STAGE FLASHBACK : IF MEMORY SERVES : 2000

In April of 2000, Joan was due to begin a run of the off Broadway hit play "If Memory Serves" by Jonathan Tolins, who had also written "Twilight of the Golds". The play focused on an aging TV star in the mould of Florence Henderson / Mary Tyler Moore, who makes a bid to revive her flagging career. She spends her days plugging a work-out video and watching re-runs of her old hit tv show. Joan was to have played the lead role of Diane Barrows which has previously been played off Broadway by Elizabeth Ashley. Joan had caught a performance a few months earlier, ( photo shows Joan with Diahann Carroll who attended the show and the cast including Elizabeth Ashley at the Promenade Theater). In the play Diane is desperate to revive her career, but could not forsee the furore that would occur when her son makes some comments on his childhood that somehow become twisted by a scorned ex-girlfriend and Diane's vengeful ex-husband. Joan was due to do a 3 week run at the Marine's Memorial Theatre in San Francisco in April 2000, but the script was withdrawn at short notice for re-writes. Producer Charles Duggan had to find a quick replacement and instead Joan embarked on a tour of the popular play "Love Letters", with George Hamilton and later Stacy Keach. Shown here is an promo ad for the play that uses a photo from a shoot to promote "Pacific Palisades". Will be featuring "Love Letters" and "Pacific Palisades" in later posts.