For Immediate Release

Onstage at Theatre Three: The Goodbye Girl December 13, 2007 - January 20, 2008

(Dallas, Texas) Theatre Three’s Mainstage Season of the 2007 – 2008 season continues with the musical, The Goodbye Girl by Neil Simon, Marvin Hamlisch, and David Zippel. Theatre Three’s forty-seventh season features plays and musicals celebrating the making of movies, plays that became famous movies, and plays that re-examine fascinating screen ideas with the techniques of live performance -- a cavalcade of entertaining mysteries, comedies, dramas, and musicals – and all in 3-D on Theatre Three’s famous theatre-in-the-round stage. The Goodbye Girl begins previews on Thursday, December 13, 2007 and will close on Sunday, January 20, 2008. “Paula, if you haven’t learned your lesson by now, you never will. There’s only one thing an actor wants in this life. A good exit line.” – Paula McFadden in The Goodbye Girl. Paula McFadden is a dancer struggling to make ends meet and raise her precocious daughter, Lucy, on her own. After the actor she lives with dumps her for a film role, Paula decides she is finished with love (and actors) and starts trying to find dancing work. Late one night, there’s a knock at her door. It’s Elliot, another actor hoping to make it big in New York City, and he gives Paula some very bad news: her ex-boyfriend has subleased the apartment to him. Paula and Lucy can continue to live in the apartment with him, but only if they agree to live by his rules. Paula and Elliot agree to an uneasy truce when a surprising romantic relationship develops. About The Playwright: Neil Simon, Marvin Hamlisch, and David Zippel Neil Simon (Book): Marvin Neil Simon was born in the Bronx on July 4, 1927, and grew up in Washington Heights at the northern tip of Manhattan. He attended New York University briefly (1944-45) and the University of Denver (1945-46) before joining the United States Army where he began his writing career working for the Army camp newspaper. After being discharged from the army, Simon returned to New York and took a job as a mailroom clerk for Warner Brother's East Coast office. He and his brother Danny began writing comedy revues and eventually found their way into radio, then television where they toiled alongside the likes of Woody Allen, Mel Brooks and Larry Gelbart writing for The Phil Silvers Show and Sid Caesar's Your Show of Shows. Simon received several Emmy Award nominations for his television writing, then moved on to the stage where he quickly established himself as America's most successful commercial playwright by creating an unparalleled string of Broadway hits beginning with Come Blow Your Horn. During the 1966-67 season, Barefoot in the Park, The Odd Couple, Sweet Charity and The Star Spangled Girl were all running simultaneously. During the 1970-71 season, Broadway theatregoers had their choice of Plaza Suite, Last of the Red Hot Lovers, and Promises, Promises. Still, critical acclaim came slowly for Simon. In spite of the fact that he had had more smash hits than any other American playwright, critics continued to take pleasure in dismissing him as a mere "writer of gags." In 1973, following the death of his wife, Simon reached a low point in his career with two failures The Good Doctor (1973) and God's Favorite (1976). A move to California, however, reinvigorated him and he produced a much more successful play later that year in California Suite. After marrying actress Marsha Mason, Simon went on to write Chapter Two (1977) which was considered by many critics to be his finest play to that date. His fourth musical, They're Playing Our Song, proved fairly successful in 1979, but his next three plays (I Ought to Be in Pictures, Fools and a revised version of Little Me) all proved unsuccessful at the box office. Then, in 1983, Simon began to win over many of his critics with the introduction of his autobiographical trilogy--Brighton Beach Memoirs (1983), Biloxi Blues (1985) and Broadway Bound (1986)--which chronicled his stormy childhood, his brief Army time, and the beginning of his career in television. Suddenly the critics began taking him seriously. He followed up in 1991 with Lost in Yonkers for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. During the course of his career, Simon has won three Tony Awards for Best Play (The Odd Couple, Biloxi Blues and Lost in Yonkers.) He has had more plays adapted to film than any other American playwright and, in addition, has written nearly a dozen original screenplays himself. He received Academy Award nominations for his screenplays The Odd Couple (1968), The Sunshine Boys (1975) and California Suite (1978). He has also been the recipient of the Antoinette Perry Award, the Writers Guild Award, the Evening Standard Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Shubert Award, the Outer Circle Award, and a 1978 Golden Globe Award for his screenplay, The Goodbye Girl. Marvin Hamlisch (music): Marvin Hamlisch’s life in music is notable for its great versatility as well as substance. As composer, Hamlisch has won virtually every major award that exists: three Oscars, four Grammys, four Emmys, a Tony and three Golden Globe awards; his groundbreaking show, A Chorus Line, received the Pulitzer Prize. He is the composer of more than forty motion picture scores including his Oscar-winning score and