AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY starring Academy Award Winner Estelle Parsons
Tracy Letts' 2008 Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize Winning Play is Coming to The Bushnell November 17-22.
August: Osage County, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play that tells the bitingly funny and sensationally entertaining tale of the Weston family of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, is coming to The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts in Hartford November 17-22, 2009 for eight performances only. This Connecticut premiere is part of The Hartford Financial Services Group Broadway Series. Tickets are $15-$65 and are on sale now by visiting www.bushnell.org, calling (860) 987-5900, or at The Bushnell Box Office at 166 Capitol Avenue, Hartford. Tickets for groups of 20 or more are available by calling (860) 987-5959.
The play stars Academy Award-winner Estelle Parsons in the role of the family matriarch, Violet. Ms. Parsons played Violet in the Broadway production of August: Osage County from June 2008-May 2009, where The New York Times raved, “Estelle Parsons gives a superb performance…sends chills down your spine. It may prove to be a crowning moment in an illustrious career."
Written by 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts (Superior Donuts, Man From Nebraska, Killer Joe, Bug), this grand and gripping new play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead after the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with Violet, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center of the storm.
Directed by 2008 Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro, August: Osage County is a rare theatrical event: a large-scale work filled with 13 unforgettable characters, a powerful tragicomedy told with unflinching honesty and the unforgettable breakthrough of a major American playwright. August: Osage County premiered and was produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2007.
Nominated for seven Tony Awards and winning five, including Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Director, along with Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play, Best Director and Best Scenic Design, August: Osage County opened at the Imperial Theatre Broadway on December 4, 2007, to wide critical acclaim. The New York Times called August: Osage County “The most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years,” and it was voted The #1 Play of the Year by Time, The Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and TimeOut New York. After a sold-out engagement at the Imperial Theatre, the show re-opened at the Music Box Theatre on April 29th, 2008. August: Osage County closed on Broadway on June 28, 2009 after 648 performances and 18 previews, surpassing The Heidi Chronicles, Master Class, The Real Thing, and Doubt, among many others, to become one of the longest running plays in Broadway history.
The show, which the London critics hailed as “the must-see play of the year - possibly a lifetime,” opened in London to rave reviews at The National Theatre on November 26, 2008, where it played a limited eight-week engagement featuring members of the original Broadway company. The London production was nominated for four Olivier Awards, winning one (Best Scenic Design).
The show’s creative team includes Tony Award winner Todd Rosenthal (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), Ann G. Wrightson (lights), Richard Woodbury (sound) and David Singer (original music).
August: Osage County is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler and Jerry Frankel.
About The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts
The Bushnell is Connecticut’s premier performing arts center, hosting more than 350 events yearly, including major Broadway tours, symphony orchestras, family presentations, local arts and community events. The Bushnell is home to two theaters- the historic 2,800-seat Mortensen Hall, and the 907-seat Belding Theater, a state-of-the-art performance hall that opened in 2001. The Bushnell’s nationally recognized, award-winning, arts-in-education program, PARTNERS® (Partners in Arts and Education Revitalizing Schools), now in its 17th year, is a cross-community educational effort serving 21 schools and educational organizations in 8 districts across Connecticut. The Bushnell opened in January 1930 and is a non-profit organization. For more information, call The Bushnell at (860) 987-6000, The Bushnell Box Office at (860) 987-5900 or visit our website at www.bushnell.org.
With support from the Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism.