Martin Sheen returns to Frank D. Gilroy’s Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play “The Subject Was Roses”.
In 1964, the play brought Sheen a Tony Award nomination and this time around he joins Frances Conroy and Brian Geraghty. The news was announced by Center Theatre Group Artistic Director Michael Ritchie.
Replacing the previously announced “Speed-the-Plow” by David Mamet as the first production in the Taper’s 2010 season at the Los Angeles Music Center, February 10 through March 21, 2010, “The Subject Was Roses” is set to open February 21.
“The Subject Was Roses” is presented at the Taper in association with Estevez Sheen Productions.
Michael Ritchie said, “Martin and I had been talking for some time about doing ‘The Subject Was Roses,’ and when it appeared that the timing for the production was perfect for the opening slot in the new Taper season, I was pleased that we could move quickly.” He continued with, “set in 1946 during World War II, this is a timeless, important play with characters so rich and believable that your heart goes out to them, wishing they could break out of old family patterns. These are people we can all identify with. It makes for compelling theatre.”
Designing the sets for the play will be Walt Spangler. The costumes will be designed by Laura Bauer and lighting by Rui Rita. Obadiah Eaves is the composer and Cricket S. Myers is the sound designer. Serving as the production stage manager is David S. Franklin.
The Subject Was Roses
The play tells a heartfelt and honest story of a father, mother, and son whose complex and strained family dynamic becomes sadly clear after the son returns from a three-year stint in the army.
In 1965, “The Subject Was Roses” received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Tony Award for Best Play, as well as the Outer Critics Circle Award and New York Drama Critics Circle Award.
Martin Sheen portrayed the son in the original Broadway production and he also appeared in the 1968 film version. In this Taper production, he will play the father, with Frances Conroy playing the mother and Brian Geraghty playing the son. Directing this production of the play is Neil Pepe.
Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen is perhaps best known for his performance as President Josiah Bartlett in the acclaimed NBC-TV series “The West Wing.” The role has brought Sheen six Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor. Also for his role as Captain Willard in the legendary film “Apocalypse Now.”
Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Oliver Stone, Richard Attenborough, Terrence Malick and Mike Nichols are just a few of the most prominent directors Martin Sheen has worked for. Among many others, his films include “Catch-22,” “That Certain Summer,” “Badlands,” “The Execution of Private Slovik,” “Gandhi,” “Wall Street,” “JFK,” “The American President,” “The Departed,” “Bobby” and “Catch Me If You Can.”
Frances Conroy
As the undertaker’s widow in the cult HBO series “Six Feet Under,” Frances Conroy recieved three Emmy Award nominations. She is a veteran stage actress whose Broadway credits include Arthur Miller’s “The Ride Down Mr. Morgan” (Tony Award nomination and an Outer Critics Circle Award), Miller’s “The Last Yankee” (Obie Award), Edward Albee’s “The Lady From Dubuque” and “Three Tall Women,” and David Hare’s “The Secret Rapture” (Drama Desk nomination).
For Center Theatre Group, she has appeared in “The Dinner Party” at the Taper and “Pyrenees” at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. Her numerous films include “Manhattan,” “Crimes and Misdemeanors,” “The Aviator,” and “Scent of a Woman.” She is scheduled to appear in the upcoming “Stone” by John Curran, playing Robert DeNiro’s wife and Shane Dax Taylor’s “Provinces of Night” playing Kris Kristofferson’s wife.
Brian Geraghty
Brian Geraghty starred in the critically-acclaimed film “The Hurt Locker” and also has had roles in “Love Lies Bleeding,” “We Are Marshall,” “The Guardian,” “Bobby” and “When a Stranger Calls,” and more. Geraghty is a graduate of The Neighborhood Playhouse of Theatre in New York. He has also appeared on television in HBO’s “The Last of the Ninth” and “The Sopranos,” and on “Ed” and “Law & Order.”
Frank D. Gilroy
After serving in World War II and receiving his education at Dartmouth and the Yale School of Drama, playwright, Frank D. Gilroy began writing for television for such programs as “Playhouse 90,” “Studio One” and “The U.S. Steel Hour,” among others. Awarded the Obie Award for the Best American Play off-Broadway, “Who’ll Save the Plowboy?” at New York’s Phoenix Theatre was Gilroy’s first stage play. “The Subject Was Roses” was next, followed by his other Broadway plays: “That Summer – That Fall,” “The Only Game in Town,” “Last Licks” and “Any Given Day.” His films include “Desperate Characters,” “From Noon Till Three” and “Once in Paris,” among others.
Neil Pepe
Neil Pepe is known to Center Theatre Group audiences for his direction of David Mamet’s “Romance” (Taper), “Keep Your Pantheon,” and “The Duck Variations” (Kirk Douglas Theatre). He is the Artistic Director of the Atlantic Theater Company, where he directed Ethan Coen’s “Almost an Evening,” David Mamet’s “American Buffalo” starring William H. Macy (also Donmar Warehouse, London), Harold Pinter’s “Celebration and The Room,” “Milos” by John Guare,” Tom Donaghy’s “The Beginning of August” (also South Coast Repertory), and Howard Korder’s “Sea of Tranquility,” among many others. He made his Broadway debut last season with the hit revival of Mamet’s “Speed-the-Plow.”
Play Information
Tickets for “The Subject Was Roses” are on sale January 5, 2010, and can be purchased by calling CTG Audience Services at (213) 628-2772, online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org, or in person at the CTG box office located at the Ahmanson Theatre at the Music Center.
