It’s been one of those busy weeks again (uhmmm, I haven’t worked this hard in months!). I am in New York City now for the rest of the week for a client presentation on one of the deals I have been working on. We were shortlisted, so that’s a good thing. Unfortunately, I didn’t score a ticket to attend the Tony Awards show on Sunday night, although I know some people from Chicago and elsewhere who will be attending the ceremonies in person to be part of August: Osage County’s and Chicago Shakespeare Theater’s cheering section. As I have mentioned previously, I will be joining many of Steppenwolf’s family of subscribers and supporters for a Viewing Party at the downstairs theater on Sunday. I am very excited and yes, proud, to be in Chicago, with Chicago theatergoers, in a communal setting to see the national theater community celebrate Chicago talent and artistry. It was the Chicago audience-literate, theatrically sophisticated, generous and supportive-that first embraced the masterwork that is August; who talked non-stop about it from the time they rushed out of the theater, reeling and giddy, after the first intermission; who told their friends; who flocked to the Steppenwolf last summer like groupies at Lollapalooza, realizing that this work was something special, something that would become a significant part of the American theater oeuvre. It has come full circle, for me then- I shared the amazingly unique experience of Augustlast July with a group of enthusiastic, astounded theatergoers, and I’ll be with a community of ardent fans again this Sunday to see the work honored with American theater’s top prize; it’s quite a journey and a privilege for me as an audience member. On June 17, the first performance after the Tony Awards, the new members of the Broadway cast will make their debut: Estelle Parsons takes over the monumental Deanna Dunagan as Violet, the matriatch; Steppenwolf ensemble members Molly Regan and Jim True-Frost replace their fellow ensemble members Rondi Reed and Ian Barford as the wacky aunt Mattie Fae and her browbeaten son, Little Charles; Robert Foxworth (who I can still vividly watching when I was a kid as the macho Chase Giobertti on Falcon Crest) steps in for ensemble member Francis Guinan (who’s returning to Chicago to star in the first play of the upcoming Steppenwolf season, an adaptation of Murukami’s Kafka on the Beach, which is one of the most haunting novels I have read) as Mattie Fae’s husband, Charlie; and Frank Wood, who won a Tony for Sideman, takes over from Steppenwolf co-founder Jeff Perry as son-in-law Bill. It’s an interesting switchover, but I am particularly intrigued as to how Estelle Parsons will come off as Violet. She’s a great actress, and is an Academy Award winner (as Gene Hackman’s paramour in Bonnie and Clyde), but Dunagan is just so indelible, so legendary, so much of a tsunami as Violet that I really can’t imagine anyone else doing the role. Latebreaking news: Chris Jones confirms that August will go on tour and come back to Chicago, sometime in 2010- get your tickets as soon as they’re available!
Jun 12
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