'August: Osage County' Extends 3 Weeks to Recoup Strike Loss

Steppenwolf Theatre Company today announced plans to extend its New York production of August: Osage County by three weeks to help recover lost dates from the strike by Local One stagehands.  The ongoing strike has prompted August: Osage County to indefinitely postpone its November 20, 2007 opening at the Imperial Theatre (249 W 45th St).  The added performances will extend August's Broadway run through March 9, 2008.

The highly-anticipated new American play by Pulitzer Prize finalist and Steppenwolf ensemble member Tracy Letts (Bug, Killer Joe) was to make its Broadway premiere direct from a sold-out engagement at Steppenwolf Theatre Company.  August: Osage County began previews on October 30, 2007, but performances were halted when the strike by Local One stagehands began on November 10, 2007.

"When their patriarch vanishes, the Weston clan must return to their three-story home in rural Oklahoma to get to the heart of the matter. With rich insight and brilliant humor, Letts paints a vivid portrait of a Midwestern family at a turning point," explain press notes.

August: Osage County is directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Anna D. Shapiro (The Pain and the Itch, Iron).  The design team includes Todd Rosenthal (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), Ann Wrightson (lights), Richard Woodbury (sound) and David Singer (original music).

Most of the cast from the original Steppenwolf production reprise their roles for the Broadway run:  Ian Barford (Little Voice), Deanna Dunagan (Bounce, I Never Sang for My Father), Kimberly Guerrero ("Seinfeld," "The Sopranos"), Francis Guinan (Constantine), Dennis Letts (Infamous, Cast Away), Mariann Mayberry (Metamorphoses), Amy Morton (One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), Sally Murphy (Carousel, Fiddler on the Roof), Jeff Perry ("Grey's Anatomy," The Caretaker), Rondi Reed (Little Voice), and Troy West (Picasso at the Lapin Agile).  Joining the Broadway cast are Brian Kerwin ("Big Love," "Desperate Housewives") and Madeleine Martin ("Californication").

The Steppenwolf Theatre Company production of August: Osage County is produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler, Jerry Frankel, Ostar Productions, Jennifer Manocherian, The Weinstein Company, Debra Black/Daryl Roth, Ronald & Marc Frankel/Barbara Freitag, and Rick Steiner/Staton Bell Group.