More Dysfunction! August Gets Five Added Weeks on Broadway

Oh.My.Gooshnick!!! Say, WHAT?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How EXTREMELY Joyous does this news make me feel? Wow. So, all you out there have MORE time to see this whoop-ass show. For my friends in the area of California that is southern =P, I suggest that you make some plans before 13 April to head over to NY. Not only to see moi But to See This Show. Even if you DON'T see me and see the show instead...that would be SO fine with this gal!!! That's how much I Love-Love-LOVE this show.

This is probably the wrong word for the show but, it is sublime. Intensely sublime. Dark. It's an actor's utopia. I'm gonna stop now because I think you'd need to be sitting with me inside a NY French cafe =P, and listening to my description, my experience of the show. I'm not focused on writing about it!

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is The Show that I have been recommending to anyone since first seeing it in November. Everyone: GO.

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By Kenneth Jones
14 Jan 2008

The Broadway engagement of Tracy Letts' August: Osage County, critically embraced and an audience favorite, has been extended to April 13 at the Imperial Theatre.

The producers announced the added weeks on Jan. 14. The play was to be seen in a strictly limited 16-week run to March 9, but the dysfunctional-family drama is like a house on fire. The Steppenwolf Theater Company production is doing big business in the 1,400-seat theatre usually known as a home for musicals. In addition to enthusiastic reviews, the staging has prompted good word of mouth, fueling the box office.

The play tells of "the Weston clan after the disappearance of their patriarch. The family returns to their three-story home in rural Oklahoma to get to the heart of the matter."

The cast includes Ian Barford, Deanna Dunagan, Kimberly Guerrero, Francis Guinan, Brian Kerwin, Dennis Letts, Madeleine Martin, Mariann Mayberry, Amy Morton, Sally Murphy, Jeff Perry, Rondi Reed, Troy West, Munson Hicks, Susanne Marley, Jay Patterson, Dee Pelletier, Molly Ranson, Aaron Serotsky and Kristina Valada-Viars.

The cast does not change with this extension — the Chicago-based actors who created the central roles in the humor-spiked drama will still bite into their parts. Mutiple Tony Award nominations are assured.

Anna D. Shapiro (The Pain and the Itch, Iron) directs the production. The design team includes Todd Rosenthal (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), Ann Wrightson (lights), Richard Woodbury (sound) and David Singer (original music).

The Imperial Theatre is located at 245 West 45th Street. The performance schedule is as follows: Tuesday-Friday at 7:30 PM, Saturday at 8 PM, Wednesday & Saturady at 2 PM and Sunday at 3 PM.

Note some early curtain times, which take into account the show's three acts and three-and-a-half-hour running time.

Tickets are available at Telecharge.com and at (212) 239-6200. Prices range from $99.50 to $26.50.

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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.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY

SO glad that the original cast from Chicago transferred to NY. Thank you!!! I would change no one in the cast. No.One. And it has found an audience, I believe. It's been packed both times I went. When we tried to get tickets for this past Friday night, they were sold out! So, we were lucky to get tickets for Saturday night=)

Broadway.com's FRESH FACE Interview with Deanna Dunagan

Where's the meat?! Where's the meat?!! Where's the meat?!!!
Shame on you! It's not cowboys and Indians! It's cowboys and Native Americans!

Oh, my! This woman. Last night, I watched AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY for the 2nd time with 2 of my good friends. To me, there is no weak link in the ensemble. It's so strong and down to the guts and marrow. One of the great things about the play is that there is HUMOR and IRONY. It's definitely an intense family-drama and THANK GOD (!) for the humor. *whew*

Deanna is...you know, there really aren't any words that would suffice so I will just stay silent, BUT will say THIS (atleast): If you are in NY, I beg you to please, please, PLEASE see this show. (I shouldn't have to beg) And even if you aren't in NY, you really Should make EVERY EFFORT to come to the Big Apple just to see this show. It closes on March 9th, I believe. I'm hoping to catch it atleast one more time before it closes.


