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Lee Meriwether and James Noble Star in "Love Letters" at Playhouse on the Green
 Stage and television veterans Lee Meriwether (Barnaby Jones," "All My Children" and a former Miss America) and James Noble (Governor Gatling on "Benson") will star in A.R. Gurney's "Love Letters," presented by Playhouse on the Green, Bridgeport, on Saturday, June 2 at 8 p.m. and Sunday, June 3 at 3 p.m. Director is Scott M. Robbins of Shelton.
"Love Letters" is a poignant and romantic comedy that traces the relationship between a man and a woman solely through their correspondence. The production follows the bittersweet relationship and love affair of lifelong friends over 50 years through a series of letters. Pen pals for life, Melissa Gardner and Andrew Makepeace Ladd III are childhood sweethearts who meet in the second grade and begin a correspondence that chronicles their entire lives. The story of their relationship gradually unfolds from what is written - and what is left unsaid - in their letters. The words are both hysterical and moving.
 "'Love Letters' will kick start our new theatre initiative to bring mainstage productions back to Playhouse on the Green," said Robbins. "The full season will begin in the fall, with the funds raised from 'Love Letters' supporting these upcoming efforts."
Lee Meriwether was crowned Miss America in 1955. She plays Ruth Martin on the ABC soap "All My Children." Her most recent film is "The Ultimate Gift" in which she appears with James Garner, Brian Dennehy, Drew Fuller, Bill Cobbs, Alli Hillis and Abigail Breslin. She is currently appearing at Theatre West in a Storybook Theatre production of "Snow White" playing the wicked Queen and Witch. Recently she played a wine guzzling, cigarette smoking mother to Ed Harris in "Winston," scheduled to be in movie theatres next year. She was on the boards at Theatre West appearing in "Love Letters" with Beau Bridges, and in the West coast premiere of Sherwood Schwartz's comedy "Rockers." She recently appeared in Dan Goggin's musical "Nunsense" with Betty Garrett and in her own one-woman show: "Women from Spoon River, Their Voices from the Hill."
 Ms. Meriwether co-starred with Buddy Ebsen on the "Barnaby Jones" series for eight years, and was nominated for the Golden Globe and the Emmy. She began in television as the first "on air" women's editor for Dave Garroway's "Today Show." She played Catwoman in the original "Batman" movie, Ann on the "Time Tunnel" series, Lily II on "The Munsters Today" and Losira on a popular "Star Trek" episode. Other film roles include Andy Griffith's pregnant wife in "Angel in My Pocket" and Rock Hudson's southern belle wife in "The Undefeated," with John Wayne. She starred in many musicals including "Hello Dolly," "Mame," "The King and I," "A Little Night Music," "Gilligan's Island" and "I Do, I Do," co-starring with her husband, Marshall Borden. Her daughters, Lesley and Kyle, are accomplished performers. Currently Lesley is a stuntwoman and Kyle, an actress, is raising her 13-year-old daughter Ryan.
Active with a number of humanitarian endeavors and charities, Ms. Meriwether has served for over 12 years as Honorary Chairman of Ability First (formerly the Crippled Children's Society). She is an honorary member of Women in Show Business, a philanthropic organization that funds reconstructive surgery for needy children and has twice been named their "Angel of the Year." She has also served as National Education Chairman of the American Cancer Society and as the Los Angeles Chairman for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. For many years there has been a special place in her heart for the Blind Children's Center and the pet organization Actors and Others for Animals.
 James Noble was born in Dallas and started acting there professionally in "The Student Prince" when he was a teenager. With time out for SMU and WWII, he's been at it ever since, on and off Broadway, and in theatres throughout this country and Canada, appearing in some 200 plays in all, and even one in Shakespeare's birthplace. While he was in Columbia Midshipman's School in 1943, he did the lead in "The Egoist," one of the first dramas ever presented on TV, and he's done at least a thousand shows since then, including seven years on the series "Benson." He has made a few movies, notably "Ten," "Being There," "1776, and "Chances Are." With actress Colleen Murphy, Noble has produced a movie, "Glacier Bay," starring Dorothy Bryce, Ms. Murphy and himself which has won awards at festivals all over the country. He is a life member of the Actors Studio, and, for the last 15 years, of Connecticut's Theatre Artists Workshop. One summer Noble met an actress named Carolyn Coates while doing "Pygmalion," the Shaw play that became "My Fair Lady." She was Eliza and he was Higgins, so of course the fell in love. They had been married for 49 years when she died two years ago. Their daughter Jessica Cowan is a detective in Brooklyn.
Director Scott M. Robbins has been working in the theatre for the past 30 years. As an actor he appeared in numerous stage productions, television and films. He attended the InterArts Professional High School for the Performing Arts and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. He has directed and produced over 50 regional productions. Along with Dan Goggin, award-winning composer and author, they have collaborated on numerous stage and television projects. They produced the hit musical "Nunsense" and its various sequels all over the United States. To mark the 20th anniversary of the original "Nunsense," Robbins produced the all-star national tour starring Kaye Ballard, Georgia Engel, Mimi Hines, Darlene Love and Lee Meriwether. Robbins was the assistant director on the national tour of "Nuncrackers" starring Dody Goodman and later, he produced the Emmy nominated television production of the show starring Rue McClanahan and John Ritter. Most recently, he produced the television production of "Nunsensations" to be aired on PBS this spring.
Locally, Robbins has worked at The Playhouse on the Green and the Downtown Cabaret Theatre, both in Bridgeport. He produced a highly successful season at the Playhouse on the Green with productions of "Nunsense," "Forever Plaid" and "Over the River and through the Woods." Along with co-producer, Mark Graham, Robbins produced the hit comedy "Me & Jezebel" starring Jim Bailey at the 26th Street Theatre and he co-produced the world premiere production of "Harry & Thelma in the Woods" at The Hollywood Playhouse and a subsequent production at The New Jersey Repertory Company. Robbins is a Tony Award voter and a member of the League of American Theatres and Producers, which represents Broadway and touring producers and co-presents the annual Tony Awards.
Playwright A. R. Gurney is one of the most prolific and produced playwrights in America. His work focuses primarily on the issues and realities of middle-class American life and has been produced on international theatre stages for more than 30 years. After receiving a bachelor of arts degree from Williams College in 1952, Gurney joined the U. S. Navy during the Korean War, writing shows to entertain the military personnel. Following his discharge in 1955, he enrolled in the Yale School of Drama where he received his master's degree in playwriting. Later he joined the faculty at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge where he taught until 1996.
His plays include "Children," "The Dining Room," "What I Did Last Summer," "Sylvia," "The Cocktail Hour," "Love Letters," "Far East," "Later Life," "Ancestral Voices," "Buffalo Gal," and "Mrs. Farnsworth," among others. He is the recipient of many awards, notably a Drama Desk Award in 1971, a Rockefeller Award in 1977 and two Lucille Lortel Awards in 1989 and 1994.
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