Make a Dash to the Barnstormers Bash!
What better way to celebrate 95 years of The Barnstormers Theatre than a party and a special performance of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters by Film and Stage Stars Linda Purl (“The Office,” “Happy Days”) and Patrick Duffy (“Dallas”)!
We invite you to join us for this 95th Season Kick Off Event!
Saturday June 21
5 p.m. - 9:30 p.m.
The Tamworth History Center Lawn
Festivities will kick off at 5 p.m. on the Tamworth History Center Lawn and will include live music, food, drinks, a silent auction and tons of fun! The celebration will continue with an incredible performance of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters at 7:30 pm in The Barnstormers Theatre. You don’t want to miss this amazing one-night-only gala featuring performances from beloved and renowned actors Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy.
Tickets: $65 (Adult) $25 (Kids 12 and under)
Ticket price includes food, drink and entry to the special performance of A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters by Film and Stage Stars
Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy.
Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy
Linda Purl
Broadway: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer; Getting and Spending. Off-Broadway: Mr. Toole, The Baby Dance, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Regional: Mame, Mrs. Mannerly, The Children, Tenderly, The Year of Magical Thinking (12 productions), The Merchant of Venice, Romeo and Juliet, Hedda Gabler, The Real Thing, A Glass Menagerie, The Little Foxes, A Streetcar Named Desire, The Diary of Anne Frank, Copenhagen, Love, Loss and What I Wore, John Brown’s Body, Snacks, All the Way Home, The Man Who Could See Through Time, Vagina Monologues, Nora, Three Penny Opera, Johnny On a Spot, The Baby Dance, The Road to Mecca, Tusitala, (both previous with Miss Julie Harris.) A Doll’s House, Beyond Therapy, Love Letters, The Guys, Mariana Pineda, Dinner with Friends (original production), Hippolytus, Camille, Same Time Next Year, Grease, Footfalls, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, Getting and Spending, The Miracle Worker, Little Murders, The Importance of Being Earnest, Love Quest, Seven Deadly Sins, Oliver, The King and I.
Purl has worked at such theatres as The Old Globe, Berkeley Rep, South Coast Repertory, Santa Fe Opera, Cleveland Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival (six seasons), Long Wharf, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, Sacramento Circus, Westport Playhouse, Ogunquit Playhouse, Berkshire Theatre Festival, Lensic Santa Fe, Laguna Playhouse, Lobero, San Bernardino Civic Light Opera, Getty Museum Greek Amphitheatre, Rubicon Theatre Company (eight productions), Ivoryton Playhouse, Santa Barbara Ensemble, Santa Fe Opera, Theatre Jacksonville, The Judson, Egremont Barn, Williamstown Theatre Festival (six seasons). Internationally: TIP, Tokyo, Japan; Theatre Princesse Grace, Monaco; Imperial Theatre, Tokyo, Japan; Teatro Niccolini, Florence and Palazzo Barbaro, Venice, Italy. The Other Palace, London; 2022 BKL, UK National Tour, Catch Me If You Can.
Partial film: “Mighty Joe Young,” “Bender,” “The Walking Major,” “Leo and Loree,” “Sundays,” “Paul’s Promise.” Upcoming: “LA Grit.”
Purl has starred in over 45 US made-for-TV movies. TV recurring roles: “Hacks” (Kathy Vance), “Matlock” (Charlene Matlock), “Happy Days” (Ashley Pfister/Fonzie’s fiancée), “The Office” (US version, Helene Beesly), “The Oath “ with Sean Bean, "“Homeland” (Elizabeth Gaines), “True Blood” (Barbara Pelt), “General Hospital” (Peyton Honeycutt) “The Bold and the Beautiful.” Current recurring: “After Forever.”
Born in Connecticut, Purl grew up in Japan, becoming the only foreigner to have trained at the Toho Geino Academy. Her studies continued at Neighborhood Playhouse and Lee Strasberg Institute. She was co-founder of the Colorado Festival of World Theatre and executive director from 2004-2008. She founded the California International Theatre Festival and served as The Artistic Director from 2008-2014. In 2022, along with her partner Patrick Duffy, she founded Duffy’s Dough. All net proceeds are given to food scarcity programs.
Purl and Music Director Tedd Firth currently tour with solo concerts. Past concert venue appearances include Catalina Jazz Club, 54 Below, Birdland, Naples Philharmonic, Colorado Springs Symphony, Crazy Coqs in London, Club Raye in Paris and Satin Doll in Tokyo. Described by the London Times, “Purl cuts loose with all the authority of a seasoned jazz vocalist…she is mesmerizing” and by the Los Angeles Times as “A true American sweetheart…riveting…a gifted song stylist.” Her solo albums are Alone Together, Out of This World—Live with Special Guest Desi Arnaz, Jr., Midnight Caravan, Up Jumped Spring, Taking a Chance on Love and This Could Be The Start.
