Upcoming
June 12
Call of the Wild 3D
Youssou N'Dour: I Bring What I Love
June 16
June 19
Dead Snow
Whatever Works
June 24
Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
June 26
Cheri
Fireflies in the Garden
July 1
Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs
July 3
The Girl from Monaco
I Hate Valentine's Day
July 10
July 15
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
July 17
July 24
All Good Things
The Answer Man
In the Loop
July 29
July 31
The Cove
August 7
When in Rome
August 14
A Perfect Getaway
District 9
The Goods: The Don Ready Story
Ponyo
Pool Boys
Spread
The Time Traveler's Wife
August 21
Five Minutes of Heaven
Goose on the Loose!
It Might Get Loud
World's Greatest Dad
August 28
The Boat that Rocked
September 4
Amreeka
Carriers
Citizen Game
Shanghai
September 9
September 11
The Red Canvas
Tyler Perrys: I Can Do It All Myself
September 17
The Burning Plain
September 18
Brand New Day
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Jennifer's Body
Splice
September 25
October 2
A Serious Man
Toy Story/Toy Story 2
Osage County Translation
I've been told that producer Jean Doumanian is partnering with the Weinstein Co. to produce a film version of Tracy Letts' masterful August: Osage County, which N.Y. Times critic Charles Isherwood called "the most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years" in his 12.5.07 review.
Deanna Dunagan (r.) as Violet Weston, the family matriarch; Amy Morton (l.) as her daughter, and Rondi Reed (center) as Violet's sister.
As always, a Broadway hit (Osage County is certain to triumph at the '08 Tony Awards in June) is one equation and a satisfying hit movie is another. The stage-to-cinema process is always about rethinking, reshuffling, compressing, diluting and, in one way or another, downgrading to some extent. A broader audience = the need to make a play more accessible to Average Joes = problems from the viewpoint of Broadway purists.
The big questions are (a) will the movie version hold to the play's three-hour length (there will certainly be pressure to trim it down at least somewhat, perhaps as much as a third), (b) will they try to movie-ize it (visually "open it up, etc.) or stick to the pure theatrical scheme of everything happening in the Weston family's two-story home, (c) who will Doumanian-Weinstein get to direct...Mike Nichols?, and (d) which middle-aged screen actress will play the key role of Violet Weston (i.e., "an evil mom to end them all"), presuming that Deanna Dunagan, whose on-stage performance is said to be legendary, will be shunted aside in favor of a Meryl Streep-level actress with a bit more in the way of marquee power.
Posted by Jeffrey Wells on March 29, 2008 at 11:37 AM
comment #1
Wrecktum
says ...
Streep is appearing later this year in the Broadway-to-screen version of Doubt. Can't wait for that one.
Posted by Wrecktum
at March 29, 2008 12:15 PM
comment #2
btwnproductions
says ...
It's a great show. Letts' BUG made for a surprisingly strong film, so we'll see. Nichols isn't the best choice to direct--too down and dirty. Nor is Streep right for her part; I'm seeing Judy Davis. It would be great to see Amy Morton retain her role from stage to screen.
Posted by btwnproductions
at March 29, 2008 12:52 PM
comment #3
tophertilson
says ...
It's a very good, entertaining play, but I wouldn't call it "great." I think the cuisine offered up by NYC theatre these days has become so strange and piddling and un-nourishing that when Letts threw this big ol' T-bone steak on the grill, the critics were just happy to get a full meal. It's theatrical comfort food -- nothing unique or ground-breaking. Though I'd certainly sit through it a second or third time over any of the weird non-plays currently clogging Playwrights Horizons, NYTW, the Vineyard or the like.
Posted by tophertilson
at March 29, 2008 12:59 PM
comment #4
George Prager
says ...
Great photo. I remember this scene well. They're arguing over what movie to rent. Mom wants to rent BECAUSE I SAID SO. Daughter and sis vote for GEORGIA RULES. Theatrical comfort food is fine with me. The theater is dead. The more talented write novels or for the movies and television. Playwrights are losers.
Posted by George Prager
at March 29, 2008 1:30 PM
comment #5
bmcintire
says ...
But you're a winner! Douchebags win!
Posted by bmcintire
at March 29, 2008 1:40 PM
comment #6
btwnproductions
says ...
As someone who reviews both theater and film (and watches TV and reads an occasional book, too), I can report that the theater is alive and well, and that those who issue blanket dismissals likely don't go and haven't for years. There's good and bad in every medium.
Believe me, there's nothing too comforting about Letts' shows, but they do have enough pulse and substance to make for effective cinema. (His KILLER JOE could be adapted as well.) And if it doesn't make it to the movies, or make as it as a movie, no problem; the play's the thing, as they say.
Posted by btwnproductions
at March 29, 2008 1:45 PM
comment #7
George Prager
says ...
Wow, this is all so fascinating. Like talking about billiards.
Posted by George Prager
at March 29, 2008 2:12 PM
comment #8
George Prager
says ...
Those who can't write, write plays.
Posted by George Prager
at March 29, 2008 2:13 PM
comment #9
tophertilson
says ...
Did Arthur Miller kill your parents in a dark alley, George? Or are you just stirring the pot? Or are you just being exceedingly smug and dim?
Posted by tophertilson
at March 29, 2008 3:40 PM
comment #10
George Prager
says ...
All four.
Posted by George Prager
at March 29, 2008 4:06 PM
comment #11
MilkMan
says ...
George, read some Richard Maxwell or Will Eno. Their writing wipes the floor with almost all young American fiction writers.
And BTW: Those who can't write, write SCREENPLAYS.
Posted by MilkMan
at March 29, 2008 4:20 PM
comment #12
MickTravis
says ...
That's absolutely true. Speaking of which, how's the script coming, MilkMan?
Posted by MickTravis
at March 29, 2008 7:20 PM
comment #13
actionman
says ...
August: Osage County is a masterpiece.
Not casting Deeana Dunagan would be a crime.
Posted by actionman
at March 29, 2008 7:37 PM
comment #14
Rich S.
says ...
There appears to be lots of shouting in it, so it MUST be a classic.
Posted by Rich S.
at March 30, 2008 5:25 AM
comment #15
tophertilson
says ...
Sadly, when I saw the play, Deeana Dunagan was not in it. Her understudy seemed perfectly adequate to me, but maybe Dunagan added something extra. Perhaps that lessened my experience? To me, though, that ultimately doesn't speak well for the play either. A masterpiece should be able to weather a replacement cast. Though it wouldn't be the first time that one of those amazing Steppenwolf ensemble pieces couldn't survive without one of those amazing Steppenwolf ensembles. Man, those actors are fantastic. There is no city on earth that does ensembles better than Chicago.
Posted by tophertilson
at March 30, 2008 5:42 AM
comment #16
George Prager
says ...
"George, read some Richard Maxwell or Will Eno. Their writing wipes the floor with almost all young American fiction writers."
I've never heard of these guys. I must google...
Charles Isherwood, theatre critic for The New York Times, called Eno "a Samuel Beckett for the Jon Stewart generation."
Wow! I'm so there!
"For those of you without a working knowledge of quirky avant-garde theater types, Mr. Maxwell is the author and director of a series of acclaimed plays whose most defining characteristic is characters who speak, argue and even laugh in an unwavering monotone."
That sounds fucking awesome!
Posted by George Prager
at March 30, 2008 9:43 AM
comment #17
MikeSchaeferSF
says ...
I'll be in NY next week and cannot wait to see this play.
Posted by MikeSchaeferSF
at March 31, 2008 8:10 AM
Post a comment