AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Comes To The Civic Center Feb. 23-28, 2010

OSAGE COUNTY, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award®-winning play starring Estelle Parsons, tells the bitingly funny and sensationally entertaining tale of the Weston family of Pawhuska, Oklahoma and is coming to the Civic Center of Greater Des Moines Feb. 23-28, 2010 for eight performances only.

Tickets for AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY go on sale to the public at 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 30, 2009 at the Civic Center Ticket Office, all Ticketmaster locations, charge-by-phone at (800) 745-3000 and online at CivicCenter.org. Groups of 15 or more should call (515) 246-2321.

All pricing includes a Building Restoration Fee of $2.50

The play stars Academy Award-winner Estelle Parsons in the role of the family matriarch, Violet. Ms. Parsons played Violet in the Broadway production of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY from June 2008-May 2009, where The New York Times raved, "Estelle Parsons gives a superb performance...sends chills down your spine. It may prove to be a crowning moment in an illustrious career."

Written by 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts (Superior Donuts, Man From Nebraska, Killer Joe, Bug), this grand and gripping new play tells the story of the Westons, a large extended clan that comes together at their rural Oklahoma homestead after the alcoholic patriarch disappears. Forced to confront unspoken truths and astonishing secrets, the family must also contend with Violet, a pill-popping, deeply unsettled woman at the center of the storm.

Directed by 2008 Tony Award-winner Anna D. Shapiro, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is a rare theatrical event: a large-scale work filled with 13 unforgettable characters, a powerful tragicomedy told with unflinching honesty and the unforgettable breakthrough of a major American playwright. August: Osage County premiered and was produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2007.

Nominated for seven Tony Awards and winning five, including Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Director, along with Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play, Best Director and Best Scenic Design, AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY opened at the Imperial Theatre Broadway on December 4, 2007, to wide critical acclaim. The New York Times called AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY "The most exciting new American play Broadway has seen in years," and it was voted The #1 Play of the Year by Time, The Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and TimeOut New York. After a sold-out engagement at the Imperial Theatre, the show re-opened at the Music Box Theatre on April 29th, 2008. AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY closed on Broadway on June 28, 2009 after 648 performances and 18 previews, surpassing The Heidi Chronicles, Master Class, The Real Thing, and Doubt, among many others, to become one of the longest running plays in Broadway history.

The show, which the London critics hailed as "the must-see play of the year - possibly a lifetime," opened to rave reviews at The National Theatre on November 26, 2008, where it played a limited eight-week engagement featuring members of the original Broadway company.

The show's creative team includes Tony Award winner Todd Rosenthal (sets), Ana Kuzmanic (costumes), Ann G. Wrightson (lights), Richard Woodbury (sound) and David Singer (original music).

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler and Jerry Frankel.

The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines
The Civic Center of Greater Des Moines is a private not-for-profit corporation celebrating over 30 years of presenting the performing arts to Iowa and the surrounding states. It is the presenter of major Broadway and educational touring companies, performers and groups, and is the performing home of many local and regional groups, including the Des Moines Symphony and StageWest. All performances of the Broadway Series are supported by Willis Auto Campus. All performances at the Civic Center's Temple Theater are supported by Prairie Meadows. All performances of the Family Series are supported by Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

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