Deanna Dunagan
by Kathy Henderson

Age: "I don't tell. And the reason I don't is that nobody can divorce that [number] from who you are. It starts getting that way in your 40s."
Currently: Playing Violet Weston, the pill-popping, meaner-than-a-snake matriarch in Tracy Letts' acclaimed family epic August: Osage County.


Hometown: Monahans, Texas. "It's 36 miles west of Odessa, where Friday Night Lights was set, and 60 miles west of Midland, where George Bush is from."

Lone Star Lady: "My heritage is a long line of Southern Baptist and Methodist preachers—who were all just frustrated actors," Dunagan begins, when asked about her background. "My dad was a Coca-Cola bottler and president of the Texas Historical Association. He wrote history as his avocation." Like a good southern girl, Deanna got a degree in music education and married young, but the union didn't last, and her parents agreed to fund graduate studies at the Dallas Theater Center after her divorce. Dunagan breezes through the next section of her resume—"I lived in Mexico while I was writing my thesis and was engaged to a bullfighter"—and goes on to explain that she honed her skills at regional theaters such as the Asolo in Florida and the Actors Theatre of Louisville before trying her luck in New York. (The bullfighter moved to Spain.)

Please Stand By: A star of the Chicago stage for more than two decades, Dunagan is quick to point out that August: Osage County is not her Broadway debut. "In 1979, I was an understudy at Circle in the Square in Shaw's Man and Superman," she says. "George Grizzard, Philip Bosco, Richard Woods and Mark Lamos were in it. One night I got to the theater three minutes late for half hour, and they said, 'You're going on.' Ann Sachs was sick. I was terrified! But I said to myself, 'Just go out and say the words. These are fabulous actors; just feed them their lines.' And it was one of the best performances I ever gave. The head of ICM, Milton Goldman, was in the audience and signed me the next day. They wrote a story about it in Back Stage."

Wonderful Windy City: Arriving in Chicago just before Christmas on a national tour of Children of a Lesser God, Dunagan felt at home immediately. She decided to put down roots and soon became a stalwart of the city's thriving theater scene. "I've worked at more than 30 theaters in the Chicago area, so it's always fresh," she says. "I'm a Gemini—we're communicators, but we have a short attention span. I enjoy being able to work on a show for three months and then go on to the next project. I get to do twice, if not three or four times, the number of plays I could do in New York. I love my career in Chicago."

The Parent Trap: For much of the three-plus hours of August: Osage County, Dunagan's drug-addicted character spews venom (often hilariously) at her three grown daughters, sister, various in-laws and a Native American maid. After an initial reading of the play left her "devastated," the actress repeatedly turned down the role of Violet. "I have knee problems and back problems and didn't think I could do it physically," she says of walking up and down the three-story house set. "And Violet is so vicious. The pills release her inhibitions, and she just lashes out. I played Mary Tyrone [in Long Day's Journey Into Night] when I was younger, but Mary is a piece of cake compared with Violet Weston." The overall strength of Letts' play made her reconsider, and Dunagan's performance won a Jeff Award in August's premiere production last summer at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre.

Big Apple Return: When Dunagan heard that August would transfer to Broadway, her initial response wasn't exactly what one would expect from an actress playing one of the season's juiciest parts. "I went into such a depression," she confesses. "For the last few weeks of the show [in Chicago] I was in physical pain, so I spent all my time after we closed seeing doctors, physical therapists and voice coaches, trying to get in shape to do this Broadway run." She missed a nephew's wedding during previews, but managed to fly to Cincinnati to see her grandson in a school play during the stagehands strike. And—happily—she's enjoying presenting the evil Violet to Broadway audiences. "It's a brilliant play—that's what makes it worth it. We want to share this wonderful work with more people. That's why we all came to New York."

Who Doesn't Love...

...Carole Lombard?

(If you don't, please, don't tell me...)

