A Staged Reading
on the Francis J. Greenburger Mainstage
by A.R. Gurney
Directed by Ciarán O’Reilly
Starring Matthew Broderick and Talia Balsam
September 5 – 8, 2023
A Pulitzer Prize finalist for Drama, A.R Gurney’s Love Letters is a two-hander drama comprised of letters exchanged between two friends over a lifetime. Andrew and Melissa, both born into wealth and position, begin their correspondence in childhood with birthday party thank-you notes. Their letters continue through their boarding school and college years while they are romantically attached and later through their individual marriages and careers. As the actors read the letters aloud, an evocative, touching, frequently funny, but always telling pair of character studies is revealed, where what is implied is as revealing and affecting as what is written down.
Directed by John Tillinger, Love Letters opened with Kathleen Turner and John Rubenstein on March 27, 1989, at the Off-Broadway Promenade Theatre, which ran for 64 performances. The play was performed only on Sunday and Monday evenings and changed its cast weekly. On October 31 of that same year, a production opened at the Edison Theatre on Broadway, where it ran for 96 performances. It opened with Colleen Dewhurst and Jason Robards. Other performers paired in the Broadway production included Lynn Redgrave and John Clark, Stockard Channing, and John Rubinstein, and Timothy Hutton and Elizabeth McGovern.
READ THE PERFORMANCE PROGRAM HERE
Matthew Broderick made his stage debut at 17 in Horton Foote’s On Valentine’s Day opposite his father, James Broderick. Off-Broadway: Torch Song Trilogy (OCC, Villager Award), The Widow Claire. He has appeared twice at Irish Rep in The Seafarer and Shining City (combined Obie Award with Evening at the Talk House at The New Group in 2017). Broadway: Brighton Beach Memoirs (Tony, OCC, Theatre World awards), Biloxi Blues, How to Succeed in Business… (Tony, DD, OCC awards), Night Must Fall, Taller Than a Dwarf, The Producers (Tony, DD, OCC nominations), The Foreigner, The Philanthropist, The Odd Couple, Nice Work If You Can Get It, It’s Only a Play, and Plaza Suite. Films include: Max Dugan Returns, WarGames, 1918, On Valentine’s Day, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, Project X, Ladyhawke, Biloxi Blues, Glory, Family Business, The Freshman, The Lion King, Infinity, The Cable Guy, Addicted to Love, Election, You Can Count on Me, The Last Shot, Marie and Bruce, Wonderful World, The Producers, Bee Movie, Tower Heist, Rules Don’t Apply, Margaret, Manchester By The Sea, No Hard Feelings. Can currently be seen in: Only Murders in the Building. Coming soon: Painkiller for Netflix.
Talia Balsam has had memorable turns in Film, TV and Theatre. In the television world, Talia is coming off a series regular role, opposite Sarah Jessica Parker, on HBO’s Divorce. Prior to that, for seven years, Talia played ‘Mona Sterling,’ Roger Sterling’s wife, on Mad Men for AMC. Later this year, Talia will be seen in the Amazon TV series Wilderness created by Marnie Dickens. Talia can be seen starring opposite Julianne Moore in Intersection which made its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. It is one of 13 short films that comprise the anthology, With/In, which were each shot during the Covid-19 pandemic. The film ruminates on themes of isolation as well as the value of family and human connection. Talia has great supporting turns in Amazon film’s Master opposite Regina Hall, in Worth on Netflix with Michael Keaton, and in David Chase’s The Many Saints of Newark. Talia has received rave reviews for her lead role in Hilary Brougher’s South Mountain which premiered with many accolades at SXSW. She can also be seen in Michael Angelo Covino’s critically acclaimed The Climb which premiered at Cannes Film Festival and won the Heart Prize and Jury Coup de Coeur. Other film credits of Talia’s include Ira Sach’s Little Men, Don’t Worry Baby, Return, No Strings Attached, The Wackness, Cake Eaters, and All The Kings’s Men. Some theater credits include: Good Television (Atlantic Theater Company) and Jake’s Women (Broadway). Talia resides in NYC and is with Gersh and Circle of Confusion.
