HOW MUCH WOULD YOU SACRIFICE FOR SOMEONE YOU LOVE? PRESS BOOK CAST BERNADETTE PETERS.....................DIANE RACHEL BROSNAHAN......................ALICE PETER FRIEDMAN............................CHARLES REYNA DE COURCY..........................CAT SHANNON ESPER..............................CHERIE ANN DOWD........................................CAT’S MOTHER JAYCE BARTOK..................................JIMMY ADAM GARCIA....................................BOBBY DAVID CALE.......................................JOE CREW DIRECTED BY.....................................LISA ALBRIGHT WRITTEN BY.......................................CHRISTINA LAZARIDI LISA ALBRIGHT PRODUCED BY....................................ADAM FOLK JONATHAN MASON MONA LESSNICK DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY.........RYAN SAMUL EDITOR................................................RAY HUBLEY PRODUCTION DESIGNER...................DANIEL R. KERSTING COSTUME DESIGNER.........................MICHAEL ANZALONE SUPERVISING SOUND EDITOR..........NICHOLAS RENBECK MUSIC BY.............................................DOMINIC MATAR CASTING BY.........................................MARGERY SIMKIN JUDY HENDERSON COMING UP ROSES A FILM BY LISA ALBRIGHT 1980S, DEEP RECESSION AMERICA. In a gritty small town, 15-year-old ALICE and her mother, A tough new neighborhood, dire money troubles, DIANE, a larger-than-life former actress, cling to each unemployment, even Diane’s relentless depression will not other and the fantasy of a better life. defeat them. But is determination enough to see them through? Coming Up Roses is a haunting coming-of-age story about “HOW MUCH CAN YOU AFFORD TO a mother-daughter forced to choose between reality and SACRIFICE FOR THOSE YOU LOVE?” fantasy, their love for each other and survival. SYNOPSIS It’s 1985, in the depths of a recession. A single mother offers Alice a “job” working together to pull in some fast cash. and former musical theater diva, DIANE WALTERS But will Alice agree to Cat’s questionably legal plan? (Bernadette Peters) and her 15 year old daughter ALICE (Rachel Brosnahan) pack up their U-Haul, chasing the She may not have a choice, as Alice soon learns. Diane gets fantasy of a better life. fired, losing yet another job. Her depression is back in full force. And the landlord has initiated an eviction, sending Although beaming with charisma, Diane has been locked CHARLES AIELLO (Peter Friedman), the collection agent, for years in a cycle of depression. Her older daughter to Diane’s doorstep with the notice. CHERIE (Shannon Esper) had managed to keep Diane somewhat emotionally and financially intact, but now she A lonely divorcee, pining for his estranged family, Charles’ wants out. And Diane is panicked. world is turned upside down when he meets the eccentric and fiery Diane ---and Alice, the daughter he longs for. Alice and Diane crash land into blue-collar Nashua, N.H. and Cherie’s wedding day, eager to be part of Cherie’s new Alice realizes with the combination of Diane’s erratic behavior, life. But they find themselves unwanted. the mounting bills and the new threat of a possible eviction, drastic action is required. Alice agrees to try Cat’s plan Unlike her sister, Alice deeply connects with Diane’s and in a desperate moment even approaches Jimmy (Jayce vibrant imagination and sense of drama. Now with Bartok), the local drug dealer, for employment ideas. Diane, Cherie’s rejection, Alice bravely vows to take over the role with ideas of her own, begins to cultivate a “friendship” in of keeping Diane and the household afloat. Charles. Pinning her hopes on his ability to fill the father/ provider void for both she and Alice. But the task is far from easy. Diane is struggling with a new cycle of depression and their mounting debts have As Alice gets deeper into the world of petty crime and fantasies followed them to Nashua, where unemployment is high of escape, Diane throws herself into the impossible fantasy of and drug dealers and pawnshop owners define economic Charles as the “answer.” opportunity. Alice is scared. These parallel worlds explode. And Alice is forced to see that CAT (Reyna De Courcy), a magnetic opportunist and Diane’s choices are toxic and her need, insatiable. Alice is left classmate, becomes an unexpected ally in Alice’s new alone with a most harrowing decision. world. Desperate for money to implement her strategic escape from small town life, Cat hatches a plan to make Coming Up Roses asks a question we all face --- how much use of Alice’s assets: inventiveness and innocence. Cat can you afford to sacrifice for those you love? DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT Coming Up Roses is based on a true story, a moment in my The film is set in deep recession, small town America. young life that illuminates the