An Israeli August: Osage County

Wow, August: Osage County really is spanning the globe. I've read about the productions in London and Australia and Portugal. But somehow I missed this one. In January, there was a production in Tel Aviv, at Habima, Israel's national theatre.

I think Tracy Letts' Tony and Pulitzer-winning play would translate well into Hebrew, or any other language. After all, it's about the interaction between parents and children, husband and wives, siblings. Those are pretty universal themes.

(Except there's no letter "w" in Hebrew, so the "Weston" family of the play would probably sound more like "Veston.")

Gila Almagor, one of Israel's leading actresses, played the acid-tongued, pill-popping, cancer-stricken matriarch Violet Weston. You might remember Almagor from the Steven Spielberg movie Munich, in which she played the mother of Mossad agent Eric Bana.

In this interview, Almagor talks about how her mother's struggle with mental illness informed her portrayal of Violet.

And this is a tv commercial for the play. My Hebrew's extremely rusty but it starts out by describing the plot.

Breaking my bloggers block

Okay, I've started and abandoned a couple of posts over the past couple of days. Is there such a thing as bloggers block? I might have it. Or maybe because I have a big theatre trip coming up, I'm just conserving my creative energy.

But there are a few things on my mind. First, a couple of trivia questions:

When Rondi Reed appeared in the last performance of August: Osage County in the afternoon, followed by an Actors Fund benefit of Wicked that evening, someone asked whether anyone else had ever done a Broadway play and musical on the same day. Anyone know the answer? I bet it doesn't happen often!

Has anyone ever been successful at writing a musical's book and music? The only example I could find was Rupert Holmes, who wrote the Tony-winning book, music and lyrics for The Mystery of Edwin Drood. Although Drood was based on an unfinished work by Charles Dickens, so you could say he had a little help with the book.

Now, a couple of interesting observations from producer and fellow blogger Ken Davenport:

First, he summarizes a Broadway League report on touring productions. I was surprised that the number of tickets sold has been declining for six years - predating the recession. Has something changed over the past half-decade in the types of shows that makes them less appealing? Is it ticket prices going north of $100 for the best seats? I don't know. But as someone who sees a lot of shows on the road, the statistic troubles me.

At Just Shows to Go You, Patrick Lee has an interview with Ken, and it was interesting to read his thoughts on what might have kept the Jason Robert Brown musical 13 from becoming a hit. I saw the show last fall and thoroughly enjoyed it.

I wonder if it would have had a better chance opening in the spring and playing through the summer. And while it attracted a lot of attention for its all-teen cast and band, what really drew me in was the story - a Jewish kid from New York who moves to a very Gentile Indiana town. As I said in my review, the gefilte-fish-out-of-water aspect is something we can all relate to, no matter what our age.

Finally, I noticed my friend and fellow blogger Chris, of Everything I Know I Learned From Musicals, will be taking in a staged reading of the under-development musical Tales of the City this weekend. I've only read the first volume of Armistead Maupin's Tales series but I really enjoyed it. And it takes place in San Francisco - one of my favorite cities.

I'm eagerly awaiting Chris' report. Until then, Frank Rizzo at The Hartford Courant has a rundown of the cast for the reading, at the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center. He also talked with Jason Sellards and John Garden, of the Scissor Sisters, who are writing the music.

Goodbye to August on Broadway

As a tribute to this afternoon's final Broadway performance of August: Osage County, I wanted to list my favorite lines from Tracy Letts' play. Unfortunately, I can't find my copy. Someday I'd like to have enough bookshelves to display all of my books - but that day won't be today.

Instead, here's a Steppenwolf Theatre Company video with cast members Jeff Perry, Francis Guinan, Amy Morton and Mariann Mayberry, who talk about bringing a new play from Chicago to New York without any "movie stars."



You can find more videos on the Steppenwolf site, including all the Tony acceptance speeches from Letts, Deanna Dunagan, Rondi Reed, set designer Todd Rosenthal and director Anna D. Shapiro.

Also, the American Theatre Wing's Working in the Theatre program has a great hourlong video featuring a panel discussion with Morton, Perry and Reed.

And if you didn't get a chance to see the play on Broadway or in Chicago, you can catch up with it on tour. There'll be a different cast but the same memorable characters and witty, insightful dialog.

Finally, I can't say goodbye to August on Broadway without sharing Rondi Reed's Tony acceptance speech. I've talked with her twice and Reed, currently playing Madame Morrible in Wicked, is a genuinely warm and friendly person. Definitely a Gratuitous Violins favorite.

One of my favorite scenes happens early on, when her character, Mattie Fae Aiken, is sitting on the couch with Guinan, who plays her husband, Charlie. I was laughing hysterically. Like the great actors they are, they made their banter look so natural, so real.

When I met Reed at the stage door afterward, I mentioned that scene and she told me how much it helped that she and Guinan had known each other and worked together for years.

Women and playwrighting

So, I know I'm a bit late with this but I wanted to say something about the study by a Princeton University student on why female playwrights find it so difficult to get their work produced.

The study's author, Emily Glassberg Sands, found some validity to the argument that there simply are more male playwrights and they tend to be more prolific. She also says that female artistic directors and literary managers tend to be harder on female playwrights, which I guess feeds into the stereotype that we're always tougher on "our own."