song for The Way We Were and his adaptation of Scott Joplin’s music for The Sting, for which he received a third Oscar. His prolific output of scores for films include original compositions and/or musical adaptations for Sophie’s Choice, Ordinary People, The Swimmer, Three Men and a Baby, Ice Castles, Take the Money and Run, Bananas, and Save the Tiger. Marvin Hamlisch holds the position of Principal Pops Conductor with the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra. He is also the Pops Conductor for the National Symphony (This is the first time that anyone has held such a position) and San Diego Symphony Orchestra. Mr. Hamlisch was Musical Director and arranger of Barbra Streisand’s 1994 concert tour of the U.S. and England as well as of the television special, “Barbra Streisand: The Concert” (for which he received two of his Emmys). He served in the same capacities for her Millennium concerts. Hamlisch is a graduate of both Juilliard and Queens College (where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree). He believes in the power of music to bring people together. “Music can make a difference. There is a global nature to music, which has the potential to bring all people together. Music is truly an international language, and I hope to contribute by widening communication as much as I can.” David Zippel (Lyrics): David Zippel's lyrics have won him the Tony Award, two Academy Award nominations, two Grammy Award nominations, and three Golden Globe Award nominations. His songs appear on over twenty-five million CDs around the world, and have been recorded by many great singers including Stevie Wonder, Christina Aguilera, Mel Torme, Ricky Martin, Cleo Laine, Barbara Cook and Nancy LaMott. He made his Broadway debut with City of Angels (music by Cy Coleman, book by Larry Gelbart), for which he received the Tony Award, the New York Drama Critics Circle Award, the Drama Desk Award and (in London) the Olivier Award and Evening Standard Award. He also wrote the lyrics to the Broadway musical The Goodbye Girl (music by Marvin Hamlisch, book by Neil Simon) for which he received an Outer Critics Circle nomination. With eight-time Oscar winning composer Alan Menken, he wrote the songs for Disney's feature film Hercules. Michael Bolton recorded “Go the Distance” from that score, which was a #1 record and nominated for an Academy Award and Golden Globe. With Matthew Wilder, he wrote the songs for Disney's animated feature Mulan, which earned him his second Academy Award nomination. "Reflection," from Mulan, was recorded by Christina Aguilera and is featured on her multi-platinum debut album. Christina and David collaborated again with Todd Chapman to write the song "We're a Miracle," which was featured as the end title song for Pokemon: The First Movie, and on its #1 soundtrack album. With Mervyn Warren he wrote the end title for the Jennifer Lopez movie The Wedding Planner. His lyrics for The Swan Princess, an animated feature with music by Lex De Azevedo, were nominated for a Golden Globe Award. With composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, he wrote the songs for the London and Broadway musical The Woman in White. He has contributed lyrics to the revues A…My Name is Alice, Diamonds and, with composer Doug Katsaros, wrote the musical comedy Just So. With Wally Harper he wrote numerous songs for Barbara Cook, including "It's Better with a Band," which became the title song of a hit revue showcasing David's lyrics. It’s Better with a Band has been presented Off-Broadway, at the Donmar Warehouse in London and at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia. In early 2003, Williamson Music began representing Zippel's music publishing interests and the administration of his catalogue, In Your Ear Music. In the same year, he completed Princesses, his own adaptation of the classic children's novel A Little Princess (music by Matthew Wilder, book by Cheri Steinkellner and Bill Steinkellner). He additionally has worked on Buzz!, a musical extravaganza about the life of Busby Berkeley (music by Alan Menken, book by Larry Gelbart); Pamela’s First Musical, based on Wendy Wasserstein's children's book (music by Cy Coleman, book by Wasserstein); N, the story of Emperor Napoleon and his Josephine (music by Coleman, book by Gelbart); and Lysistrata: Sex and the City State. (Adaptation by Gelbart, music by Menken). A graduate of Harvard Law School, David Zippel is delighted not to practice law. 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. About Theatre Three’s production of The Goodbye Girl: Bruce R. Coleman will direct this production. The cast includes Claire Fowler as Melanie, Lisa-Gabrielle Greene as Paula McFadden, Lindsey Kay as Cynthia, Natalie King as Mrs. Crosby, Gregory Lush as Elliot Garfield, Darius-Anthony Robinson as Billy and Ricky Simpson, Lucia Welch as Donna, and Bruce R. Coleman as Mark. Ensemble includes John Biggan, Josh Blann, Tandi Brame, Tracie Foster, Carlos Gomez, and Teresa Valenza. Ruby Westfall, Lisa-Gabrielle Greene’s daughter, plays Lucy McFadden, Paula McFadden’s daughter. Set design by Jac Alder. Musical director: Terry Dobson. Assistant musical director: Pamela Holcomb-McClain. Lighting design by Sam Nance. Costume Design by Mark C. Guerra and Bruce R. Coleman.

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