O'Connell & Coon in Cromer-helmed AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY reading

[jacobsnchz14]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:05am

BROADWAY NEWS EXCLUSIVE: "Exclusive: David Cromer to direct industry reading of ‘August: Osage County’" by Broadway News' Andy Lefkowitz - "An industry presentation of Tracy Letts’ 2008 Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning comic drama “August: Osage County” will be held on Nov. 10 in New York City, Broadway News has learned exclusively. Tony winner David Cromer will direct the invite-only reading, which is being shepherded by the play’s original Tony-winning producer, Jeffrey Richards.

The cast of the reading will include Tony winner Deirdre O’Connell, Tony nominee Carrie Coon, Betty Gilpin, Susan Pourfar and Ann Dowd, with Michael O’Keefe, Morgan Spector, Lily McInery, John Judd, Will Brill, Josh Lucas, Alexandra Lemus and Jeb Kreager." https://bway.ly/ena3cq

Updated On: 11/10/23 at 10:05 AM

[ColorTheHours048]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:09am

If it can’t be Metcalf, I’m glad it’s O’Connell. But oh man, this is a role Carrie Coon was born to play. Please let this production happen.

[barcelona20]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:10am

Snooze.

[TotallyEffed]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:12am

I’m shaking.

[QueenAlice]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:16am

Sally Field did an earlier reading. I don't think this show is commercially viable without a major name somewhere in the cast.

[WiCkEDrOcKS]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:53am

QueenAlice said: "Sally Field did an earlier reading. I don't think this show is commercially viable without a major name somewhere in the cast."

I obviously LOVE O'Connell - but would kill for this to still be a Sally Field vehicle, if it materializes into a full production.

(Maybe even with O'Connell as her alternate or standby? That would get me to go more than once...)

[JasonC3]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 10:55am

I love this show and am eager for any decent remounting of it, but I, too, would love to see Metcalf as a part of it.

[sbflyfan]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 11:22am

I still want to see Jessica Lange play Violet. Somehow, somewhere.

Updated On: 11/10/23 at 11:22 AM

[TalksAboutBruno]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 11:35am

My brain thought Jodie Comer instead of "Cromer" and I screamed.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 12:00pm

Saw this show twice on Broadway and would totally see it again. Brilliant. How the movie missed all of it is such a tragedy. Id be curious to see what Cromer could do 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 12:21pm

QueenAlice said: "I don't think this show is commercially viable without a major name somewhere in the cast."

This.

O'Connell feels like a placeholder to me for a reading (as in, they have a bigger name interested who just isn't avail for a reading). And I don't think of Coon, Dowd, Gilpin, or Josh Lucas as "major names"...they may be somewhat recognizeable, but they're not people that the general buying public cares about.

[RentBoy86]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 12:46pm

But I think the Into the Woods model has proven to work. If you cast enough notable theater famous people together in one show it’ll drum up interest. 
 

This won’t be a mega fire hit but I could see this selling decently with the theater elite 

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 1:26pm

O'Connell is an extraordinary actress who deserves to play this role on Broadway. She would crush it. As much as I love Sally Field, I feel we have seen all her colors. She plays every meltdown and rage the same way. Face quivering, stuttering. I see Sybil, "the people, the people, the people." Every performance has been similar. Same with Lange. I adore her but she has the same mannerisms for every "big" scene. I actually think both actresses shine more when playing more nuanced parts. 

Coon would be marvelous too. 

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 1:40pm

RentBoy86 said: "But I think the Into the Woods model has proven to work. If you cast enough notable theater famous people together in one show it’ll drum up interest."

WOODS and AUGUST are apples & oranges. WOODS built momentum off Bareilles and the reviews, and those who couldn't get in to see SB & had affection for the property could sustain it decently enough. We've seen plenty of plays try to drum up interest with so-called "notable theatre people" and it rarely ever works.

I don't really expect lightning to strike twice on a non-famous AUGUST cast as it did with the original.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 11/10/23 at 4:16pm

I don't really care about commercially viable - as long as it runs long enough for me to bask in the glory of this piece.  I'd be happy with the reading cast - and over the moon if Metcalf were in the mix.