Sept. 23, 2004
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: LISA WOSKE
(805) 756-7110
Cal Poly Arts Brings Lilly Tomlin to PAC October 16
SAN LUIS OBISPO -- Fans remember her from TV’s “Laugh-In”
and Hollywood’s “Nashville” and “9 to 5.”
They’ve seen her Tony
Award-winning Broadway show and now watch her in “The West Wing.”
They
hear her voice urging them to ride on “The Magic School Bus.”
On Saturday, October 16, 2004 at 8 p.m., Cal Poly Arts presents one of
America’s favorite comediennes in her one-woman show, “An
Evening with
Lily Tomlin,” on stage at the Christopher Cohan Center. An audience
question and answer session follows the performance.
Lily Tomlin launched a successful comedy career with the chatty 6-year
old Edith Ann and the irascible telephone operator, Ernestine. For over
four decades, she has starred in television, theater, motion pictures,
animation, and video -- all to critical and popular acclaim.
Tomlin grew up in a working-class Detroit neighborhood and although she
claims she wasn't funny as a child, Tomlin admits she "knew who was
(funny) and lifted all their material right off the TV screen."
Early influences included Lucille Ball, Bea Lillie, Imogene Coca, and
Jean Carroll, one of the first female stand-ups on "The Ed Sullivan
Show."
After high school, Tomlin enrolled at Wayne State University to study
medicine, but her elective courses in theater arts compelled her to
leave college to become a performer in local coffee houses.
She moved to New York in 1965 and built a strong following with
appearances at landmark clubs such as The Improvisation, Cafe Au Go Go,
and the Upstairs at the Downstairs.
Tomlin made her television debut in 1966 on “The Garry Moore Show
“and
then made several memorable appearances on “The Merv Griffin Show.”
In
December, 1969, Tomlin joined the cast of television’s top-rated
“Laugh-In” and immediately rose to national prominence with
her
characterizations.
With Jane Wagner, Tomlin went on to co-write and star in six comedy
television specials: “The Lily Tomlin Show “(1973), “Lily
“(1973),
“Lily” (1974), “Lily Tomlin” (1975), “Lily:
Sold Out” (1981), and “Lily
for President?” (1982), for which she won three Emmy Awards and
a
Writers Guild of America Award.
Tomlin made her Broadway debut in the 1977 play, "Appearing Nitely,"
written and directed by Wagner. The production garnered two Tony Awards
and was later adapted as both an album and an HBO Special.
"Appearing Nitely" included such characters as Ernestine, Edith
Ann, and
Judith Beasley, the Calumet City housewife. It also introduced Trudy the
Bag Lady, Crystal the hang-gliding quadriplegic, Rick the singles bar
cruiser, Glenna as a child of the sixties, and Sister Boogie Woman, a
77-year-old blues revivalist.
She next appeared on Broadway in 1985 in a year-long, sold-out run of
Wagner’s critically-acclaimed play, "The Search for Signs of
Intelligent
Life in the Universe." Tomlin won a Drama Desk Award and Outer Critics’
Circle Award for her one-woman performance.
The actress extended her theatrical career with a cross-country, 29-city
tour of "The Search..." and by recently mounting a new production
of
"The Search..." on Broadway. She also performed a record-breaking
six-month run in San Francisco and a six-week run in Los Angeles.
Back on television, Tomlin starred in the 1993 HBO special about the
AIDS epidemic, “And the Band Played On.” She guest-starred
on numerous
television shows and played the boss for two years on the popular CBS
series, “Murphy Brown.”
She also voices Ms. Frizzle, the science teacher on the popular
children’s animated series, “The Magic School Bus,”
for which she was
awarded an Emmy.
In 2002, Tomlin joined the cast of the hit NBC series, “The West
Wing,”
playing President Bartlet’s assistant, for which she received a
Screen
Actors Guild nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series.
In addition to Tony and Emmy Awards, Tomlin received a CableAce Award
for Executive Producing the film adaptation of “The Search...,”
a Grammy
for her comedy album, “This is a Recording“ as well as nominations
for
her subsequent albums, “Modern Scream,” “And That's
the Truth,” and “On
Stage.”
Tomlin won two Peabody Awards for the ABC television special, “Edith
Ann’s Christmas: Just Say Noel” and for narrating and executive
producing the HBO film, “The Celluloid Closet.”
Lily Tomlin was also honored as the 2003 recipient of the prestigious
Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in Washington DC.
Tickets for the performance range from $52 to $64, with student
discounts available, and may be purchased at the Performing Arts Ticket
Office, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. To
order by phone, call 805/756-2787; to order by fax: 805/756-6088. Order
on-line at www.pacslo.org.
Sponsored by Linda McGregor, Daniel and Kathryn Rider, and KCBX 90.1 FM.
For audio and video samples of Cal Poly Arts events, visit
www.calpolyarts.org.
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