power of resilience. This story, And I’ve been fortunate to see how the film touches a mother-daughter survival story, was inspired in great part people, people struggling in today’s frayed and unstable by vivid memories of my mother’s challenges with single economic landscape. These audiences deeply relate to the motherhood, unemployment and clinical depression. In an difficult choices life forces on them and I can only hope effort to keep our household afloat, we were forced to take risks the film encourages them to share their own stories of and make difficult decisions. It was a time of great inventiveness struggle, resilience and healing. and determination, and we used our elaborate fantasies of a better life to stay inspired and to keep moving forward. Lisa Albright Director/Co-writer On a technical note, rather than utilizing quick cuts and a Coming Up Roses frenetic camera to highlight the dramatic tension, Coming Up Roses’ composed visual style relies more on the actors’ performance. The audience is pushed to enter the lives of the characters and to stay with them intimately, uninterrupted. The extreme choices of color, in costume and set design, also play a key role by creating the feeling of a world swaying between reality and fantasy. Bernadette Peters, one of our generation’s greatest actresses, fearlessly plays the mother, Diane, radiant in her theatricality and devastating in her fragility. Rachel Brosnahan, in her first feature film, stuns as Diane’s teenage daughter, Alice. Her rich performance reveals the emotional rollercoaster of adolescence, the fierce battle for a sense of independence and self-discovery. And Peter Friedman gives a brilliant humanity to Charles, Diane’s love interest, at once the family’s savior and predator. COMING UP ROSES A FILM BY LISA ALBRIGHT ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS LISA ALBRIGHT: DIRECTOR/CO-WRITER CHRISTINA LAZARIDI: CO-WRITER Lisa Albright has an Christina Lazaridi’s screenwriting extensive background career began with her nomination in theater, having for an Academy Award for her participated in over work on the WWII short drama 40 professional “One Day Crossing.” She has theatrical productions since consulted on projects in New York and developed for New Line and theaters across the Bruckheimer Productions and country. She has has worked with Producers produced and directed Eva Kolodner, Anne Chaisson, theatrical entertainment for Voyager Company and the Lester Persky Productions and Academy Award Winner, Audi Car Company. Lisa was part of the producing team Documentarian Richard Kaplan, as well as with multiple for the Broadway production of One Mo’ Time with the companies in Europe. Her Screenplays have won multiple Williamstown Theater Company and the Canadian comedy European Media Development Awards, a Student Academy Mum’s the Word with Back Row Productions (U.K.). Lisa Award, a Euroscript Development Award and a Chris Kazan got her MA from New York University through the Gallatin Memorial Award. School with a focus on film production. Christina freelances as a Script Consultant and teaches Coming Up Roses inspired the writing collaboration with Screenwriting at Columbia’s Graduate Film Division and award winning screenwriter Christina Lazaridi and marks Princeton University. She is the Academic Director and Screenwriting Mentor for CineQuaNon Lab in Mexico. Lisa Albright’s directorial feature film debut. She holds a B.A in Comp Lit and Creative Writing from Princeton University and an MFA in Screenwriting from Columbia University. COMING UP ROSES A FILM BY LISA ALBRIGHT BERNADETTE PETERS hroughout her illustrious career, Tony Award-winning actress Bernadette Peters has dazzled audiences and critics with her performances on stage and television, in Tconcert, and on recordings. Ms. Peters recently starred on Broadway in the critically acclaimed production of Follies, after a highly successful run at the Kennedy Center. Prior to that, she starred in the Tony Award-winning masterpiece, A Little Night Musicopposite Elaine Stritch. This year, Bernadette received her third Tony, The Isabelle Stevenson Award which acknowledges an individual from the theatre community who has made a substantial contribution of volunteered time and effort on behalf of one or more humanitarian, social service or charitable organizations, regardless of whether such organizations relate to the theatre. Peters, along with good friend Mary Tyler Moore co-founded Broadway Barks!, an organization that promotes the adoption of shelter animals. Broadway Barks! has evolved into an event that not only focuses on the plight of homeless animals but had opened the door of communication and fostered a spirit of community among the numerous shelters and rescue groups working throughout New York. Their annual star-studded