Arts & Culture

Creator of HBO's Big Love Authors New Play at Old Globe Theater

By Maureen Cavanaugh / KPBS Midday Edition Co-Host, Angela Carone / Cultural Enterprise Reporter

Published May 14, 2009 at 9:00 AM PDT

This story was published more than 15 years ago.

Robert Foxworth as “George Wallace” and Melinda Page Hamilton as “Cornelia” in The Old Globe’s world premiere production of CORNELIA by Mark V. Olsen

Creator of HBO's Big Love Authors New Play at Old Globe Theater

Cornelia Wallace was a former beauty queen who became the second wife of segregationist governor George Wallace. The Old Globe's new play Cornelia tells the story of their marriage and was written by Mark Olsen, the creator and writer of the HBO hit series Big Love about a polygamous family in Utah.

Maureen Cavanaugh: They were an unlikely couple, the older Alabama Governor George Wallace and his young beauty queen, second-wife Cornelia. So it would take a playwright who's not afraid of unlikely couples or unlikely trios or quartets, to tell the story of this odd romance. Mark Olsen is such a playwright. The author of the new Old Globe production called Cornelia is also the man behind the HBO hit series Big Love. That series follows the extremely complex relationships among the members of a Utah polygamist family.

Mark Olsen's play Cornelia focuses on only one man and one woman, to coin a phrase, but that's where the resemblance to traditional family values ends. It's my pleasure to welcome writer and producer Mark Olsen to These Days.

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Cornelia opens this Saturday night at The Old Globe Theater in Balboa Park. It runs through June 21st.

Guest

Mark Olsen wrote the play Cornelia, which opens this weekend at the Old Globe. He is also the co-creator and writer of the HBO series Big Love, about a polygamous family in Utah.

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Maureen Cavanaugh

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Maureen Cavanaugh has been a familiar voice for KPBS listeners for more than 15 years, serving in a variety of capacities including announcer, host, and producer. As host of KPBS Midday Edition, Maureen has interviewed a wide range of notables, such as comedienne Sandra Bernhardt, actor John Lequizamo, author Chuck Palahniuk, composer Marvin Hamlisch, artist Robert Irwin, and designer Zandra Rhodes. But of all the interviews Maureen has conducted, her most special was with His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Before joining KPBS in 1997, she worked as a news anchor for KSDO and KOGO News Radio in San Diego. While working for commercial radio stations in San Diego and in Salt Lake City, Utah, Maureen reported on both hard news and lifestyle features. Maureen has received three "Golden Mike" awards from the Radio and TV News Association of Southern California for economic reporting and breaking news. She has also received a "Best of Show" and “Best Radio Newscast” awards from the San Diego Press Club and the "Flo" Award from Public Radio Program Directors Association for Best Public Radio Announcer in a large market. Maureen is a native of Queens, New York, but after more than 20 years in San Diego she feels she qualifies as a real Southern Californian.

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Angela Carone

Angela Carone covered arts and culture for KPBS and was the author of Culture Lust. Angela has produced public radio programs focused on the arts for the Atlanta and San Diego markets. In this role, she has covered topics ranging from books, film, theater, music, visual arts and pop culture. She also has more than 15 years experience in print media, having been published in various newspapers, alternative weeklies, and exhibition catalogs. Angela has degrees in political science from Pennsylvania State University and in English literature from Georgia State University. She is also a published photographer.

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