Christian Oth
Editor’s note: Ten Chimneys Foundation has announced that Olympia Dukakis’s March 24 conversation at American Players Theatre has been cancelled. Please call Ten Chimneys Foundation at (262) 968-4110 with questions.
Olympia Dukakis, the legendary actress of stage and screen, will appear at American Players Theatre on Thursday, March 24.
At ease on both the classic and contemporary stage, Dukakis may best be known to audiences from her appearances in films such as Steel Magnolias, Mr. Holland’s Opus, and Moonstruck, for which she earned an Oscar and Golden Globe award. (She also lent her voice to Grandpa’s girlfriend in an episode of The Simpson’s.) Michael Dukakis, the 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, is a cousin.
At her APT appearance, she will share anecdotes about her life and career, and will answer questions from the audience. It’s the first in a conversation series produced by Ten Chimneys Foundation, which cares for the Ten Chimneys estate in Genessee Depot. Broadway, film and television star Jason Alexander, who played George on Seinfeld, will conduct a similar audience conversation at Ten Chimneys on June 24.
A working museum and National Historic Landmark, Ten Chimneys was home to Wisconsin native Alfred Lunt (1892-1977) and his wife Lynn Fontanne (1887-1983). Lunt and Fontanne are widely considered the greatest acting couple in the history of American theater. Their performance of Taming of the Shrew opened Madison’s Union Theater in 1939.
As she did in 2011, Dukakis is conducting a private master class at Ten Chimneys March 20-27, as part of the Lunt-Fontanne Fellowship Program.
“We are very excited that Ten Chimneys approached us to hold this conversation with Olympia Dukakis at APT,” says the Spring Green company’s artistic director, Brenda DeVita. “I can't wait to introduce Olympia to APT and especially to our amazing audience.”
“I greatly appreciate American Players Theatre’s contribution to our theater community. I’m looking forward to introducing Olympia, and her exciting life in the theater, to their audience,” says Randy Bryant, president and CEO of Ten Chimneys Foundation. “I’m happy our first ‘Ten Chimneys Foundation Presents’ conversation is with American Players Theatre. What a wonderful place to begin.”
Dukakis will appear in APT’s Touchstone Theatre at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 24. Tickets are $50. For more information, or to make reservations, call the Ten Chimneys Foundation at 262-968-4110.