Sands examined the 329 plays and musicals produced on Broadway over the past 10 years. She found that shows written by women have sold more tickets and tend to be more profitable overall. But they weren't kept running any longer than less-profitable plays written by men.

Here's an article from Salon discussing the report. One of the comments makes an interesting point that playwrights have to sell themselves and culturally, women have been discouraged from pushing themselves agressively. Blogger Monica Reida, at Fragments, offers some thoughts as a reader and writer of plays.

Over the past 2 1/2 years of theatergoing I've seen about 40 plays, only a handful of which have been written by women.

Three of those I saw at Trinity Repertory Company: Kathleen Tolan's Memory House, Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House and Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun. (During that time, Trinity Rep has produced other plays by women that I didn't see.) In New York, I've seen Liz Flahive's From Up Here off-Broadway and Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage on Broadway.

(And one of my favorite musicals, Wicked, was written by a woman, Winnie Holzman, who also wrote the short-lived tv series My So-Called Life. Yeah, I know Wicked is based on a novel by Gregory Maguire. But there's way more Holzman than Maguire.)

I think part of the issue is that so few new plays of any kind get produced. Regional theatre companies tend to rely on the classics, on plays that have been theatre staples for the past hundred years or so, and we're talking about works written almost exclusively by men.

Since historically women have been the primary caregivers, we may simply have focused our literary ambitions elsewhere - toward novels, memoirs, poetry, short stories, which are far less of a collaborative enterprise.

Of course I'd like to see more plays by women, just as I'd like to see more plays by writers who have diverse backgrounds and life experiences, who deal with diverse subjects. I mean, I wouldn't want to see 80 plays about people exactly like me. That would get pretty tiresome.

And we should definitely do everything we can to encourage writers - male and female - to write for the theatre. I was glad to read earlier this year about Fidelity's FutureStage program, which gives students in New York City an introduction to acting, playwrighting and directing.

But I have to tell you, the one play that illuminates the lives of women like no other work I've seen was written by a man - Tracy Letts' August: Osage County, which ends its Broadway run tomorrow.

Broadway in Boston 2009-2010

Broadway Across America finally released its Boston lineup for 2009-2010 this week. There are a few shows I really want to see that we're not getting in Providence, (which isn't part of BAA) including August: Osage County.

(But we are getting Xanadu in Providence, so life's a tradeoff. Sometime I would like to find out how these things work, how the producers decide which shows to put in which cities. For example, why is Little House on the Prairie bypassing the Northeast, except for the Paper Mill Playhouse in New Jersey?)

Also coming to Boston are the national tours of In the Heights and Dreamgirls. They're both arriving in the winter, so let's hope it's a mild one.

I really enjoyed In the Heights on Broadway, the 2008 Tony winner for Best Musical. The story, set in a Latino neighborhood in New York City, is a joyous reminder of the vitality that immigrants bring to this country, along with their hopes and dreams. And it's got great music and choreography, too. In the Heights plays at the Opera House Jan. 12-24.

I've only seen the movie Dreamgirls, so I'm very interested in catching the stage version that tells the story of a Supremes-like singing group. The national tour is being launched at the Apollo Theater in November. Dreamgirls is playing at the Colonial Theatre Feb. 2-14.

Luckily, I won't have to worry about the weather by the time August: Osage County comes to the Colonial, from May 4-16. As I mentioned the other day, I only had a chance to see it once in New York so I'm looking forward to a return visit with the dysfunctional Weston family.

I can also recommend Fiddler on the Roof, which is coming to the Opera House from Nov. 3-15. It was a thrill to see the musical in Providence last February, with 73-year-old Chaim Topol as Tevye. Apparently his farewell tour is quite extensive. And he should keep doing it as long as he can - he's still terrific in the role.

There is one other musical coming to Boston that I'm kind of curious about: Cats, which will be at the Colonial April 13-18. I've never seen it and, truth be told, while I like cats I'm really much more of a dog person. If they ever make a musical called Dogs, I will be there.

Still, I'm kind of curious about a show that played 18 years on Broadway. And according to the Web site: "There's no better way to introduce your family to the wonders of live theater than with the magic, the mystery, the memory of CATS."

August: Osage County closing in June

Sadly, Tracy Letts' Tony and Pulitzer-winning play August: Osage County is closing June 28, after a total of 18 previews and 648 regular performances on Broadway.

I guess I shouldn't be too disappointed.

At a time when most Broadway plays have limited runs, August: Osage County, which began life at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company, beat the odds. It was an original, contemporary American drama with an open-ended run. It will have played 18 previews and 648 regular performances since October 2007, first at the Imperial and then at the Music Box.

I still remember how excited I was about this play after reading Steve On Broadway's review of the Steppenwolf production, in August 2007, fittingly enough.

Luckily, one of my trips to Broadway coincided with the beginning of previews for August: Osage County. It was one of my most memorable theatre experiences. I'm so grateful I was able to see the play with its original cast, including the playwright's father, Dennis Letts, several months before he passed away.

What a wonderful ensemble, with witty, insightful dialog and characters and story that resonate. The 3 1/2 hours went by so quickly. I especially appreciate the way Tracy Letts illuminates the lives of women who find themselves pushed and pulled between the competing roles of wife, mother, daughter.

The national tour of August: Osage County kicks off in Denver in July, and if it comes near you, definitely go see it. I'm happy that it's coming to Boston's Colonial Theatre from May 4-16, 2010.