Evolution of a Grab Bag Gift

Last week, I started to paint. Bad idea. At work, we picked names for the grab bag. I didn't want to give the usual (candy, gift card, lotion, &c). I should have! Ha! Late in the game, I decided to paint my person something. The price was at least 15clams. I spent 65 on the supplies! Yikes! AND, on top of that, I DIDN'T even like what I had given=( *brr-brr* I gave it anyway because I didn't Hate it=P Meh...

I should have just left the painting as it was. But, no. I painted over it. And over it. And over it. And over it. And, finally, over it. Yes, folks. There are 5 paintings on top of each other on that canvas for my grab bag person! I took pictures of the first painting, third and final. I would leave the piece and come back hoping that I would like it. Didn't work. Eventually, I had to surrender at around 2.30 the morning that it was due to my supervisor.

My person told me that she had to take a peak at it and she said from what she saw she liked it. So, who knows... I feel like I should get her a consolation gift! *ugh*





To think that if that painting is x-rayed...Ha!

PLAYBILL.COM'S BRIEF ENCOUNTER With Amy Morton

By Robert Simonson
19 December 2007

Meet Chicago actress Amy Morton, who plays a rumbling volcano of a wife-mother-daughter in Broadway's August: Osage County.

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Much of the pre-opening press about the cast of August: Osage County centered on Deanna Dunagan, who plays Violet, the vicious matriarch of the triple-decker Tracy Letts drama about three dysfunctional generations of a small-town Oklahoma family.

But Amy Morton, who plays Violet's strongest daughter, Barbara, is actually on stage more and tracks the more expansive character arc. Over three and a half hours, we watch her comfort her mother, then challenge her, outright attack her, verge on becoming her and then abandon her altogether, all while putting out sundry immediate and extended familial fires. Barbara is played by Amy Morton, one of the most dominant actresses and directors in her hometown of Chicago, but a talent almost unknown in New York. Morton mustered up the energy to talk to Playbill.com about the show that has been a thrilling and exhausting experience for her.

Playbill.com: Is this the biggest acting assignment you've ever had?
Amy Morton: Uh, yeah, this being a three-act play (Laughs), this is probably the most time I've been on stage.

Playbill.com: Have you ever been in one of Tracy Letts' plays before?
AM: No. I've been in quite a few shows with him as an actor, and I've directed him.

Playbill.com: When you read the play, did it come as a surprise to you, knowing his previous work?
AM: The breadth of it came as a surprise to me, meaning the size. That many characters, that many generations, that big a set, yeah. I had no idea that was what he was working on. It didn't surprise me it was as good as it was.

Playbill.com: Are you from the Midwest?
AM: Yes, I grew up in a suburb of Chicago.

Playbill.com: I grew up in Wisconsin. When I was watching the play, even though the action takes place in Oklahoma, I recognized many of the attitudes of the characters and the family dynamics and behavior. Did any of the writing speak to you of your own experience growing up?
AM: Absolutely. It was interesting. Most of the cast members of this play come from small towns. All of us in the original Chicago production were from the Midwest. In the New York production, all but two are from the Midwest. And it's a very Midwestern tale. (Laughs.) I don't mean because it's got sensationalism or any of that stuff — the huge surprises you find in the play. I think it's stoicism, its pent-up pain — it's certainly Midwestern.

Playbill.com: Letts has mentioned quite a lot that the character of Violet is based on his own grandmother. Has he said that your character is based on anyone in particular?
AM: I think my character is an amalgamation of a few people in his family, but not specifically just one.

Playbill.com: Your character has an incredible arc in the play. What was the hardest part of achieving that journey?
AM: Stamina. Building up the stamina. Physical and emotional. It's a long haul and it's a tough uphill slog. It takes a while for your emotional muscle and your physical muscle to be able to withstand the whole three hours and 20 minutes. I remember during the previews in Chicago thinking, "Oh my God, it's the third act and I can't act anymore."

Playbill.com: You were out of acting!
AM: That took a little while. But the great thing about the play is it doesn't require a lot a preparation, emotionally or anything like that. It's written so well, you just get on the ride and there it goes.

