FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

TONY AND EMMY AWARD-WINNER JANE ALEXANDER AND TONY AWARD-WINNER

LEN CARIOU STAR IN GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE’S

WORLD PREMIERE OF NEIL SIMON’S

“ROSE AND WALSH”

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DAVID ESBJORNSON DIRECTS

DAVID AARON BAKER AND MARIN HINKLE CO-STAR

JANUARY 28 – MARCH 9, 2003

LOS ANGELES, CA – December 31, 2002 – Geffen Playhouse’s Producing Director Gil Cates proudly announces the cast for the world premiere of Neil Simon’s Rose and Walsh. David Esbjornson, the acclaimed director of The Goat or Who is Silvia?, will direct this world premiere event. Rose and Walsh tells the story of two famous writers and the consequences of their enduring love. Tony and Emmy Award-winner and four-time Academy Award-nominee Jane Alexander will play Rose opposite Tony Award-winner Len Cariou as Walsh. Also featured are Marin Hinkle as Arlene, Rose’s assistant and confidant, and David Aaron Baker as Clancy, a young writer.

Gil Cates comments, “We are pleased to welcome Neil Simon back to the Geffen and couldn’t be more thrilled to have Jane Alexander and Len Cariou, two extraordinary actors, bringing to life the roles of Rose and Walsh. They are supported by excellent co-stars, a top-notch director and an award-winning design team.”

Rose and Walsh begins performances on Tuesday, January 28, and runs through Sunday, March 9, 2003, with an official press opening on Wednesday, February 5, 2003. Tickets are currently on sale. Biographies for the Rose and Walsh cast and creative team follow at the end of the release.

The Rose and Walsh creative team includes the Tony Award-winning John Arnone (Scenic Design), Elizabeth Hope Clancy (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), Jon Gottlieb (Sound Design) and Elsbeth M. Collins (Production Stage Manager).

Geffen Playhouse is headed by Producing Director Gilbert Cates, Artistic Director Randall Arney and Managing Director Stephen Eich.

Rose and Walsh plays at Geffen Playhouse, located at 10886 Le Conte Avenue in Westwood. Tickets can be purchased directly at the Geffen box office, by calling the box office at (310) 208-5454 or by visiting the Geffen’s website at www.geffenplayhouse.com. Single ticket prices range from $28 to $46. The performance schedule is Tuesdays - Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays at 8:00 p.m.; Saturdays at 4:00 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.; and Sundays at 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.

ROSE AND WALSH BIOGRAPHIES

NEIL SIMON (Playwright) is the recipient of three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, a Screen Writers Guild Award and a Pulitzer Prize. He has had his plays adapted to film more than any other American playwright and has written over a dozen screenplays himself. He received Academy Award nominations for his screenplays The Odd Couple, The Sunshine Boys and California Suite. Mr. Simon’s first Broadway play was Come Blow Your Horn in 1961, followed by the book for the musical Little Me. In the 1966-67 season, Mr. Simon had four shows, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple (Tony Award), Sweet Charity (for which he wrote the book) and The Star Spangled Girl, running simultaneously on Broadway. In 1983, Simon wrote the first of three semi-autobiographical works: Brighton Beach Memoirs, followed by Biloxi Blues (Tony Award) and Broadway Bound. His Lost In Yonkers arrived on Broadway in 1991 and won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama as well as the Tony Award for Best Play. Simon’s other plays include Rumors, Jake’s Women, Laughter on the 23^rd Floor, Proposals, The Dinner Party and 45 Seconds From Broadway.