Estelle Parsons, who took over from Tony-winner Deanna Dunagan on Broadway, will play family matriarch Violet Weston. Although I never saw Parsons in the role, the Oscar-winner for Bonnie and Clyde is supposed to be terrific.

It's pretty amazing to think that come July, there won't be any American plays on Broadway. When Mary Stuart ends its limited run on Aug. 16, the only play on Broadway will be a very funny British import, The 39 Steps, until Sept. 15, when a revival of The Royal Family opens at the Friedman Theatre.

It's not that there aren't any great American plays in New York. I'm excited about seeing David Cromer's acclaimed production of Our Town, another transfer from the Windy City, at the Barrow Street Theatre in Greenwich Village next month.

(One of the things that August: Osage County made me realize is that in addition to being hog butcher to the world, Chicago has a lot of great theatre and wonderful actors.)

And if you want to see a contemporary American drama on Broadway, well you'll have to wait until sometime in September, when Letts' Superior Donuts, another play that originated at Steppenwolf, begins previews. It's definitely on my list.

The family that writes together

During my trip to Borders today I picked up a copy of Billie Letts' latest novel, Made in the U.S.A., which just came out in paperback.

(I said on Twitter that 90 percent of the cds and dvds are gone. I think it's more like 99 percent. Fewer reasons to keep my Borders Visa. I hope they can hold on because I don't like buying online. I enjoy leaving my apartment and browsing in an actual bricks-and-morter store. Sigh.)

Anyway, this is the book that Letts dedicated to her late husband, Dennis Letts, whom she called "my Broadway star." Dennis Letts played the role of family patriarch Beverly Weston on Broadway in son Tracy's Pulitzer and Tony-winning August: Osage County until shortly before he passed away, in February 2008.

Made in the U.S.A. tells the story of 15-year-old girl and her 11-year-old brother in Spearfish, South Dakota, who embark on a journey in search of their father after their guardian falls dead in a Wal-Mart. (Oddly, a Wal-Mart also plays a role in one of Letts' previous novels, Where the Heart Is. Hmmm.)

The paperback edition has an interview with the author and Letts is asked whether there are parallels between her novels and her son's plays. Here's what she had to say:

"Yes, in that we tend to write about nontraditional families. In his first two plays I would tease and tell him that the characters in his work ended up naked or dead. (Not too much of a stretch, really.) But in his last three plays, he's strayed away from violence and carnage. Now it seems I've begun working in a darker vein than he is."

John Cullum pulls double duty

I have a soft spot for John Cullum. We go way back - in the 1980s I saw him on stage in Syracuse, in Look Homeward, Angel. This was years before I saw him on Broadway in 110 in the Shade.

So I really enjoyed this interview Jeff Lunden from NPR did with the 79-year-old Cullum about what it's like to perform in two plays at once.

As patriarch Beverly Weston, Cullum has the opening scene in August: Osage County. The 3 1/2-hour play begins at 7:30. But he's only on stage at Broadway's Music Box Theatre for about 15 minutes. Then that's it, he's done. Well, not really.

Six days a week, the two-time Tony winner leaves the Music Box on West 45th Street, between Broadway and 8th Avenue, and takes a brisk 11-minute walk to the Harold Clurman Theatre on 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues. (New York magazine has a timeline.)

He arrives at the off-Broadway venue roughly 20 minutes before curtain time for his second role of the evening. In Heroes, Cullum portrays one of three World War I veterans who dream of escaping from an old-soldiers home. (That's him on the right, with costars Jonathan Hogan and Ron Holgate.)

There's a nice interactive map showing Cullum's route and you can hear more from him at several points along the way. As he passes the Majestic Theatre, for example, he talks about auditioning for his first Broadway role, in Camelot, in 1960. "It was a hard drinking, wild partying extravagant musical."

I have to hand it to him. Cullum could have just done his August: Osage County bit and gone home. But he truly loves being on stage:

"More people see you in one episode of a big TV series than will ever see you [in] your entire career onstage," he says. "Something very strange about that. But look at how many actors come back to New York to recharge their batteries, so to speak. Or else they just want to do stuff onstage, because there's nothing quite like performing in front of a live audience. It's infectious."

Of course, Cullum isn't the only actor who's pulled double duty. In a 2006 interview with the American Theatre Wing's Downstage Center program, Cynthia Nixon talks about appearing simultaneously in Hurlyburly and The Real Thing for a span of about three months in 1984.

(And if the person from the American Theatre Wing who left a comment yesterday is reading this, I hope Downstage Center returns soon!)

Stepping into Violet's slippers

So Phylicia Rashad is taking over the role of acerbic, pill-popping matriarch Violet Weston in the Broadway production of August: Osage County starting May 26. She'll replace Estelle Parsons, who will be part of the Tony and Pulitzer-winner's national tour this summer.

I only know Rashad from The Cosby Show and A Raisin in the Sun on television. I can't say whether this is an inspired move on the part of the producers or a misguided piece of stunt casting.

And I know the audience might find it difficult to suspend disbelief having a black actress on stage with white children and a white sister. It might make August: Osage County seem primarily about race when it's not about that at all. (Update: Ok, there is a Native American character and it is partly about race. I've only seen the play once and that was 18 months ago, so I'll admit I've forgotten Violet's racially charged dialog.)

