(l to r) Broadway marquee; ensemble members Anna D. Shapiro and Tracy Letts; ensemble member Tim Hopper and Ed Sobel; ensemble members Rondi Reed and Joan Allen, Trustee Beth Boosalis Davis, Board President Douglas R. Brown and ensemble member Jon Hill
On November 20, August: Osage County was scheduled to open on Broadway. It didn’t.
As many of you know by following the news, Broadway has been shut down by a strike by Local 1 of IATSE, the New York stagehands union, and a lock out by the Producers’ League. This is the first such strike in over a century of the two sides negotiating contracts.
The cast has been marooned in New York since previews ended on November 9. A further disappointment landed when renewed negotiations broke down on Sunday, guaranteeing that both our opening date and Thanksgiving would pass with the Imperial Theater darkened. (more…)
August: Osage County, which earned six Jeff Awards last night, begins previews tonight at the Imperial Palace on Broadway.
Check out the new video feature of ensemble members Jeff Perry, Francis Guinan, Amy Morton and Mariann Mayberry talking about bringing the Steppenwolf production to Broadway.
A slight disclaimer to start: I’m a proud, stubborn Midwesterner who knows there is no better place to create theatre than Chicago. That said, I LOVE – ABSOLUTELY LOVE – traveling with our shows. New York runs represent some of the giddiest work highs I’ve experienced outside of our friendly confines.True West with John and Gary, which put us on the national radar, and whose acclaim filled our Chicago theatre for the first time; Balm in Gilead at Circle Rep and Minetta Lane, one of the most heavenly ensemble experiences in our history; The Grapes of Wrath, with the twin genius of John Steinbeck and Frank Galati…
The abundance of things to relish about this move to Broadway staggers me. The rarity of new American plays moving ‘intact’ without the commercial insurance of movie stars; a gorgeous, symbolic culmination of Steppenwolf’s devotion to new plays being our own Tracy’s beautiful, homegrown, deeply truthful, ensemble-loving expression of family; looking across a dinner table on stage and being knocked out that I’ve known, loved and worked with most of the cast for decades; watching Anna Shapiro, who I’ve known since she was a kid, bring forth possibly her most personal work in an already astounding career…the ‘deeply lucky’ list goes on. (more…)
We all piled into a giant van after four hours of rehearsal on Sunday afternoon - all five members of our cast, our lighting designer, our stage manager, and our technical director. The entire experience felt an awful lot like the class trip we all took to Washington, DC (or Six Flags, maybe) in middle school. Another van met us in NY and took us to each of our respective apartments (all separate) in New York. I haven’t heard from Lauren or Kobie yet, but Amy says she feels like Doris Day in hers. Tomorrow is a twelve hour day - thank god - since we have an audience the very next day. This experience is destined to feel like a race - although I think we all feel more ready than we ever did over the summer after only six days of rehearsal. Still, I’m sure we’d all appreciate as many prayers and blessings as possible this week!