Piper's
Opera House Presents :
Olympia Dukakis
Saturday July 19th 3 - 5PM
Olympia Dukakishas agreed to assist Piper's Opera House in restoration efforts by graciously appearing for a Meet and Greet Campaign Fund Raiser July 19th 3 pm to 5 pm... she will be discussing her rendition of Wm. Shakespeare's Tempest soon to appear on Broadway and her latest books... you may participate in this fund raiser with picture and autograph opportunities
During
a career that spans over 35 years, Olympia Dukakis has worked as
an actress, director, producer, teacher, and activist. She received an
Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category, the New York Film
Critics Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, and the Golden Globe
Award for her work in the Norman Jewison film "Moonstruck."
Her heart though, has long been in the theatre. Dukakis
has received two OBIE Awards for Bertolt Brecht's "A Man's A Man"
and Christopher Durang's "The Marriage of Bette and Boo" at
Joseph Papp's Public Theatre. Other notable appearances at the Public
include Sam Shepard's "Curse of the Starving Class," "Titus
Andronicus", "Electra," and "Peer Gynt."
Dukakis made her London debut in 1999 on stage at the Royal
National Theatre in Martin Sherman's one-woman play "Rose" to
rave reviews. Dukakis then opened "Rose" on Broadway
at the Lyceum Theatre in the spring of 2000. She also made her debut on
British television (BBC) in a made-for-TV movie "A Life for A Life."
Prior to Rose, Dukakis was last seen on Broadway in "Social
Security" directed by Mike Nichols. Her other Broadway credits include
"Who's Who in Hell," "The Aspern Papers, ""Abraham
Cochrane," and" Night of the Iguana." She continues to
actively create and develop theatre projects. They include work with Shakespeare
and Company on "Lear and Her Daughters," the company Voices
of Earth, the new adaptation of "Hecuba" by Timberlake Wertenbaker
at ACT in San Francisco, and Singer's Boy by Leslie Ayvazaian at ACT.
Olympia
Dukakis As a founding member and Producing Artistic Director of the
World Theatre in Montclair, NJ for 19 years (1971-1990), she directed
and appeared in many productions, winning accolades time and again. In
1992, Olympia Dukakis became the proud recipient of the New Jersey
Governor's Walt Whitman Creative Acts Award.
Olympia Dukakis has appeared in over 125 productions Off-Broadway
and regionally. She taught acting in the graduate school at New York University
for fifteen years, and currently teaches master classes at various universities
and colleges throughout the country.
Recent film releases include" Better Living," "A
Match Made in Heaven" with John Stamos and Della Reese for CBS, "Picture
Perfect" with Jennifer Aniston and Kevin bacon, and "Mafia!
" for Disney. Other feature film releases include "Mr. Holland's
Opus, with Richard Dreyfus, Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite,"
"I Love Trouble" with Nick Nolte and Julia Roberts, "Dead
Badge," "The Haunted Heart" with Diane Ladd, "Digger"
co-starring Leslie Nielsen and "Look Who's Talking Now!" with
John Travolta and Kirstie Alley. Audiences continue to seek out videos
of "The Cemetery Club," "Steel Magnolias," "Dad,"
and "Look Who's Talking."
On television, Dukakis starred in "Tales of the City,"
a 6-hour mini-series based on the novel by Armistead Maupin, and was a
controversial ratings blockbuster for PBS. She went on to star in the
sequels "More Tales of the City", and "Further Tales of
the City" (Showtime) for which she earned Emmy, Screen Actors Guild,
and BAFTA nominations. She starred with Frank Sinatra and Dukakis' real-life
husband Louis Zorich in "Young at Heart" on CBS (Emmy nomination).
Other TV movie projects include "Scattering Dad" with Andy Griffith,
"A Century of Women" a 6-hour mini-series for TBS, "Fire
in the Dark" for CBS, "Luck Day" co-starring Amy Madigan
for ABC (Emmy nomination), "The Last Act is a Solo" for Nederlander
Television for which she received an ACE Award, and "Sinatra,"
a mini-series for CBS in which Olympia Dukakis portrayed Frank Sinatra's
mother (Emmy nomination).
She
is a founding member of The National Museum of Women in the Arts and is
a member of several outstanding organizations including Broadway Cares,
NOW, Women in Film, Congress of Racial Equality, and Amnesty International.
Rooted in this social commitment, her lecture presentations look
at life as a journey of growth and possibility and include dramatic readings
that showcase her remarkable talent. Whether addressing the richness of
life after 50, the immigrant experience in America, or the thought-provoking
relationship between maternal and environmental concerns, her moving performances
inspire audiences to reach for new and exciting heights.
Olympia Dukakis' Programs include:
- A Life in The Theater
- Women's Issues
- The Richness of Life after Fifty
- The Immigrant Experience: Diversity in America