Still, I do find the prospect of an African-American Violet Weston intriguing. And Rashad is a veteran stage actress, winner of a Tony for her portrayal of Lena Younger in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun.

Over the past couple of years, I've seen quite a bit of colorblind and nontraditional casting. Trinity Repertory Company has a tradition of doing it, so I've seen plays with women in roles that have been written for men and African-American actors playing historical figures who were white.

On Broadway, I saw Audra McDonald in 110 in the Shade and she was wonderful. The fact that white actors played her father and one of her brothers didn't bother me at all. Maybe because it was a musical or the story, involving a mysterious stranger, had a fantasy quality, but I thought the colorblind casting worked.

With August: Osage County, the aspects of Tracy Letts' play that were the most memorable were the ones about family: the relationships between parents and children, between husband and wife, and among siblings. What makes this family interesting is their history - the secrets they keep, the things that bind them together and tear them apart.

When it works, nontraditional, colorblind casting offers an opportunity for actors and the audience to stretch themselves. Whether it'll work in this case, I don't know. But if Rashad can pull it off, more power to her.

Her 'Broadway Star'

I was at a bookstore the other day browsing through the fiction and saw Made in the U.S.A. by Billie Letts. The dedication made me smile:
To Dennis, my "Broadway Star,"
who trusted the wonder of love

All I could think was awww, what a sweet tribute to her husband. Dennis Letts passed away one year ago this month. I can still picture him sitting at that desk in the opening scene of August: Osage County.

The last novel of Billie Letts' that I read was Where the Heart Is, and I really enjoyed it. I'm long overdue for a second. I think I'll put this one on my to-read list when the paperback comes out in May.

Wicked flies out of Chicago

After 1,500 performances in 3 1/2 years, the city of Chicago bid farewell to its sitdown production of Wicked today.

Chris Jones, of the Chicago Tribune's Theatre Loop blog, says there were some people who thought the city couldn't support a big show for an extended period of time. They questioned the wisdom of spending $10 million to create a Chicago company. But Wicked turned out to be immensely profitable.

Here's part of how they did it:

"[Producer David] Stone and his partners marketed Wicked on freeway billboards in Wisconsin and Indiana, and in airports in Michigan. Unlike most producers, they kept the touring production out of cities that might have impinged on Chicago. They were rewarded with a flood of out-of-state visitors. On Amtrak, a green Wicked bag became almost as common a sight as an American Girl doll."

Well, I guess that's one downside of a sitdown production that I hadn't thought about.

It's great for Chicago and for everyone who could hop on the freeway or a plane or an Amtrak train. But what about the theatergoers in Wisconsin, Michigan and Indiana who couldn't make it to the Windy City to see the musical? Maybe now, the tour will come to a closer location and they'll have a chance.

And in the Chicago Sun-Times, Rondi Reed looks back at the experience of portraying Madame Morrible.

Reed left the Chicago production for the role of Mattie Fae Aiken in Steppenwolf's August: Osage County, picked up a Tony award when the play transferred to Broadway, returned to Wicked, then left again to go with the A:OC cast to London, where last week they finished up a sold-out run at the National Theatre. Whew, she's had an exciting couple of years!

Here's part of what she had to say:

"To be a part of that theatrical juggernaut is something that comes along once in a blue moon. I had never done such a long run before, either -- never been asked to be so consistent, so disciplined, have the kind of stamina and heart it takes to play on that level.

"You are responsible not just to yourself, but to the other 125 people who show up for each performance behind the scenes -- in the orchestra pit, the wardrobe room, the sound board, the management office, the ones pulling the ropes, making it all happen and making it seem like magic in the process."

"And oddly enough, doing Wicked in the 2,200-seat Oriental prepared me for August, so that a Broadway theater didn't overwhelm me. It taught me about the size of performance needed to reach the back rows and still maintain integrity."

Interestingly, in August, Jones wrote "don't be surprised if she [Reed] appears as Mme. Morrible on Broadway next year." And Reed's Wikipedia entry says that she's scheduled to reprise her role as Madame Morrible in the Broadway production in early spring. I haven't seen Wicked on Broadway ... yet.

Inquiring minds want to know

Whenever I check my statcounter to see which Google queries have brought readers to my blog I often find that I've answered about 90 percent of their question. Close, but no cigar. I wish I could run after those people and say, "Wait, give me another chance!"

So as one of my blogging resolutions for 2009, I'm going to try to answer questions from readers on a more regular basis to supply that missing 10 percent. Naturally, I get a lot of questions about theatre and Broadway shows, which I can usually answer; a lot about violins, which I can't; and some random ones about movies, books or tv shows. (Apparently, the movie Ice Castles has a pretty big fan base.)

In the meantime, here are a few recent ones:

1.) Does Daniel Radcliffe come out after shows to sign autographs? I get a lot of queries about whether actors come to the stage door to sign Playbills after a Broadway show. Usually, they will, although matinees can be dicey. And this year, I've had some notable disappointments. But yes, I did get Daniel Radcliffe's autograph after an evening performance of Equus. You can read about it here. And to the person who asked, Leah Michele is DEFINITELY NOT mean at the stage door! Why would you think that? She was very nice to everyone when I met her after a matinee of Spring Awakening in the summer of 2007.

