Wednesday, May 13, 2009

Uptown Story Headed To Broadway In NYC

From Playbill News:
“Superior Donuts, a small-scale 2008 workplace play by Pulitzer Prize winner Tracy Letts, is expected to open for business on Broadway in fall 2009, the Chicago Tribune reported.”

“In the play, according to earlier Steppenwolf notes, "Arthur Przybyszewski (Michael McKean) owns a decrepit donut shop in the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago. Franco Wicks (Jon Michael Hill), a black teenager who is his only employee, wants to change the shop for the better. This provocative world premiere comedy, set in the heart of one of Chicago's most diverse communities, explores the challenges of embracing the past and the redemptive power of friendship.”

4 comments:

  1. I went to the Steppenwolf production with some people from Ireland and even they said that while they didn't get all of the references, the play had a real tangible sense of place. I was skeptical that Letts could capture Uptown (as I know it) and still tell a good story. I am glad I was wrong.

    It's a wonderful play about dreams and faded dreams/carrying on/loss/violence/reaching out and renewal.

    It probably won't be possible to get the rights any time soon but it would be really cool if one of the local theater companies could do a production. The cast and staging requirements are such that a small theater could do a successful run.

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  2. It really is cool and I wish they also send to NYC all the low-life gang bangers and hang-around people too....I for sure pay to see that story........

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  3. One of my good friends is in the cast, Ive seen it twice.
    Its pretty great, they reference Carols Pub several times. Its essentially a donut shop that would be fictionally placed across from Truman College. The sad thing is, as much as people get victemized by crime in the play, it cant hold a candle to the real Helen Hole that is Uptown.
    No one in the play gets pistol whipped.

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