Playbill.com: What's the most difficult scene for you?
AM: No particular scene. It's jumping up and yelling as much as I do. You see, your body doesn't know you're lying. At the end of the show, the next day you wake up and feel a little bit like a cripple, because as far as your body's concerned, it thinks you're in trauma eight times a week. So, I'm sure the show has taken a number of years off my life, but that's OK.

Playbill.com: Is there a scene in the play that is the most fun for you?
AM: Well, certainly the scene where I say, "Eat your fish, bitch!" That's a fun scene. I get to get away with murder. It's just fun.

Playbill.com: Do you take your days pretty easy to rest up?
AM: Yeah. I really can't do much. It's just too hard to do. I had all these fantasies that "During the day, I'll go to the museum and blah, blah, blah." That's not happened so much.

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Amy Morton is one ferocious mama. I bet she would eat your eyes if you were a horrible collaborator! (JUST KIDDING) Thank you to Matt who told me to get a ticket to the show when I met up with him to watch Pinter's THE HOMECOMING (great performance by Eve Best).

It's a small world. I know her husband. Matt and I worked with him while we were doing LIFE IS A DREAM at South Coast Rep. He was one of the composers.

For me, there really was no weak link in AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. But, of course, my favorites were the mother (Deanna Dunagan) and the eldest daughter (Amy Morton). Watch out!

I'm so glad that I have more opportunities to see the show. They extended 3 weeks because of the strike. They close on March 9th, I believe.

Get ready to go if you're a friend of mine that lives in NY or that will be visiting before March 9th...!

PS This article came out yesterday the 19th, which--by the buy--was my parents' anniversary. Thirty-one years, folks!

"What Color is a Man?"

Joni Mitchell, ladies and gents. Joni Mitchell:

The Move

Waiting in the airport of JetBlue, trying not to think of my family because I'll have a breakdown, I check my phone, and notice that I missed a phone call from an unfamiliar 646-area code and that there is a voicemail. I listen to the message and it's a director asking me if I could be at his 34th street office to audition for him that afternoon. Uh...obviously, I can't. I'll be on a plane. I give him a ring back and he tells me that if he doesn't find anyone, he'll give me a buzz. I ask him to let me know either way.

Getting ready to board, I squish my way into the crowd (not that bad). I didn't understand what the attendant said about where I should go. I decided to just follow whoever was in front of me and make sure that I stepped into the "Hopelessly Devoted To You"-plane. Honestly, the name of the plane. Yeah, I should have gone the ground-back way and taken the stairs, rather than stay on the platform and take the first set of stairs. I had to walk all the way to the back causing some light traffic. At the end, there was a very nice gentleman that let me go and put my stuff up. Another attendant, a sweet older man, took my duffle bag and put it up in the compartment for me.

The flight was fine. I tried to sleep. Was in and out of it. I took the complimentary snacks (all that I had eaten were those snacks--blue chips, cranberry juice, cookies and water). Went to the bathroom a couple of times. Watched some lousy TV, et cetera, et cetera, and so forth...

I rang my cousin to let him know that I had landed. By the buy...my outfit...I looked like I was going to go riding because I was wearing these boots that one of my best friends let me borrow because she said that I would need some boots. I clunked and clunked as I walked. It was distracting to me but where could I have possbily stuffed those boots? Alright...my cousin told me that he was 10-15 minutes away. I thought, "I have to get my luggage myself?!!" Honestly. That's what I thought. I had 2 big suitcases that I checked in, and my own bag and a duffle that I took on the plane with me. Then, I thought, "My God. I have to get a cart?!" LOL! So, I did and did. I went outside to wait for my cousin. Cold. Real cold. Not the fake California-cold. Please. But, it was quite refreshing. I listened to Nellie McKay on my new (RED) iPod that The 3 bought for me (my brothers). Traffic was horrendous but I got picked up and off we went to Queens, where I would be staying with my cousin, his wife (who is amazing and awesome), they're 5-year-old kid, and his in-laws.