2.) Is the aisle seat good at a Broadway theatre? Well, for me, there's nothing like being smack dab in the middle of the orchestra, in the first few rows. But yes, I think aisle seats are generally good, especially if you think you'll need to make a quick exit. Although there's been a disturbing trend of shows charging more to sit on the aisle. Unless you have a medical reason or you want to reach out and touch the elephant during the parade of animals that opens The Lion King, (And who doesn't!) I'm not sure it's worth the extra money.

3.) Can Spring Awakening be saved from closing? January is going to be a very dark month for Broadway. A handful of long-running musicals are closing and other shows are finishing up their limited runs. At this point, I don't think any of them can be saved, including Spring Awakening. The last performance for the 2007 Tony winning Best Musical will take place on Jan. 18. But don't lose hope. You can still catch it, along with many other terrific Broadway shows, on tour. It's probably coming somewhere near you. Go here for more information.

4.) Can you take pictures at the Radio City Christmas Spectacular? Sadly, yes. At least at the performance I attended. While it clearly states on the show's Web site that photography is forbidden, (as it is in all Broadway theatres and probably all theatres everywhere) people were snapping away at will throughout the performance and no one appeared to be stopping them. But I did attend a 10 a.m. show and Radio City Music Hall wasn't very crowded. Maybe the ushers are more diligent later in the day.

5.) What does Johnna symbolize in August: Osage County? Good question. Johnna, originally played on Broadway by Kimberly Guerrero, is the Native American housekeeper hired by family patriarch Beverly Weston to look after his sick, pill-popping wife. The play takes place in Oklahoma and Johnna is a representative of the original occupants of the land. I think she also symbolizes the importance of family. Playwright Tracy Letts describes her role in an interview with The Times of London.

6.) Where did Carrie Bradshaw go to college? Did she have any family? Where did she grow up? Michael Patrick King, the executive producer of Sex and the City always kept the origins of Carrie and her pals a little mysterious, as if their lives didn't really begin until they moved to Manhattan. Carrie apparently mentioned in one episode that her father left her mother when she was 5 years old and she may have grown up close to New York and gone to college in the city. I'm guessing New York University, but that's just a guess. Here are some more hints.

7.) What's the town in Massachusetts in the Seinfeld finale? This is one of those questions where I smack my forehead (figuratively, not literally). I wrote about watching the final episode of the long-running NBC comedy for the first time this summer, 10 years after it aired. But I never mentioned the specific town in Massachusetts where it takes place. Duh! The NBC corporate jet that Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer are taking to Paris makes an emergency landing in the fictional town of Latham, Massachusetts in the final episode. Here's a rundown on the whole sad incident.

Letts in London

There's a good interview with playwright Tracy Letts at the online magazine MusicOMH, conducted by freelance journalist Natasha Tripney, who also blogs at Interval Drinks. You can read her review here.

Letts talks about bringing August: Osage County to the National Theatre in London for an eight-week run. He says that the Tony and Pulitzer-winning drama, which arrived with most of its Broadway cast intact, is "playing differently" in Britain, and one reason is the U.S. election.

“The world views America with a little more hope and optimism than it has in recent years and I think that changes the reading of the play. It might make it a bit of a period piece but it also makes the play serve as a kind of warning which I still think is very valuable."

Letts also talks about what it was like to have his father, Dennis Letts, appear in the play on Broadway, despite having been recently diagnosed with cancer. (He passed away in February.)

"It was strange, having him in my work place, but delightful, I’m glad we had that time together. He was fascinated by the process, to be around stage actors of this magnitude, of this skill level. Even though he’s only in the first fifteen minutes of the play he came to every rehearsal and watched everything. It was a great experience for him to have at the end of his life, I’m glad he got that chance to do it."

And Letts says that his new play, Superior Donuts, which had a run over the summer at the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, will be coming to New York next year. As a big fan of August: Osage County, I was already hoping to see his next play. And an enthusiastic review from Steve on Broadway sealed the deal. This is on my must-see list for 2009.

There's much more to the interview, so check it out!

England meets the Westons

Tonight, August: Osage County begins previews at London's National Theatre with most of its original Broadway cast intact, including Amy Morton reprising her role as Barbara Weston. To mark the occasion, check out an interview Kris Vire conducted with the Steppenwolf Theatre Company member that appeared earlier this month in Time Out Chicago.

Among other things, Vire asked whether she was done with August after London. Here's what Tony-nominee Morton, who left the Broadway run Oct. 12, had to say about that:

"You know, never say never. They’re talking about a tour. Who knows how long it will last on Broadway? Some of us might go back in, but I absolutely—my back and my neck feel so much better in the last week, I can’t even tell you! I lost about 15 pounds in New York just doing this dang play."

And on fame:

"The great thing about August: Osage County was walking out of the stage door and people saying, “This is my third time seeing it, my fourth time seeing it,” and wanting to talk about it and wanting your autograph because they loved what they saw, not because you’re famous."

And on acting:

"I mean, for as shitty as this business can be and as insulting as it can be, I still believe that acting is a noble profession. And actors get to fall in love, murder, fly, make out with people that aren’t their spouse—they get to do all this stuff on stage that everybody in the world has always wanted to do. Who hasn’t wanted to strangle their mother at one time in their life?"

