AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Starring Estelle Parsons Comes to Benedum Center, 4/6-4/11

August: Osage County, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play that bitingly funny and sensationally entertaining tale of the Weston Family of Pawhuska, Oklahoma, is coming to the Benedum Center for the Performing Arts, Pittsburgh, PA from April 6-11, 2010. August: Osage County is part of the PNC Broadway Across America-Pittsburgh series, presented by The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust, Pittsburgh Symphony and Broadway Across America.

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."

Tickets ($21-$55) are available at the Box Office at Theater Square, by calling 412-456-6666 and online at www.pgharts.org. Tickets are on sale now for groups of ten or more at 412-471-6930. For subscriptions to the PNC Broadway Across America - Pittsburgh series call 412-456-1390.

Joining Ms. Parsons are Shannon Cochran as Barbara Fordham, Jon Devries as Beverly Weston, Libby George as Mattie Fae Aiken, Steve Key as Little Charles, Emily Kinney as Jean Fordham, Laurence Lau as Steve Heidebrecht, Marcus Nelson as Sheriff Deon Gilbeau and understudying Bill and Steve, Paul Vincent O'Connor as Charlie Aiken, Jeff Still as Bill Fordham, DeLanna Studi as Johnna Monevata, Angelica Torn as Ivy Weston, Amy Warren as Karen Weston, Avia Bushyhead, understudying Johnna, Jean, Ivy and Karen, Stephen D'Ambrose, understudying Beverly and Charlie, Barbara Kingsley, understudying Violet and Mattie Fae, Bryn Magnus, understudying Little Charles and the Sherriff and Kim Martin-Cotten, understudying Barbara, Karen and Ivy.

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 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.

 

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