Michael Learned to Lead Philadelphia Theatre Company's MOTHERS AND SONS

Philadelphia Theatre Company has announced that actress Michael Learned will be featured in the upcoming production of Mothers and Sons by Terrence McNally and directed by Wendy C. Goldberg, running February 6-March 8.

In Mothers and Sons, a woman pays an unexpected visit to the apartment of her late son's partner, who is now married to another man and has a young son. This eloquent, timely, and intensely resonant play is a moving reflection on a changed America and the ever-evolving understanding of family.

Michael Learned is best known for her role as Olivia Walton in the long-running CBS drama series, The Waltons, for which she was nominated for six Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, winning three times. She also received two more Emmy nominations for her starring role in Nurse, winning one additional Award. She is also a Peoples' Choice Award winner and four-time Golden Globe nominee. Learned has appeared on Broadway in The Best Man and The Sisters Rosenzweig. Other theater appearances include Driving Miss Daisy at both the New Theatre and The Rubicon, One Slight Hitch at the Falcon Theatre, Elizabeth the Queen at the Folger Shakespeare Library, and All Over at both The Gramercy Theatre and McCarter Theatre. West Coast premieres include Woman in Mind and Hapgood, both for American Conservatory Theatre, where she has been involved as a leading lady since 1967, Mary Stuart and Picnic at the Ahmanson, A Month in the Country at Mark Taper Forum, and Looking for Normal at the Geffen Playhouse. Recently she appeared in Delaware Theatre Company's productions of The Outgoing Tide, which then moved Off-Broadway, and Love Letters.

Wendy C. Goldberg has been Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill National Playwrights Conference for ten seasons. Under her tenure, the O'Neill was awarded the 2010 Regional Tony Award, the first play development and education organization to receive this honor. In addition, Goldberg has overseen the development of more than 70 projects for the stage, many of which have gone on to great acclaim with productions in New York and around the country. Goldberg had previously served as Artistic Associate at Arena Stage for five seasons, where she created the theater's new play initiatives and led them from their inception through 2005. She is also an award-winning director whose credits include multiple productions at Arena Stage, the Guthrie Theater, Goodman Theatre, Denver Center Theatre Company, Alliance Theatre, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Actors Theater of Louisville, Signature Theater, Paper Mill Playhouse, and Off-Broadway at Ars Nova, The Daryl Roth 2 Theatre, and McGinn Cazale Theatre. She is represented on Broadway as Creative Advisor to the long-running Rock of Ages.

PTC's 40th Anniversary season continues with brownsville song (b-side for tray) by Kimber Lee (May 1-May 31), co-produced with the Long Wharf Theatre; and the Off-Broadway hit musical Murder for Two with book and music by Joe Kinosian and book and lyrics by Kellen Blair (June 6-June 28).

Founded in 1974, Philadelphia Theatre Company is a leading regional theatre company that produces, develops and presents entertaining and imaginative contemporary theatre focused on the American experience. By developing new work through commissions, readings and workshops, PTC generates a national impact and reaches broad regional audiences. Under the guidance of PTC's Executive Producing Director, Sara Garonzik, since 1982 and Executive Managing Director Priscilla M. Luce, who joined the leadership team in early April of 2013, PTC supports the work of a growing body of diverse dramatists and takes pride in being a home to many nationally recognized artists who have participated in more than 140 world and Philadelphia premieres. PTC has received 53 Barrymore Awards and 169 nominations.