Making a play for Hollywood

My first introduction to theatre probably came from television, from watching classic musicals when I was a kid. As an adult, movies and television have also served as my introduction to quite a few plays. So I thought this Variety article, about the process of turning a play into a movie, was pretty interesting.

The story ties in with two upcoming movies based on recent Broadway plays: Frost/Nixon, with Michael Sheen and Frank Langella, which opens Dec. 26, and Doubt, starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, which opens Jan. 8.

John Patrick Shanley is no stranger to writing for the big screen. He won an Oscar for Moonstruck. But he says that turning Doubt into a screenplay was "the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. You ask, 'Does the play have a compelling story to tell? Is it a tone poem, or a theatrical trick that could not be replicated on film? Is it basically a character study?' Doubt on one level, is a whodunit. It has that going for it."

Playwright Tracy Letts, who's working on the screenplay of his Pulitzer and Tony-winning August: Osage County, says that part of the challenge lies in translating stage diction to screen dialog. "In plays there is a heightened theatrical quality to language. It doesn't necessarily play on film. It can sound wooden. Without de-boning it, flaying the piece, you have to find a way to translate the language. It's scalpel kind of work."

The article notes that in recent years, stage-to-screen adaptations have been underwhelming at the box office. Part of the problem, in my opinion, is that they can be hard to find at your local multiplex, which insists on putting The Dark Knight or the latest Judd Apatow comedy in six screens. That doesn't leave much room for smaller movies.

At one point, theatre was fertile ground for movies, and the Variety article wonders whether we'll see a comeback. In fact, my all-time favorite movie, Casablanca, was adapted from a play that was never produced, called Everybody Comes to Rick's.

A movie that I loved when I saw it years ago was Plenty, an adaptation of the play by David Hare. It starred Meryl Streep as an Englishwoman whose life in postwar Britain seems to pale in comparison with the war years, which she spent as a Resistance fighter. I'm not sure I even realized that it had been a play.

Today, a lot of the more noteworthy adaptations of plays have been done by HBO, including Angels in America and Wit. Sometimes, those adaptations can be a bit dutiful and dull rather than truly engaging and exhilarating. But I did enjoy Angels in America and Wit, and without HBO, I never would have had a chance to see either one of them.

Part of the question has always been whether you attract established Hollywood stars or stick to the original cast. The History Boys is a play that imported pretty much its entire Broadway cast to the screen. I enjoyed the movie and I appreciated the chance to see the same actors who created those characters on stage. In Frost/Nixon, Sheen and Langella are reprising their Broadway roles.

And the movie version of August: Osage County won't have trouble attracting household names. Producer Jean Doumanian says that while the film hasn't been cast yet, she's been inundated with calls from agents whose big-name clients have seen the play in New York.

But just as on Broadway, the audience for a straight play is smaller than the audience for a musical. I'm hoping that Doubt, and a few years down the line, August: Osage County, can fire up moviegoers. I've never seen Doubt, but August: Osage County, with its witty, blistering dialogue and truly memorable characters, certainly has the capacity to do that.

Veteran Broadway producer Emanuel Azenberg is blunt about the hurdle. "Some people like films with dialogue. But there are only 18 of them, and 94 million want to see the bus that crashes into the plane."

Celebrities behaving badly

It's hard sometimes to keep up with all of the articles at Playbill.com, so I'm glad that Theatre Aficionado at Large wrote about this absolutely outrageous incident. Apparently, last spring Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon were spotted text-messaging during a performance of August: Osage County.

Here's the original story, from the New York Post's gossip column, Page Six:

March 6, 2008 -- ARE overly-cute lovebirds Jake Gyllenhaal and Reese Witherspoon really that busy? An audience member at the Sunday matinee of "August Osage County" looked on in shock as the usually cuddly couple kept their heads down "texting on their BlackBerrys the entire time." It was probably good they "snuck out" at intermission - we're told the other Broadway theatergoers were "much more interested in watching them than the stage."

When it comes to distracting behavior at the theatre, I'm willing to cut the average person some slack. Anyone can forget to turn off their cell phone. Yes, it's disruptive. Yes, in a perfect world, we'd all double-check to make sure our phones are off before the show starts. But we're only human and we make mistakes.

On the other hand, this, well, it's beyond the pale. What possible reason could they have had for text-messaging throughout the play? This isn't passively receiving a call because you forgot to shut off your phone, this is actively engaging in disruptive and rude behavior. If you want to multitask, stay home and do it on the couch in the privacy of your own living room!

In the Playbill article, Susan Martin of the Nederlander Organization, notes that the bright light makes it very annoying to sit next to someone while they're text-messaging. And John Loiacono, house manager at Disney's New Amsterdam Theatre, the home of Mary Poppins, says that while the preshow announcement reminding people to turn off their cell phones doesn't specifically mention text-messaging, that may change.

Now really, is that something you should even have to say? Shouldn't it be obvious? You want to go to the theatre, sit there and enjoy the show. You want to talk on the phone or text-message, go somewhere else!

Reese Witherspoon is 32 years old and Jake Gyllenhaal is 27. We're not talking about a pair of giggly teenagers here. These are adults. Let's put aside for a moment the fact that they're being distracting to everyone around them. Witherspoon and Gyllenhaal are also professional actors - just like the people on stage. It is rude beyond belief for the two of them to be so disrespectful to their colleagues - their fellow actors - who, I'm sure, don't make a fraction of what they earn. It shows how little regard they have for their craft.

