Elizabeth Ashley To Be Interviewed At NYPL 1/24

On Monday, January 24th at 6pm producer/director Rick McKay, the award-winning filmmaker responsible for the "Broadway: The Golden Age" films, will interview Tony Award-winning actress Elizabeth Ashley at the Bruno Walter Auditorium at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts (65th Street and Amsterdam Avenue). In addition to multiple film and television roles, Ms. Ashley is known for her Tony-nominated stage performances as Corie in the original Broadway production of Neil Simon's Barefoot in the Park (1963) and, later, for her defiantly sexual Maggie in a successful Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams' Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1974). She received a Tony Award for her performance in George Abbott's Take Her, She's Mine.

Admission to the Oral History interview is free; LPTW members may reserve seats by emailing history@theatrewomen.org or by phone at 888-297-3117. Seating for the general public is first come, first served. Past Oral History Projects have featured interviews with Kathleen Turner, Carole Shelley, Marge Champion, Frances Sternhagen, Mary Rodgers, Susan Hilferty, Jennifer Von Mayrhauser, Elaine Stritch, Betty Comden, Estelle Parsons, Zoe Caldwell, Jane Alexander, Ruby Dee and Kitty Carlisle Hart.

The ongoing Edith Meiser Oral History Project chronicles and documents the contributions of significant theatre women in many fields. Interviews with such outstanding women are videotaped and housed in the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. This project is made possible by a generous grant from the Edith Meiser Foundation.

Detailed biographies follow, as well as a listing of other upcoming LPTW events.

Elizabeth Ashley, a true original, started her career with a bang - and a Tony Award - in George Abbott's TAKE HER, SHE'S MINE, and continued her streak with Neil Simon's BAREFOOT IN THE PARK opposite the then-unknown Robert Redford. She appeared in several Hollywood films in the 60's and 70's including SHIP OF FOOLS, COMA, VAMPIRE'S KISS and THE CARPETBAGGERS, and has played in numerous television shows. Elizabeth has risen high again with a string of highly-lauded roles, the most memorable of which, in the mid-seventies, was Maggie the Cat in Tennessee Williams' CAT ON A HOT TIN ROOF. While many know her best from her early 90's sitcom EVENING SHADE, fans in New York and around the country have had the special thrill of seeing her in a number of roles over the last few decades. She was admired for her outstanding performance in DIVIDING THE ESTATE followed by a stirring and unforgettable turn in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. Most recently she created a role in Edward Albee's latest play, ME, MYSELF & I. She appears regularly in the acclaimed HBO television series, TREME. Elizabeth's 1978 memoir, "Actress: Postcards from he Road" became a best seller. She was a founding member of the Board of Directors of the American Film Institute while serving on the first National Council of the Arts during the administrations of Presidents Kennedy and Johnson, and has also served on the President's Committee for the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Awards.

Rick McKay lives in New York City and is the award-winning Producer/Director/Writer/Cinematographer of the hit film "Broadway: The Golden Age." For five seasons he was a segment producer on WNET13's City Arts, the most honored, locally produced show in television history, which won over 30 Emmy awards. Rick also produced the first story commissioned for the critically successful national series Egg: The Arts Show, garnering another two Emmy nominations as well as helping to create the opening segment of two recent national Tony Awards broadcasts. Rick is also the sole owner and proprietor of Second ACT Productions, the Production Company that made the feature film "Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There." "Broadway: The Golden Age" has won over 15 film festival awards to date, is on 17 critics' Top Ten Films of 2004 lists and was a hit in theaters around the country. Rick was honored at the Sundance Film Festival by PBS and inducted into the PBS Producers Academy, as one of their "best and brightest documentary producer/directors" for his continuing independent film and television work. Rick has also been honored with the "Special Contribution to Film" Award from the Stonybrook Film Festival, the "Limelight Award" from Ojai Film Festival, the "Contribution to Theatre Preservation Award" from the New York Theatre Museum, the "New England Theatre Conference's Legend award and an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Five Towns College, who honored McKay, Michael Feinstein and Sheldon Harnick at a special ceremony on their Long Island campus.

UPCOMING PUBLIC EVENTS:

FEB. 10th LEADERSHIP LUNCHEON WITH Arielle Tepper MADOVER
Producer Arielle Tepper Madover, whose productions have garnered 76 Tony and 35 Olivier Award nominations, will be the keynote speaker at the LPTW's annual Leadership Luncheon, from noon - 2pm at Sardi's restaurant. Tickets are available by phone at 1-800-838-3006 (Event code: 141504) or online at http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/141504.

2011 LPTW NEW PLAY FESTIVAL MARCH 7th AT NEW WORLD STAGES
The LPTW will celebrate SWAN Day with their annual New Play Festival, to take place at New World Stages on March 7, 2011. The 11 playwrights whose original short works have been selected for the 2011 New Play Festival are: Kitty Chen, Glenda Frank, Leah Kornfeld Friedman, Fengar Gael, Elizabeth Hess, Andrea Lepcio, Robin Rice Lichtig, Susan Merson, Robin Rothstein, Deborah Savadge and Laura Shamas. Support Women Artists Now Day/SWAN Day (www.SwanDay.org) is an annual celebration of the diversity, beauty and power of women's creativity. Further details to be announced.

Photo credit: Pat Cerasaro