Somehow, I just can’t see the Big O doing 8 shows a week….
I’ll wish her well and give her credit for trying….
She will surely pack the houses….
And anything that brings attention to live theatre is a good thing….
Oprah Winfrey has long said she would love to return to acting. But as her iconic, Chicago-based talk show approaches its final episode, Winfrey clearly is moving quickly to turn her dream of appearing on Broadway into reality.
“I have a stack of plays in my bag right now that I am reading,” Winfrey said with great enthusiasm and determination last week as part of a frank and wide-ranging interview on her Chicago past and professional future that will appear May 22 in a special section of the Tribune. “And just this past weekend, I was in New York meeting with producers. We were just talking about what would be the best route to take. But yes, this is really going to happen. … Life is too short.
“I think,” Winfrey said, “that an ensemble production is the way I should go.”
Winfrey was very nearly already acting on Broadway. Kenny Leon, the director of the high-profile Broadway revivals of “Fences” and “A Raisin in the Sun,” came to Winfrey about two years ago and said he wanted her to appear in “Fences.” Talks, Winfrey said, progressed to a advanced and serious stage.
“I had always wanted to do “Fences,” Winfrey said. “I went through the idea of trying to take my show to New York, shoot a show during the daytime and appear on Broadway at night. But I couldn’t do it. And finally, Kenny said he couldn’t wait any longer.”
So that didn’t work out. But once “The Oprah Winfrey Show” has wrapped, Winfrey will have a lot more freedom.
via Oprah’s Broadway acting dream is on the express track – The Theater Loop.
Lost in the 21st Century 