There are only two explanations: either the New York Post got it wrong, which is entirely possible. Or, when you achieve a certain level of celebrity apparently you believe that the rules of civilized behavior no longer apply - you can act any way you want in public. I hope it's the former, but I fear that it's the latter.

More August trivia

I've written before about two connections between the acclaimed Broadway play August: Osage County and the acclaimed television series Seinfeld. Well if you're keeping score at home, apparently there's a third link that I didn't realize until this weekend.

Both playwright Tracy Letts and actress Kimberly Guerrero, who plays Native American housekeeper Johnna Monevata in August: Osage County, appeared in separate, classic episodes of the sitcom. I was browsing through Tony winner Rondi Reed's list of credits on the Internet Movie Database, and saw that she also was in a Seinfeld episode, in 1995.

Reed appears in Season 6, in an episode titled "The Kiss Hello" that aired on Feb. 16, 1995. In this episode, Kramer decides to post pictures of all the tenants in the lobby of the building where he and Jerry live, so that everyone can get to know their neighbors, because that's the kind of world he wants to live in. Jerry would just as soon remain anonymous.

As Mary, one of those neighbors, Reed is instantly recognizable by her curly red hair. She only has a couple of lines - she asks Jerry to help her with a package at the very end of the episode. But she does get to give him a nice kiss on the cheek, prompting Jerry to tell Elaine, "See, that's just what I need, more kissing." (That plays into another plot strand: a friend of Elaine's loves to "kiss hello" everyone she meets, a practice that Jerry can't stand.)

Guerrero plays a Native American woman, Winona, whom Jerry dates in an episode from Season 5 called "The Cigar Store Indian," which originally aired on Dec. 9, 1993. And Letts has a very small, background role in "The Strike," an episode from Season 9 that aired on Dec. 18, 1997. It looms large in Seinfeld history because it's the famous "Festivus" episode.

So there you have it. Someday, when I write The Big Book of August: Osage County Trivia, this fascinating bit of information will be included. I wonder if Jerry's been to see the play?

More Tony talk, Part I

I was catching up on the Playbill Radio podcasts while I was working out this morning and I wanted to share some of my favorite quotes from the Tony winners. I know I've said this before, but I'm incredibly happy for Deanna Dunagan and Rondi Reed. I have to admire Patti LuPone, and agree with Lin-Manuel Miranda. And hasn't Anna D. Shapiro just given the definition of a trouper?

"I'm the quintessential late bloomer in my career, I think, and that's been just a ball to experience and hopefully it's not over yet. ... New York has just given me a huge valentine in my career and in my life."
Rondi Reed
Best Featured Actress in a Play
August: Osage County

"The thing that happens on Broadway that you just don't get anywhere else is the enthusiastic reception. Theatergoers leap to their feet after our play, every single performance. They raise their hands over their heads, clapping and cheering. I've never had that happen. Thirty-four years in regional theatre - never."
Deanna Dunagan
Best Actress in a Play
August: Osage County

"Amy Morton is a machine. If she misses a show it's because someone amputated her leg and she's looking for it."
Anna D. Shapiro
Best Director of a Play
August: Osage County

As far as being on stage again, I said to my agent, I don't want to leave the season without knowing when I'm coming back. Because honestly, I'm older and I don't know how long my voice is going to last and I don't want to waste time. I'd rather be on stage and take advantage of theses vocal chords while they're still supple and alive."
Patti LuPone
Best Actress in a Musical
Gypsy

"My job is to write the best possible musical I can and tell the story as well as I know how. On the side, I would like to reintroduce popular music and theater music, which used to be friends a long time ago and I'd like them to be friends again."
Lin-Manuel Miranda
Best Score
In the Heights

This situation is fraught!

Whenever I need to laugh I'm going straight to this video clip from August: Osage County that's on the Tony Awards Web site. Just listening to a few seconds of Rondi Reed's award-winning performance as Aunt Mattie Fae Aiken cracks me up. "I'm havin a cocktail!"

After watching fellow Tony-winner Deanna Dunagan's unforgettable entrance as Violet Weston, and then the hilarious banter between Reed and Francis Guinan, who played her husband, Charlie, I knew I was in for an amazing evening. While their last performance in the show was Sunday, I hope I get to see them on stage again someday.

Also, check out the show's Web site, where the publicity machine has been hard at work since the Tony Awards. August: Osage County is already being touted as "The most celebrated play of the 21st century." Ok, we're still a little early into the century, but at this point, you won't get an argument from me!

My Tony thoughts

Whew, the Tony awards are over! Lots of observations:

Whoppi Goldberg is funny! I'm so happy for Rondi Reed! I love In the Heights! Lin-Manuel Miranda is one classy, talented guy! Patti LuPone is one fierce Mama Rose! Tracy Letts should have been given more time to talk! Paulo Szot is tall! During the musical number for Sunday in the Park with George, I think I saw Daniel Evans' tonsils! Stew has a weird sense of humor!

And a few questions:

What was Boeing Boeing's Mark Rylance talking about in his acceptance speech for Best Actor in a Play? What does Anna Shapiro, who won for best director of a play for August: Osage County, have tattooed on her arm? Why didn't Stephen Sondheim show up to accept his lifetime achievement award? I understand why there's lots of love for musicals, and that was terrific, but couldn't there be a little more love for the plays?