DAVID ESBJORNSON (Director) most recently staged the off-Broadway production of Tuesdays With Morrie. He also recently staged the New York premiere of Edward Albee’s The Goat or Who is Silvia? at Broadway’s Golden Theater and the critically-acclaimed New York premiere of Albee’s The Play About the Baby. In addition, he was Tony nominated for Arthur Miller’s The Ride Down Mt. Morgan. Mr. Esbjornson directed the world premieres of Suzan-Lori Parks’ In the Blood for the Public Theatre, Tony Kushner’s Homebody/Kabul for Chelsea Center in London and Kushner’s Angels in America. Other recent credits include Israel Horovitz’s My Old Lady for Mark Taper Forum; the Maria Irene Fornes plays Mud and Drowning for the Signature Theatre; Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hedda Gabler and Summer and Smoke for the Guthrie Theatre; and the musical Eliot Ness in Cleveland for the Cleveland Playhouse. Mr. Esbjornson was Artistic Director of New York’s Classic Stage Company from 1992-1999 (Lucille Lortel Award for Body of Work 1999) where he directed many productions including Thérèse Raquin, Endgame, Iphigenia and Other Daughters, The Entertainer and Entertaining Mr. Sloane.

JANE ALEXANDER (Rose) made her Broadway debut in The Great White Hope, for which she won Tony, OBIE and Drama Desk Awards. She reprised her role in the 1970 film version, playing opposite James Earl Jones, and earned an Academy Award nomination in the process. Ms. Alexander has performed over 100 stage roles throughout her career. Her other Tony-nominated roles include performances in Honour, The Sisters Rosensweig, The Visit, First Monday in October, Find Your Way Home and 6 Rms Riv Vu. She also appeared as Joy Davidson in Shadowlands, opposite Nigel Hawthorne, both on Broadway and the West End. She is a four-time Academy Award-nominee for her roles in the films Testament, Kramer Vs. Kramer, All the President’s Men and The Great White Hope and has appeared in over 45 films including Sunshine State, The Ring, Cider House Rules and Brubaker. On television, she won an Emmy for the movie Playing For Time and played Eleanor Roosevelt in the two Emmy-winning dramas, Eleanor and Franklin and Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years. Ms. Alexander was chairperson of the National Endowment of the Arts from 1993-1997.

DAVID AARON BAKER (Clancy) has appeared on Broadway in The Rainmaker, Once Upon a Mattress, The Moliére Comedies, White Liars/Black Comedy, 110 in the Shade and Wonderful Town. His off-Broadway credits include Glory of Living, Hobson’s Choice, Ancestral Voices, Bosoms and Neglect, Blue Window, Oblivion Postponed and Durang Durang. David appears in the upcoming film Two Weeks Notice and also appeared in Kissing Jessica Stein, The Tao of Steve, Other Voices and Getting to Know You. He played the role of Marcellus in Disney’s The Music Man and has appeared on The Practice, Law & Order, Sex in the City and Spin City.

LEN CARIOU (Walsh) is a Tony Award-winner for his performance in the title role of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street. A Tony-nominee for Applause and A Little Night Music, his other Broadway credits include Nightwatch, Cold Storage, Teddy & Alice, Dance a Little Closer, The Speed of Darkness, The Dinner Party and, most recently, Broadway’s Proof. He starred as Niels Bohr in the National Broadway Tour of Copenhagen. His film credits include the forthcoming About Schmidt with Jack Nicholson and One Man, The Four Seasons, Executive Decision and Thirteen Days. On television, Mr. Cariou has guest-starred on The Practice, The West Wing, Law & Order and The Outer Limits and played recurring roles on Murder, She Wrote and Swift Justice. His classical stage repertoire includes the title roles in King Lear, Oedipus the King, Macbeth, Cyrano de Bergerac and Coriolanus. He is the former Artistic Director of the Manitoba Theater Center and former Associate Director of the Guthrie Theatre.

MARIN HINKLE (Arlene) most recently appeared in The Fourth Sister, directed by Lisa Peterson, at the Vineyard Theatre. She appeared on Broadway in Electra, A Thousand Clowns and The Tempest. Her off-Broadway credits include A Dybbuk, Blue Window, Henry VIII, The Changeling, Sabina and Slavs!. Regionally, she has appeared at Williamstown, Long Wharf Theatre, Center Stage and Berkshire Theatre. Ms. Hinkle appeared as Judy Brooks on Once and Again and as a guest star on Law & Order and Spin City. Film credits include I Am Sam, Frequency, I’m Not Rappaport and Angie.

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