Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

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Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 11:49am

Estelle Parsons will replace Deanna Dunagan on June 17 in A:OC. She will be joined by Molly Regan (replacing Rondi Reed), Robert Foxworth (replacing Francis Guinan), Jim True-Frost (replacing Ian Barford), and Frank Wood (replacing Jeff Perry).

Exciting, exciting replacement cast.

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/118478.html

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 11:52am

Oh my god...Estelle Parsons was in HAPPY HUNTING and WHOOP-UP! I *must* meet this woman!!!

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 11:53am

We'll surely miss Deanna, but Ms. Parsons is a hoot!

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 11:55am

why is everyone bailing on this show?

Attend the tale of Bovine Boy His party threads we all enjoy But does he have Mad Cow Disease? He doesn't eat beef - but cows skating? - oh please!!! With cocoa!?! And lemonade!?! The heifer-mad poster of Broadway (World)

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 11:58am

They played a more than respectable run - just about a year or so since the play started at Steppenwolf. The only plans I've heard of are Reed's...she's going back to WICKED after an extended absence.

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:00pm

Time to go back to see A:OC again. Parsons is darned near perfect for the role (and I will still miss Dunagan, who is magnificent).

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:00pm

Can you imagine being in this draining show for more than a year? It's an amazing opportunity, but I can understand why the actors would want to take a break.

The only real disappointment is for audiences hoping to see either of these actresses in their (likely) Tony winning performances.

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:01pm

I know they must be tired but I can't imagine how they could leave the show right after they sweep the Tonys next Sunday.

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:08pm

And don't forget the recent Harold & Maude musical, WAT.

Fantastic, fantastic casting to replace fantastic, fantastic casting.

#10

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 12:36pm

She was superb in Harold and Maude. Crappy show, great performance.

This is perfect casting. I think a lot of the cast want to go back home to Chicago. I don't think they expected the show to last as long as it has.

#11

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 1:04pm

I saw an interview with the cast and they said they do miss Chicago and didn't expect the show to become as big of a hit as it has become. And don't most of them have projects to do at Steppenwolf?

Just give the world Love. - S. Wonder

#12

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 1:09pm

"why is everyone bailing on this show?"

It's not that they're bailing. The show was a limited run that was supposed to conclude in March. As such, many of the cast members lined up other projects and obligations, which they must now fulfill.

It will be strange for Deana Dunagan and Rondi Reed to probably win Tony Awards Sunday night, but no one will get to see their award winning performances (except for those who've already seen the show).

This sounds like a great group of replacements, and I am excited to make another trip to Osage County later this summer to see how they're doing.

#13

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:10pm

Yeah, I'm going to NY in July (I was supposed to be there this week but that didn't happen), and I'm pretty disappointed that I will be missing Deanna Dunagan and Rondi Reed--and I'm guessing probably Amy Morton as well. The main reason I wanted to see this on Broadway had to do with the acclaimed original cast, I'll probably be able to see it regionally or on tour within the next couple of years. Not sure if I want to see this on Broadway without Dunagan, Reed, and Morton.

"Some people can thrive and bloom living life in a living room, that's perfect for some people of one hundred and five. But I at least gotta try, when I think of all the sights that I gotta see, all the places I gotta play, all the things that I gotta be at"

#14

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:36pm

It's way too incredible a piece to miss simply because members of the original cast have left, especially if you haven't seen it before.

And the cast has family, friends and lives back in Chicago and I completely understand their want to come back home.

RIP Natasha Richardson. ~You were a light on this earth ~

#15

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:49pm

"I'm guessing probably Amy Morton as well."

No, Amy Morton is staying. You will miss the other two, though.

#16

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:58pm

It's only a matter of time before Amy Morton leaves too. This news about Deanna Dunagan and Rondi Reed leaving came as a surprise to me. I know they couldn't stay on forever, but they're leaving just one week after today's official announcement.

#17

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:58pm

Go for sure, regardless of the cast... that said... the replacements seem to have been cast with incredible care. I would imagine it should really hold together.

On a side note... it will be REALLY interesting to see again... so much hangs on the interpersonal dynamic of the characters... with that changing... it will be so interesting to see where the dynamic goes.

kmc

Jesus saves. I spend.

#18

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 2:58pm

I'm thinking Estelle Parsons might be the incentive the Tony Committee needs to dust off that "best replacement" category.

#19

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 3:31pm

Estelle Parsons is one of the most brilliant and inspired casting choices in a long time. She'll be phenomenal.

Don't forget these people have made their homes in Chicago where some have worked at Steppenwolf for years. They want to go home. They've stuck it out longer than ever intended. Bravo to them.

"I know now that theatre saved my life." - Susan Stroman

#20

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 7:01pm

Glad to see the replacements coming from within Steppenwolf, for the most part. Jim and Molly are both ensemble members and I've seen Parsons in at least one show there.

"Love Life. Live." Michael Bennett

#21

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 7:16pm

Hmmm. I'm actually now kind of glad my tickets are for the end of June.

Can anyone hear the name Estelle Parsons without thinking of Bonnie and Clyde?

#22

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 8:02pm

I'm going to try to catch this again either Tuesday or Wednesday night this week, so I can catch the original cast one last time.

The last time I saw the show was the first preview, so I really want to get their performances back in my memory again before checking out the replacements, who I am sure will be fabulous as well.

If anyone is planning on being there Tuesday or Wednesday night this week, let me know and I'd love to say hello.

"Winning a Tony this year is like winning Best Attendance in third grade: no one will care but the winner and their mom."
-Kad

"I have also met him in person, and I find him to be quite funny actually. Arrogant and often misinformed, but still funny."
-bjh2114 (on Michael Riedel)

#23

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 8:40pm

So I guess I'm the only who takes one look at Estelle Parsons and can think of nothing but her shrieking "ROSEANNE! JACKIE!"?

"Hey little girls, look at all the men in shiny shirts and no wives!" - Jackie Hoffman, Xanadu, 19 Feb 2008

#24

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 9:17pm

I'm a little confused as to why everyone is so shocked Dunnagan, Reed, and a large chunk of the original cast are leaving the day of the Tonys. I was under the impression this had been public knowledge for months now?

Parsons is brilliant casting. She's the polar opposite of Dunnagan in terms of acting style, so it's going to make the piece all the more incredibly enthralling to see the new dynamic she brings to the show and to the character of Violet.

Tonya Pinkins: Then we had a "Lot's Wife" last June that was my personal favorite. I'm still trying to get them to let me sing it at some performance where we get to sing an excerpt that's gone.
Tony Kushner: You can sing it at my funeral.

#25

re: Estelle Parsons to join AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY cast

Posted: 6/9/08 at 9:21pm

somethingwicked, there had not been press releases about Dunagan and Reed's departures until today, so nothing is public knowledge simply by having overheard a rumor from someone on the board. Until there's a press release, it is not public knowledge.

Updated On: 6/9/08 at 09:21 PM

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