By Christina Morningside | Posted on March 02, 2018 12:31 PM
Edward Albee’s Three Tall Women Has Begun Previews on Broadway, Starring Glenda Jackson, Alison Pill, Laurie Metcalf, Joseph Medeiros, and Directed by Joe Mantello.
Edward Albee Play Finally Arrives on Broadway
On March 1, 2018, Three Tall Women began previews at the John Golden Theatre, ahead of its opening night of March 29, and closing date of June 24. Playwright Edward Albee's other works include A Delicate Balance, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Seascape and The Man Who Had Three Arms. He was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1972, and the American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1985.
His honors include the PEN/Laura Pels International Foundation for Theatre Award, the Gold Medal in Drama from the American Academy, the Kennedy Center Honors, the National Medal of Arts, and a special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in 2005.
In all this time, his play Three Tall Women did not arrive on Broadway, until now. Sadly, Albee passed away recently on September 16, 2016. The show had its world premiere at the English Theatre in Vienna, Austria in 1991, directed by Albee himself. The New York debut of this play was Off-Broadway at the Vineyard Theatre in 1994, and it had its West End premiere at the Wyndhams Theatre in London in fall 1994, with a revival shortly thereafter at the same theatre in 1995. Finally, the Broadway production is the long-awaited destination of this celebrated play, which won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1994.
An Excellent Cast of Incredibly Accomplished Performers
The characters of these three women are called A, B, and C. A is written to be a woman in her 90s, who is thin, proud, and wealthy, with a mild case of Alzheimer’s disease. She is played by Glenda Jackson (Strange Interlude, Macbeth), who has an impressive film career including Oscar wins for Women in Love and A Touch of Class. B is a 52 year-old version of A, who is cynical about life, and in the story, she is working for A, which she does not enjoy but does appreciate for its learning opportunities. B is played by Laurie Metcalf (A Doll’s House Part 2, Misery, My Thing of Love). On screen, she is also incredibly prolific, with her recent role in Lady Bird earning her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
C is a 26 year-old version of B, who is present on behalf of A’s law firm because A has neglected her paperwork. She is full of youth and the self-assurance that comes with it. C is played by Alison Pill (The House of Blue Leaves, Mauritius, The Lieutenant of Inishmore), the last of which earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress. On screen, she is well known for Milk, Midnight in Paris, The Newsroom, and American Horror Story: Cult. Finally, there is a fourth character, referred to as The Boy. He is the son of the three women, and does not speak, played by Joseph Medeiros, (Groundhog Day, Doctor Zhivago.)
