Just saw that Phyllis Somerville has been cast in the Lincoln Center Theatre production of Happiness, a new musical about New Yorkers caught on a subway train, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Performances begin Feb. 27 at the Mitzi Newhouse for a March 30 opening. Somerville just scored a hit in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button as the grandmother of Cate Blanchett's character. I first saw her when she was Kathy Bates' understudy in the original production of 'night, Mother back in 1982. I went to a Saturday matinee and Sommerville went on in place of Bates. She gave a controlled, intense performance as the unhappy daughter preparing to commit suicide. You may remember her as Jackie Earle Haley's mother in Little Children. Also in the cast of Happiness are Hunter Foster, Tony winner Joanna Gleason (Into the Woods), and Ken Page (Ain't Misbehavin').
Photo: Phyllis Somerville and Jackie Earle Haley in Little Children
-David Sheward
Comments