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

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

Snooze.

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

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.

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

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.

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. 

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.