known for Hurlyburly, Follies and TV's "Designing Women."

Director Leonard Foglia scored a hit with Terrence McNally's Master Class on Broadway.

The Subject Was Roses, a 1965 Tony Award winner for Best Play, was made into an 1968 Oscar-winning film, with a screenplay Frank D. Gilroy adapted from his own play.

The fresh production will feature an award-winning Broadway design team, including sets by two-time Obie Award winner Neil Patel ('night Mother, Side Man), costumes by Tony Award winner Jess Goldstein (The Rivals, Henry IV), lighting by Tony Award winner Donald Holder (The Lion King, Movin' Out) and sound by Obie Award winner David Van Tieghem (Doubt, Frozen).

The Subject Was Roses had its Broadway premiere on May 25, 1964 at The Royale Theatre. Starring Jack Albertson, Irene Dailey and Martin Sheen, it was directed by Ulu Grosbard. It went on to play 832 performances (and moved to four additional theatres during its lengthy run: The Winthrop Ames, The Helen Hayes, Henry Miller’s Theatre and The Belasco).

In the 1968 film version, Jack Albertson and Martin Sheen recreated their stage roles and Patricia Neal played Nettie. At the 1969 Academy Awards, Neal was nominated for Best Leading Actress and Albertson won for Best Featured Actor.

Performances will be Tuesday through Sunday evenings at 7:30 PM with matinee performances on Saturday and Sunday afternoons at 1:30 PM. Tickets ranging from $25 to $78 are on sale now.

Call (202) 467-4600 or visit www.kennedy-center.org.

 
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