In the Heights was my pick for Best Musical, so I'm ecstatic that it won, and I thought its musical number, "96,000,'' sounded great. I admired and respected Passing Strange but I loved In the Heights. It won my heart and made me want to dance, despite the sad fact that I was apparently born without a sense of rhythm. This is a musical that has a great message in its celebration of a Latino neighborhood at the top of Manhattan: we're a nation of immigrants, and we're better for it.

Plus, Lin-Manuel Miranda's acceptance speech in the form of a rap, when he won the Tony for Best Score for In the Heights, was terrific. And his reference to Stephen Sondheim was so sweet: “Look, Mr. Sondheim, I made a hat where there never was a hat and it’s a Latin hat at that.” Very nice. I hope Miranda stays in musical theatre. The funny thing is, I heard him during the red carpet interviews. He really doesn't talk like a rapper all the time.

Other highlights for me:

I'm thrilled that as expected, the Steppenwolf Theatre Company's production of August: Osage County won for Best Play, Best Director, Best Actress in a Play and Best Featured Actress in a Play. And Todd Rosenthal, winning for Best Scenic Design of a Play, on the Tony preshow, started it all off. Seeing that big old three-story house was the first time I ever had an immediate, visceral reaction to a set on a stage. I was just fascinated by it, by the size and the clutter and the shabbiness, and I'm so happy Rosenthal won.

Rondi Reed winning for Best Featured Actress in a Play was the one I was really, really rooting for, because she's such a wonderful person as well as a great performer. Steve, Doug and I talked to her for at least half an hour after August: Osage County ended one night. She is a warm, funny, gracious, down-to-earth woman. And she is an absolute hoot in this play. (Unfortunately, Sunday was her last performance. She's headed back to Chicago).

The success of August: Osage County, a transplant from Chicago, is truly a testament to the great work being done on stages all over this country. Being on Broadway and winning a Tony must seem like a pipe dream to these actors who toil far from New York. August's Deanna Dunagan, who won for Best Actress in a Play, summed it up perfectly: "After 34 years in regional theater I never even thought about it. I watched it on tv like everyone else."

Hearing from the original cast from Rent was so moving, especially when they were talking about Jonathan Larson and how he came to write the musical at a time when so many people he knew were dying of AIDS, and then his own untimely death. It was cute to see Idina Menzel and her husband, Taye Diggs, who met while they were in Rent, right next to each other. And even though I saw The Lion King, with its incredible parade of animals, on Broadway a month ago, the giraffes are just as thrilling the second time around.

I loved Patti LuPone singing "Everything's Coming Up Roses" from Gypsy. Her standing ovation was well deserved. She is fierce. Laura Benanti and Boyd Gaines looked terrified! They also really deserved their Tonys for Best Featured Actress and Actor in a Musical. I've said before that Benanti gave one of the best performances I've ever seen as she transformed from a shy, awkward teenager into a glamorous, confident stripper.

And LuPone, the Best Actress in a Musical, did have a great acceptance speech: "It's been 29 years!" Let the woman talk! I also liked the way she thanked her husband and son right off the bat, instead of going through her list of agents, producers, etc. So many winners at these awards shows end up having to shout out the names of their loved ones just as the music starts up.

Also, I was glad to see The 39 Steps pick up a couple of Tonys: Mic Pool won for Best Sound Design of a Play, and Kevin Adams won for Best Lighting Design of a Play. It is such a fun, inspired 90 minutes of theatre, and I hope the awards give it a little bounce.

There were a few spots where I thought the Tony producers slipped up.

When Lincoln Center's Andre Bishop accepted the Tony for Best Revival of a Musical for South Pacific, the camera should have been ready to turn immediately to Rodgers & Hammerstein's daughters, who were sitting together in the audience, not 20 seconds after Bishop mentioned their names.

Playwright Tracy Letts should have been given a little more time to accept his Tony for writing August: Osage County. I mean, how often do we get a major new American play on the scale of this one? (Perhaps he should have gotten a little assertiveness training from Patti!)

And the segment where they had Daniel Breaker, James Snyder and Kerry Butler do the little spiel about all of the American Theater Wing's educational programs mentioned the Wing's radio shows but failed to mention that they're available as free downloads from its web site, or as podcasts from iTunes. In fact, why not flash the Web site on the screen? Duh! Missed opportunity!

And what's up with taking the Tony for best choreography out of the televised portion of the ceremony? How can the Tonys not recognize the winner of that category on national television? I mean, so much of Broadway is musicals and choreography is such an important part of why we love them. Anyway, I'm glad that Andy Blankenbuehler won for In the Heights.

Apparently, some of the nominees were surprised that their categories were in the preshow, too. Passing Strange's Stew, who won the Tony for Best Book of a Musical, said he was looking in his pocket for some M&Ms when his name was announced. His speech was lame, so maybe he's serious when he says he was unprepared. And Stew turned me off with the funny nose and glasses he wore when they showed the nominees for Best Actor in a Musical. Ugh.

Ok, I may have more to say later, but that's enough for now. Except that I'm glad some of my favorites: In the Heights, South Pacific, Gypsy and August: Osage County did so well and I'm thrilled I was able to see so many amazing Tony-winning performances. I hope I get to see as many next season.