Tonys front-runner 'August: Osage County' wins Pulitzer Prize
As was widely expected, "August: Osage County" won the Pulitzer Prize for drama today. Penned by actor-turned-playwright Tracy Letts, this sprawling three-hour-plus play traces the slow disintegration of a contemporary Oklahoma family. First staged by the Steppenwolf Theater company in Chicago last summer, the production transferred to Broadway in November and opened to near universal critical acclaim. (CLICK HERE to see the L.A. Times photo gallery of key scenes from "August.")
As the Pulitzer can only be awarded to an American playwright and their work need not be presented on Broadway to qualify, the correlation between winning this prize and the Tony is tenuous. For example, last year's winner, David Lindsay-Abaire for "Rabbit Hole," had lost the Tony the previous spring to the Brit hit "The History Boys" by Alan Bennett.
However, this year "August: Osage County" has to be considered the favorite to take theater's top prize. And the cast of 13 is likely to be lucky with Tony voters as well, with Deanna Dunagan a frontrunner for best actress as the maniacal matriarch.
Before the Tonys are bestowed on June 15, "August" will probably win a top prize in early May from the New York Drama Critics Circle, which bestows separate awards for best play and best American play if the critics believe that the over-all greatest show wasn't penned by a Yankee. That happened last year, for example, when the prize for best play was awarded to "The Coast of Utopia" by British playwright Tom Stoppard and the kudo for best American play went to "Radio Golf" by August Wilson. If "August" wins best play, the separate award for best American show will be scrapped, being considered redundant. (See past winners HERE.)
The rapturous reviews for "August" often likened playwright Letts to Eugene O'Neill whose work was honored with the Pulitzer more than any other playwright –- "Beyond the Horizon" (1920), "Anna Christie" (1922), "Strange Interlude" (1928), and "Long Day's Journey into Night" (1957).
In the 90-year history of the Pulitzer for drama, seven musicals have won the award. And, in a first, four of them are playing right now on the rialto –- "South Pacific" (1950), "A Chorus Line" (1976),"Sunday in the Park with George" (1985), and "Rent" (1996). Add to these the current revival of 1955 winner, "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by Tennessee Williams, the open-ended run of "August: Osage County," and the off-Broadway revival of Beth Henley's 1981 winner "Crimes of the Heart" and for the next few weeks you can choose among an unprecedented seven Pulitzer Prize winners within a 15-block radius. (See list of past Pulitzer winners CLICK HERE.)
(Photo: Newsday)
