Odet's 'The Country Girl' with Morgan Freeman Opens April 27

Mike Nichols returns to Broadway this spring to direct Morgan Freeman, Frances McDormand and Peter Gallagher in Clifford Odets's The Country Girl.  The production will play a limited engagement on Broadway at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th Street) beginning Thursday, April 3 and open on Sunday, April 27.

The cast also features Chip Zien (Into the Woods), Remy Auberjonois (Frost/Nixon), Anna Camp (The Scene at Second Stage), and Lucas Caleb Rooney (Henry IV at Lincoln Center).  Additional casting will be announced shortly.

The creative team is composed of Tony Award winner Tim Hatley (scenic design), Academy Award nominee Albert Wolsky (costume design), Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (lighting design) Acme Sound Partners (sound design) and David Brian Brown (hair design).

 Tickets will be available exclusively to American Express cardholders beginning February 6 with a general on sale date of February 23. Tickets will be available via Telecharge on the internet at www.telecharge.com or by phone at (212) 239-6200.  Ticket prices range from $76.50 - $100.

"The first major New York production in more than thirty years, The Country Girl is a classic backstage story.  The title character, Georgie (Frances McDormand), is married to actor Frank Elgin (Morgan Freeman), once a great theatre star, now down on his luck.  When Frank is offered a major role by hotshot director Bernie Dodd (Peter Gallagher), he has the chance to make a major comeback," explain press notes.

Morgan Freeman last appeared on Broadway in The Gospel at Colonus in 1988, and Frances McDormand last appeared on Broadway the same season in A Streetcar Named Desire.  Peter Gallagher was last seen on Broadway in Noises Off in 2001.

Director Mike Nichols, Academy Award-winner and eight-time Tony Award-winner, most recently for the smash hit musical Monty Python's Spamalot, recently directed Charlie Wilson's War with Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Julia Roberts.

One of Clifford Odets's last plays, The Country Girl premiered to great acclaim and box office success on Broadway in 1950.  A movie version of The Country Girl was released in 1954 and received two Academy Awards. The Country Girl will be produced on Broadway by Ostar Productions and Bob Boyett.

Morgan Freeman

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