I shacked it up inside the kid's room. Cramped but I was grateful. I had somewhere to sleep! Hello! Living with my cousins is a joy because they offer warmth, homemade food and family=) Not to mention hot water for tea, a working bathroom, the Internet and cable TV. My cousin is a chef and a very good one!

I stayed with them till the first of this month. On the early-evening of the first, I moved in to my apartment in the City. My apartment is weirdly shaped. It's like a hallway. A bit bigger in some areas. I've got a pretty good-sized bedroom. No complaints EXCEPT girls really should be clean! I mean, I had NEVER seen so many dust bunnies on the floor in my life! Not even in the Philippines! I'm still trying to imagine how the girl before me slept in a bed with her headboard and side tables filled with dust. Absolutely disgusting! Even the drawers and the desk were icky-dusty. BUT, I'm thankful that I actually have a place and that I don't have to worry about rent for a couple of months.

My roommate had to go to a party at 8p. I was glad because then I'd have the place to myself and could just unwind and settle-in. I unpacked everything and before putting anything in it's temporary place, I took west paper towels and just wiped away all the dust from the furniture. Yuck! I checked out what kind of cable we had. Uh...NOTHING! What the HELL am I paying for then? And the Internet is a bit shoddy. What the Hey?!! Wasted money. I mean, the cable should have, I think, atleast the Disney Channel and Nickleodeon! Right? Yeah. I think we have TBS, A&E and some NY channels...whatever. Thank God that, "Pushing Daisies," "Ugly Betty," and "Brothers and Sisters," are all on channel 7! Ha! Honestly.

The next day, I was to meet up with one of my best friends. I had to pick her up from her voice lesson on 72nd. Not bad. I found my way=) I took her over to the MET because my cousin's wife told me that I should go there and meet with one of her patients that was going to help me get a job over at the museum! So, I went. What an adventure. There was a mix-up, and I thought the man I was supposed to be speaking with was the man I was supposed to be speaking with! I forced him and tried to convince him that he knew my cousin. He looked at me like I was crazy. I started sweating. Then, right when everything was going to completely go down the drain, the man that I was supposed to meet with came up behind me! Eureka! And, just WHO was I speaking to? Yeah, I was talking to the manager of the Luxury Boutique. Yikes! Well, my cousin's patient cleared it up with his manager and said that he'd just take me up to HR to fill out an application. But, the manager said that he'd give me an application right there and interview me after I finished filling it out. Wow, how easy was that? I hate filling out applications. I used my own pen and it exploded black ink all over the fingers of my left-hand. Oh, well. It took me some time to finish the 2 pages because my hands always shake when I fill those damn things out. I got interviewed and he hired me on the spot. I almost cried. He asked if I had any experience with jewelry and textiles. "Uh, actually, I don't." "That's okay. It doesn't matter." What?! He said that he liked my appearance and said that I was nice. LOL!

That was my 5th day in the City. FIFTH!!!

Oh! I almost forgot...let us backtrack*** The day after I landed, the director wanted me to audition because he needed a last-minute replacement for the SAG actress that he hired. There was some trouble with the Union. I auditioned for him in the lobby of my cousin's apartment and he gave me the role. I thought about it and turned him down a couple hours later because the energy just wasn't there for me. There was something that kept telling me to say, "No." So, I turned it down and decided that I really needed to take care of myself first. It was the best decision!

Alright...on Sunday eve, on the way to Saint Patrick's for the 5.30 mass, I met a guy on the subway. He got off at the same stop just so that he could ask my name. He was coming from church and I was going to. I was late. So, I went to get some coffee with him. He's from South Africa. An investment banker in training. Crazy. Don't worry...I went to church the next day. That was the first time, in a LONG time that I've been to church.

Monday, I went to do paperwork and get my picture taken for my ID at HR. I met another guy. A musician from Maine that has been in the City for 5 months. He's such a cutie!

