JOAN’S SHOW

A PERFORMANCE PIECE WRITTEN AND PERFORMED BY RENOWNED ACTRESS JOAN COPELAND

RUNNING TIME: 70 MINUTES

A FUN FILLED PERFORMANCE OF SONGS AND STORIES TOLD BY THE LEGENDARY ACTRESS WHO NOT ONLY LIVED THROUGH IT BUT TELLS IT ALL WITH HER UNIQUE AND HILARIOUS STYLE.

BORN AND RAISED IN NEW YORK, JOAN WAS THE YOUNGEST OF THREE CHILDREN OF A MIDDLE CLASS JEWISH COUPLE, ISIDORE AND AUGUSTA MILLER. HER FATHER WAS A MANUFACTURER OF WOMEN’S CLOTHES AND HER MOTHER A HOMEMAKER WHO INSTILLED IN HER CHILDREN A LOVE OF ART AND LITERATURE AND MUSIC. HER OLDER BROTHER, ARTHUR MILLER, GREW UP AND BECAME ONE OF AMERICA’S MOST BELOVED PLAYWRIGHTS WITH HITS LIKE “A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE”, “THE CRUCIBLE”, “THE PRICE”, AND “DEATH OF A SALESMAN”.

JOAN’S PROFESSIONAL CAREER BEGAN IN 1945 PLAYING JULIET IN “ROMEO AND JULIET” AT THE BROOKLYN ACADEMY OF MUSIC. SHE MADE HER BROADWAY DEBUT IN BESSIE BREUER’S “SUNDOWN BEACH” IN 1948. SINCE THEN, SHE HAS MAINTAINED AN ACTIVE SHOW BUSINESS CAREER INCLUDING STARRING ROLES ON BROADWAY AS WELL AS MAJOR ROLES IN FILM AND TELEVISION.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE HER STARRING PERFORMANCE IN “PAL JOEY”, HER BROADWAY RUN IN “TWO BY TWO” CO-STARRING OPPOSITE DANNY KAYE, STANDING BY FOR KATHARINE HEPBURN IN “COCO” AND FOR VIVIEN LEIGH IN “TOVARICH”, AND ORIGINATING THE ROLE IN HER BROTHER’S PLAY “THE AMERICAN CLOCK” FOR WHICH SHE WON THE DRAMA DESK AWARD. SHE ALSO SECURED THE RIGHTS FROM THE MASTER HIMSELF, SIR NOEL COWARD, FOR “CONVERSATION PIECE” WHICH SHE PRODUCED AND STARRED IN AT THE BARBIZON-PLAZA THEATRE IN 1957.

BUT JOAN ALSO LIVED THROUGH ONE OF THE GREATEST SCOURGES IN AMERICAN HISTORY. DURING THE HEARINGS OF THE HOUSE UNAMERICAN ACTIVITIES COMMITTEE, ARTHUR MILLER WAS CALLED TO TESTIFY. JOAN FOUND HER OWN LIFE AFFECTED WHEN SHE BECAME A VICTIM OF THE BLACKLIST AND HAD DIFFICULTY FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS IN FINDING WORK.

WITH GREAT HUMOR, GRACE, AND HUMANITY, JOAN RELIVES THESE MILESTONES IN HER LIFE AND BY DOING SO CELEBRATES HER OWN PERSONAL HISTORY IN THEATRE, FILM AND TELEVISION. FROM HER EARLY DAYS WITH PLAYWRIGHTS LIKE SIDNEY KINGSLEY AND ELMER RICE TO HER PARTICIPATION IN THE BIRTH OF THE ACTOR’S STUDIO WHERE SHE MET HER FUTURE SISTER-IN-LAW MARILYN MONROE, TO A CAREER THAT CONTINUES TO THE PRESENT, JOAN HAS FOLLOWED HER SECRET HEART AND THE RESULT IS A FULL AND RICH AND MAGICAL LIFE.