The Subject Was Roses follows Timmy Cleary, who returns home after serving in World War II to find his parents Pullman and Ivey are strangers--to him and each other. When Timmy insists his father take credit for roses he bought his mother, long-hidden resentments rise to the surface, as this attempted act of kindness instead becomes the epicenter of domestic warfare. When the deception is uncovered, the tenuous ties still holding them together begin to unravel and each person's doubts--about marriage, family values and Timmy's achievements overseas--threaten to destroy any hope for reunion. The play was made into the acclaimed 1968 Oscar-winning film, with a screenplay that Gilroy adapted from his own play.
Pullman made his Broadway debut in 2002 in Edward Albee's The Goat, or Who is Sylvia?, for which he earned Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle nominations as Best Leading Actor in a Play. He has numerous theater credits including a notable revival Curse of the Starving Class off-Broadway. Pullman is mostly known for appearing in over 40 movies. His film credits include Ruthless People, Spaceballs, The Accidental Tourist, A League of Their Own, Sleepless in Seattle, Malice, Wyatt Earp, The Zero Effect, While You Were Sleeping, Independence Day, Lost Highway, Brokedown Palace, Igby Goes Down, The Grudge, Dear Wendy and Alien Autopsy.
Ivey is a two-time Tony winner for Hurlyburly and Steaming, and she garnered a third nomination for Park Your Car in Harvard Yard, two Drama Desk Awards, the Obie Award and countless others for her stage work. Most recently she was honored with the Sydney Kingsley-Madge Evans Award for 2004 from the Dramatists' Guild, and she has been inducted into the Texas Film Hall of Fame. Additional Broadway credits include Blithe Spirit, Piaf, Voices in the Dark, Precious Sons, Bedroom Farce and Follies. Her film credits include The Devil's Advocate, Washington Square, Mystery, Alaska, Brighton Beach Memoirs, Love Hurts, Harry and Son, Compromising Positions and What Alice Found. Ivey is starred in four television series, the most memorable being Designing Women. She was nominated for an Emmy for her performance in What the Deaf Man Heard.