I started training on Wednesday. Two days of it. It wasn't so bad. I really felt positive and ready to go after Wednesday's training. Then Thursday came and I got scared. My first day was Friday and I did very well. I didn't sweat at all! =) Even with the mistakes I made. Which I can count as having made three, or four.

It's amazing the people that you have the opportunity of meeting. I felt like I was back working in Disneyland, it's just that I have to sell jewelry and sculptures and the like. I hate sales. I don't want to be pushy. I read the person's energy and find a little hole that I can enter in with my, "Good morning (or whatever), if you need anything, just let me know." And then I leave 'em alone.

Well...in between those times that I've written, I've been running mad around the City doing not what you think I would be doing considering that I'm an actress. I was running errands for myself. Shopping for work clothes and shoes (I still have to find some flats and another pair of boots), shopping for things to keep me warm!!!, shopping for food and cleaning supplies, toiletries and blah-blah-blah. Things that I absolutely Need. I've also been back to Queens with my cousins. Spending my Saturdays with them.

So, that's the gist of my first 2 weeks. I wish I could be more specific but in this town, there really isn't time to just sit down and think about doing things. You just gotta Do.

PS I can't believe I'm able to write this long post. I just haven't had the time! So, I hope you enjoy=)

PPS I have been going to bed (on work days) before 10p! Unbelieveable. This from the gal that doesn't sleep till 3 in the morn! D.R.A.I.N.E.D

The Reaction of a Piece of My Artwork from My "Nephew"

First, he gasped and with widended, amazed eyes he exclaimed, "That's AWESOME!"

And, this is the piece in which his amazement could not be contained:
It was one of the greatest reactions I've ever received. He scrolled through all my pieces and he'd say, "I like that one," &c. At others he'd say, "I don't like it." I'd ask him why and he responded with, "Because it's pangit," (which in Tagalog means, "ugly"). Can you say, "WHOOPS!" HAHAHA!

I say he's my "nephew" (with quotations) because he's really not. He's the son of my cousins which would mean that he's my 2nd cousin, right? But, no. In my family tradition, he'd be my nephew=)

What's funny to me is that I don't really like the painting! It's this new style that I started painting in because I just wanted to. Though, the more people have responded to it, I may begin to like it...?

Gig-Time with red shoes on a thuuursday

Hey, hey, hey All!!!

This is the first inaugural theatrical event in the Norma Kershaw Auditorium housed in the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, Ca.

I'm part of it so Come, Watch and Support the Arts!

"Be My [G-D MotherEffing] Friend!!!"

I am high on, "Weeds."

Elizabeth Perkins has always been a favorite of mine. Mary-Louise Parker has been a recent favorite. She often reminds me of one of my good friends. The 2 together are dynamite. Mary-Louise plays Nancy Botwin and Elizabeth Perkins plays Celia Hodes.

I think that everything they touch turns to acting-gold!

Let this video be a warning to my friends...! =P

My New Favorite Show on TV: "Pushing Daisies"

Finally! A show packed with creativity, genunine warmth, charm, fun and eccentricities! Oh! And...LIFE!!! It's like a Technicolor-extravaganza. I mean, the saturation of color is tremendous and bold, and I Love it! On top of the technical aspects of the show...the cast is great and chock-full of Broadway Babies (Swoosie Kurtz, Ellen Greene, Jim Dale, Kristin Chenoweth...). The lead, Lee Pace as Ned, is absolutely likeable and I dig the way he delivers the dialogue. His partner, Chi McBride as Emerson, is equally likeable and quite funny. Anna Friel as Charlotte, aka "Chuck"...now, I did not know that she was in this! I first saw her in, "A Midsummer Night's Dream." She was also in CLOSER with Natasha Richardson, Ciaran Hinds and Rupert Graves. She is so deliciously adorable.

I love the twist to the show with Ned's being able to bring people back to life. The consequence of that power.

It's such a magical show. And, sometimes, we all need some magic in our lives. Good magic. Not that black magic stuff that can get you into trouble!

Here is a big and bold, BRAVO!, to Bryan Fuller, the creator.

The Mad Who Burn-Burn-Burn