Tony Award-winning actress and director Judith Ivey, known for her role as Bonnie Jean "B.J." Poteet on "Designing Women," will come to the CenterStage on Monday, April 6 at 8 p.m.
Judith Ivey will present life accounts of her career as a stage, television and film actress in the intimate atmosphere of the CenterStage. Ivey’s resume includes work both on-screen and off. Beside her television role as Bonnie Jean "B.J" Poteet on "Designing Women," she also appeared as the mother of Dr. Leo Markus on "Will & Grace." In 1997, she was nominated for an Emmy for her performance in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "What the Deaf Man Heard."
Ivey has starred or been featured in over 40 films, including "Harry and Son," "Compromising Positions," "The Woman in Red," "The Long, Hot Summer," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," "Sister, Sister," "There Goes the Neighborhood," "Love Hurts," "The Devil's Advocate," "Washington Square," "Mystery, Alaska," and "What Alice Found," which won awards at the Deauville Film Festival and the 2003 Sundance Film Festival. Her most recent film was Clint Eastwood’s "Flags of Our Fathers."
Ivey has received numerous awards for her work on the stage as well. She has been honored with two Tony Awards as Best Featured Actress in a play for "Steaming" in 1983 and "Hurlyburly" in 1985. Other awards include an Obie Award, Drama Desk Award, Dramalogue Award, and the Drama League of New York Award. For her solo performance, "Women on Fire," Ivey won the Sydney Kingsley/Madge Evans Award from the Dramatists' Guild and a Lucille Lortel nomination for Best Solo Performance for her portrayal of 12 different women, under the direction of Mary B. Robinson at the Cherry Lane Theatre. She just completed the revival of Edward Albee’s "The American Dream" and "The Sandbox" at the Cherry Lane Theatre. Recently, she developed another one-woman tour de force in which she portrays Ann Landers in "The Lady with All the Answers" which has been presented at the Northlight Theatre in Chicago.
Ivey’s most recent directing credit is "Secrets of a Soccermom" at the Snapple Theatre. She also directed "The Butcher of Baraboo," "Fugue" (Cherry Lane Theatre), "Southern Comforts," "Bad Dates," "More" and "Steel Magnolias." She is currently directing the musical, "Vanities," which is Broadway bound. Ivey has been a member of Actors’ Equity for 33 years, and the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers for four years.
Judith Ivey, a native Texan, studied acting at Illinois State University. She started her acting career in Chicago, eventually moving to New York City in the late 1970s to continue her career. She has been married to producer Tim Braine for almost 20 years and has two children, Maggie and Tom.