Bway-Bound 'Dinner?' Reading with Danner, Naughton, Uggams

A first reading for the Broadway-bound stage premiere of the classic 1967 Academy Award-winning film Guess Who's Coming To Dinner will take place in Manhattan on Wednesday, November 14 under the auspices of Jeffrey Finn Productions.  As previously announced, this first-ever stage production based on the celebrated film will be directed by Kenny Leon (A Raisin in the Sun, Gem of the Ocean, Radio Golf) and adapted for the stage by Todd Kreidler from the original Oscar-winning screenplay by William Rose.

The private, invitation-only reading, which will be the first table read for the new script, will take place at an undisclosed location in Manhattan. 

The cast will feature Tony Award winner and two-time Emmy Award winner Blythe Danner as Christina Drayton (the role originated on film by the late Katharine Hepburn); two-time Tony Award nominee Larry Bryggman as Matt Drayton (the role originated by the late Spencer Tracy); British stage and film star David Oyelowo as Dr. John Prentice (the role originated by Sidney Poitier); Gillian Jacobs as Joanna "Joey" Drayton; two-time Tony Award winner James Naughton as Monsignor Ryan; Tony Award winner Leslie Uggams as Mary Prentice; Bill Nunn as John Prentice, Sr.; Lynda Gravátt as Matilda "Tillie" Binks; and Leslie Hendrix as Hilary St. George.

The production is aimed for a Broadway premiere in Fall 2008.  

"Following a life-altering romance in Hawaii, Joey Drayton brings her fiancé, Dr. John Prentice, home to sunny San Francisco to meet her affluent parents. Their liberal persuasions are put to the test when they find out their daughter's fiancé, while an ideal choice – a handsome, wealthy, brilliant, internationally-reknown doctor from a respectable family – is African-American," explain press notes.

The Columbia Pictures film Guess Who's Coming To Dinner starred Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn as the parents, Katharine Houghton (Hepburn's real-life niece) as daughter Joey and Sidney Poitier as fiancé John, with a memorable cameo by Isabel Sanford as 'Tillie' the maid.  Directed by Stanley Kramer, and originally billed as "A love story of today," the picture opened on December 12, 1967 to rave reviews.  It was nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture, winning two: Original Screenplay for Mr. Rose and Best Actress for Ms. Hepburn.  The film marked Mr. Tracy's final screen appearance, and opened post-humously.  

Photo of Blythe Danner by Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.