Julie Harris’ Last Performance On Stage At Monomoy Theater On Cape Cod

From my 2008 piece.:

It started with Alan Rust casually saying to his friend Julie Harris, “I was going to ask you if you’d like to do ‘The Effect of Gamma Rays on the Man-in-the-Moon Marigolds,’ but I didn’t have the heart to ask you to play that old lady [in the play].”
The actress said, “I’d love to,” which stunned and delighted Rust, who is artistic director of the Monomoy Theatre in Chatham, Mass., not far from where Harris lives on Cape Cod. He is also director of the theater division at the Hartt School of the University of Hartford.
What made the occasion special was the return to the stage of the 82-year-old actress, who made her Broadway debut in 1945 and starred in shows such as “Member of the Wedding,” “The Lark,” “I Am a Camera” and “The Belle of Amherst.” She was nominated 10 times and received five Tony Awards, the most ever won by an actor – as well as a sixth for lifetime achievement. She also received the Kennedy Center Award in 2005.
Harris was nominated for an Oscar for her screen debut in 1952’s “A Member of the Wedding” and starred in such films “East of Eden,” “The Haunting” and “Reflections in a Golden Eye.” She also won three Emmys. She played Lilimae Clements on TV’s “Knot’s Landing.”
Seven years ago, the actress had a stroke. Since then, she has been in rehabilitation and regained many of her abilities.
Because her non-speaking part in the Monomoy production was modest and the show had a five-day run last week, Harris‘ appearance was low-key. Still, word got around and on opening night, there were so many flowers from Harris‘ many friends and admirers from around the country that they had to be relocated to a separate room to let the cast move about backstage.
“Francesca [James, the play’s director] said she’d rather be onstage than breathe, so I wasn’t surprised she did it,” says Rust.
The Monomoy production starred Nora Chester as the abusive mother who has an elderly and infirm boarder played by Harris, whose character knows what is going on just by the language of her eyes and body. Harris also evoked a big laugh from the audience with a simple bit of business using her spoon as a comb. (The abusive mother role was played in the 1972 film version by Joanne Woodward, directed by her husband, Paul Newman, and featuring their daughter Nell Potts. Judith Lowry played the boarder on stage and in the film.)
Also featured in the Momomoy production were students from Ohio University: Emily Ryan, Katie Skelton and Shiloh Morgenstern. (The 51-year-old Monomoy is the summer home of the Ohio University Players, and also features students from Hartt and North Carolina School of the Arts.)
“She’s probably the greatest of all the American stage actresses that we still have and to have her share her talent with these students is overwhelming.,” says Rust. “It was breathtaking to watch her work with them. Every moment was like a lesson.”
Will Harris return to the stage in another project?
“I haven’t any idea,” says Rust. “I did say to her, ‘I’ll now think of something else for you’ – and she smiled at me.”