Last week, when it was announced that the Broadway revival of The Trip to Bountiful, which was initially scheduled for a 14-week limited engagement through July 7, received a second extension to close on October 9, I wondered whether co-star Condola Rashad would be replaced for the latter half of the Bountiful extension, since she’s already signed up for another Broadway play – a new adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, with an interracial twist, which will see her play Juliet opposite Orlando Bloom.
Producers of the critically-acclaimed revival made the announcement today, adding that Oduye will actually be taking over for Rashad this week!
You might recall that both actresses co-starred in last year’s all-black TV remake of Steel Magnolias, for Lifetime.
Oduye’s reign begins tomorrow, Tuesday at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.
We’ll next see her on the big screen in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years A Slave.
Cuba Gooding Jr. (making his Broadway debut) and Vanessa Williams round out the cast.
Here’s the entire plot of the play:
Set in the 1940s, the play tells the story of an elderly woman, Carrie Watts, who wants to return home to the small town where she grew up, but is frequently stopped from leaving Houston, Texas by her daughter-in-law, and an overprotective son who won’t let her travel alone. However, old Mrs. Watts is determined to outwit her son and bossy daughter-in-law, and sets out to catch a train, only to find that trains don’t go to Bountiful anymore. She eventually boards a bus to a town near her childhood home. On the journey, she befriends a girl traveling alone and reminisces about her younger years and grieves for her lost relatives. Her son and daughter-in-law eventually track her down, with the help of the local police force. However, Mrs. Watts is determined. The local sheriff, moved by her yearning to visit her girlhood home, offers to drive her out to what remains of Bountiful. The village is deserted, and the few remaining houses are derelict. Mrs. Watts is moved to tears as she surveys her father’s land and the remains of the family home. Her son eventually turns up, and drives her back to Houston.
Ms. Tyson plays Carrie Watts. Gooding Jr. is her overprotective son and Williams, her bossy daughter-in-law; Oduye, now taking over for Rashad, will play Thelma, the girl traveling alone who Carrie befriends on her journey.
The play was first produced as a teleplay on NBC in 1953, starring Lillian Gish as Carrie Watts; it would later premiere on Broadway that same year with the same cast.
And in 1985, a film version of the play was produced, and starred Geraldine Page, who won an Academy Award for her performance.