Patrick Duffy
A celebrated actor who discovered his talent as a young teenager, Patrick Duffy has captivated audiences for 34 years as a familiar face on some of television's most beloved series.
Duffy reprised his iconic role as "Bobby Ewing" in the TNT continuation of the 1980's drama series “Dallas.” Duffy was an original cast member of the 1978 series, starring in all 14 seasons. The series was nominated for numerous Emmy and Golden Globe Awards and won the People's Choice Award for "Favorite TV Dramatic Program" for three consecutive years from 1980-1982 and again in 1987. In the 2012 series, Duffy starred opposite a notable cast including original cast members Larry Hagman, Linda Gray, as well as new cast members Brenda Strong, Josh Henderson, Jesse Metcalfe, Jordana Brewster and Julie Gonzalo. The series aired for three seasons.
Duffy is the voiceover narrator of the avant-garde 2016 feature film "Hotel Dallas," which riffs on the series "Dallas" and which was shot in Romania at the Hotel Dallas, a life-size replica of Southfork. The narrative alternates with documentary segments on the role of "Dallas" in Romanian history. The film is currently appearing at various film festivals in the U.S. and abroad.
Duffy was also previously seen on the popular ABC sitcom, “Step by Step” where he starred as "Frank Lambert," the husband of Carol Lambert, played by Suzanne Somers. The series, which had a successful run from 1991 to 1998, was set in Port Washington, Wisconsin and was based on the typical situations that arise when two families are brought together as one stepfamily. The series was part of ABC's TGIF lineup.
Additionally, Duffy had a long-standing role in the CBS daytime soap opera, “The Bold and the Beautiful,” starring as "Stephen Logan." Since its premiere in 1987, the show has become the most-watched soap in the world, with an audience of an estimated 26.2 million viewers. Duffy was also seen as the lead character in the sci-fi adventure series, “Man From Atlantis” starring as "Mark Harris," who was believed to be the only surviving citizen of the lost civilization of Atlantis. He possessed exceptional gifts, including the ability to breathe underwater and superhuman strength. Harris is recruited by the Foundation For Oceanic Research, a governmental agency that conducts top secret research and explores the depths of the ocean in a sophisticated submarine called the "Cetacean."
In addition, Duffy has made dozens of movies for television and hosted dozens more specials. His most recent roles include stints on Freeform's "The Fosters," and Amazon's "Welcome to Sweden."
On the big screen, Duffy appeared in the 2010 romantic comedy "You Again," opposite Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis. Duffy played Weaver's high school sweetheart, "Richie Phillips.” He can next be seen in Will Wallace's directorial debut "Trafficked." It is written by Siddharth Kara and stars Ashley Judd, Elizabeth Rohm, Sean Patrick Flanery and Anne Archer. Inspired by real characters, it follows three young women who are trafficked through an elaborate network and enslaved in a Texas brothel from which they attempt a daring escape.
As for the stage, Duffy was seen in the West End London production of Art in 2000, and made an appearance in the UK's traditional Panto.
Duffy has 2 adult children (Padraic, 37, a playwright, and Conor, 32, an actor/producer) and lives on his small ranch in Oregon.
A finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, A.R. Gurney’s Love Letters is the story of a 50-year correspondence between Melissa Gardner and her childhood-friend-turned-love-interest, Andrew Makepeace Ladd III. The play captures the magic of romance and the wistful longing that often accompanies missed opportunities. The play’s two characters exchange letters, but not marriage vows, in a beautiful but complex friendship over half a decade.
Love Letters premiered on Broadway on October 31, 1989 at the Edison Theatre, where it ran for 96 performances. On September 13, 2014, the production returned to Broadway at the Brooks Atkinson Theater in limited engagements with rotating casts. The first cast starred Brian Dennehy and Mia Farrow, followed by Carol Burnett with Dennehy, and Alan Alda and Candice Bergen.
Love Letters continues to be produced across the globe , and has been performed by many prominent celebrities including Linda Purl and Patrick Duffy, Liza Minnelli and Desi Arnaz Jr., Lynn Redgrave and John Clark, Alan Young and Connie Hines, Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels, Bernadette Peters and John Dossett, Elizabeth Taylor and James Earl Jones, Michael Emerson and Carrie Preston, Tony Dow and Janice Kent, Meredith Baxter and Michael Gross, Ali MacGraw and Ryan O'NealI, Sally Field and Bryan Cranston, and Tony Shalhoub and Brooke Adams.
