Tonys 2008 & '09: Grand slammer Nichols back to Broadway
Our pal Michael Riedel of the New York Post reports that Mike Nichols will be helming two plays on Broadway next year. In the spring, he is to direct the second Rialto revival of Clifford Odets' "The Country Girl." First seen on Broadway in 1950, this backstage drama about an alcoholic actor, his long suffering wife and faithful friend, is to star a pair of Oscar winners -- Morgan Freeman and Frances McDormand -- as the unhappily married couple.
Both roles are plum parts: Uta Hagen won a Tony for the original production while Grace Kelly got an Oscar for the 1954 film version (she edged out frontrunner Judy Garland, up for her tour-de-force performance in "A Star is Born"). Bing Crosby was Oscar nomm'd (losing to Marlon Brando for "On the Waterfront") and Jason Robards got a Tony nod for the 1972 revival (he lost to "Lenny" star Cliff Gorman).
In the fall, Nichols is to direct a new political drama, "Farragut North," with Oscar nominee Jake Gyllenhaal making his Broadway debut as the idealistic press secretary to a presidential candidate. Written by Beau Willimon, one-time staffer for Howard Dean, this inside the Beltway look at politics debuts in the midst of the '08 presidential election.
Nichols is a member of the most elite club in showbiz -- the Grand Slam -- as a winner of all four major awards. He already has seven Tonys -- five for directing plays, one for producing the 1977 best musical "Annie," and, most recently, one for helming "Spamalot." Add to that his 1961 Grammy for comedy album, 1967 Oscar for "The Graduate," and four Emmys for directing and producing "Wit" and "Angels in America" and you have one crowded mantle. And he has helmed one of this year's big Oscar hopefuls, "Charlie Wilson's War," starring a trio of Oscar winners -- Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
