For Immediate Release

Onstage at Theatre Three: Talking Pictures Playing February 22 -- March 25

(Dallas, Texas) Theatre Three’s Mainstage Season of the 2006 – 2007 season continues with Horton Foote’s insightful drama-comedy, Talking Pictures. Theatre Three’s forty-sixth season features captivating dramas, exciting and innovative musicals, and hilarious comedies that celebrate the underdogs of society who fight back and make audiences stand up and cheer their efforts. Talking Pictures begins previews on Thursday, February 22, 2007 and will close on Sunday, March 25, 2007. “Son, we’re going to be all right.” – Myra in Talking Pictures The summer of 1929 in Harrison, Texas is a quiet setting for everyday hopes and dreams for an uncertain future. Myra plays live music for the local movie house, but this grass widow is facing unemployment as the “talkies” gain popularity. Her son, Pete, is charmed by his often-absent father’s empty promises and breaks Myra’s heart by declaring that he wants to live with him instead of the room at the boarding house Myra can barely afford. Myra finds romantic hope in fellow renter, Willis, but then she discovers that he is still married to a mysterious woman who has been sending her postcards. Myra also learns that the family who owns the boarding house may be moving. With such uncertainty surrounding her, Myra still has enough resolve to hope for the best of things in the most tentative of times. Talking Pictures was produced at Signature Theatre Company (James Houghton, Artistic Director; Thomas C. Proehl, Managing Director; Elliot Fox, Associate Director) in New York City, on September 23, 1994. It was directed by Carol Goodheart; the set design was by Colin D. Young; the costume design by Teresa Snider-Stein and Jonathon Green; and the lighting design was by Jeffrey S. Koger. About The Playwright: Horton Foote Often citied as one of America's most beloved dramatists, Horton Foote has shown an unmatched ability to capture the very essence of small-town life, a talent that has become the life-blood of his career since its earliest days. From his Oscar-winning and unforgettably moving adaptation of To Kill a Mockingbird (1962) to such introspective original works as Tender Mercies (1983) and The Trip to Bountiful (1985), Foote had a way of crafting characters who speak directly to the soul with honesty and sincerity. Born in Wharton, TX, Foote left home at the age of 16 to study acting. Realizing that he would likely have to relocate to the West Coast, he gained experience at the Pasadena Playhouse in California and later in New York, though the good roles still eluded him. Foote's solution to this dilemma was to write them for himself, and the actor soon discovered his true talent as a writer. His work for the stage quickly led to work in television drama, and, before he knew it, he was writing for such respected programs as Playhouse 90 and Studio One during television's Golden Age. His plays The Chase and The Trip to Bountiful proved that his unique style of small-town drama was equally effective on the stage or screen. Foote's career eventually led him to Hollywood, where his screenplays for Storm Fear (1955) and To Kill a Mockingbird began to attract serious attention. In 1966, Foote's play The Chase was adapted into a feature film starring Marlon Brando, Jane Fonda, Robert Redford, and Angie Dickinson. Foote worked sporadically through the 1960s and '70s, and, in 1983, he re-teamed with To Kill a Mockingbird actor Robert Duvall for the affecting drama Tender Mercies. Not only was the film a critical success, but it also earned Academy Awards for both its star and screenwriter. The Trip to Bountiful was adapted for the screen two years later, and found actress Geraldine Page cast in the role of an aging mother desperate to revisit the town where she grew up (which was based on Foote's hometown). Many of the writer's plays were adapted to the screen throughout the 1980s, and, in 1992, Foote adapted John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men for stars Gary Sinise and John Malkovich. As the '90s progressed, Foote worked frequently in television on such efforts as Lily Dale (1996), Old Man (1997), and Alone (also 1997). In 1999, Foote wrote an account of life in Texas, called, Farewell: A Memoir of a Texas Childhood. He created the fictional town of Harrison, TX, which he used as the locale for many of his plays. The first two installments of his autobiography, Farewell, and Beginnings, were published in 1999 and 2001, respectively. Foote was honored with the William Inge Award for Lifetime Achievement in the American Theatre in 1989, a Gold Medal for Drama from the Academy of Arts and Letters in 1998, the Writer's Guild of America's Lifetime Achievement award in 1999, and the PEN American Center's Master American Dramatist Award in 2000. About Theatre Three: Theatre Three was founded in 1961 by Norma Young, Jac Alder, Esther Ragland, and Robert Dracup with a clear mission: To PRODUCE a wide range of literature for the state, ILLUMINATE the ideas and emotions the author intends to express, SUPPORT the preservation and growth of the spoken and written word, CREATE a workplace where area theatre artists can realize their potential, PROMOTE theatre as an experience for all peoples, and SERVE the immediate and larger community with good theatre art.

For Further Information Contact: To Contact Theatre Three: By post: 2800 Routh Street, Suite 168, Dallas, Texas 75201 By phone: 214-871-3300 By fax: 214-871-3139 By email: admin@theatre3dallas.com By web: www.theatre3dallas.com