AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY Makes PA Debut at Open Stage of Harrisburg, 4/15-5/8

Open Stage of Harrisburg continues it's 25th Anniversary Season with AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, Tracy Lett's Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize-Winning running Apr 15 - May 8, 2011.

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY, the 2008 Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning play that tells the bitingly funny and sensationally entertaining tale of the Weston family of Pawhuska, Oklahoma will make its Central PA premiere at Open Stage on April 15.

The play stars Open Stage Educational Director Anne Alsedek in the role of the family matriarch, Violet. Joining Mrs. Alsedek are Brenda C. Eppley as Barbara Fordham, Jim Lewis as Beverly Weston, Judy Valentine as Mattie Fae Aiken, David Olmsted as Little Charles, Gail Tierney as Jean Fordham, Anthony Leukus as Steve Heidebrecht, Brian Schreffler as Charlie Aiken, Paris Peet as Bill Fordham, Kimorie Cherry as Johnna Monevata, Kelli Eberlein as Ivy Weston, Lisa Haywood as Karen Weston and Jon Liebetrau as Sheriff Deon Gilbeau.

Written by 2008 Pulitzer Prize-winner Tracy Letts, this epic and gripping 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 scarring secrets, the family must also contend with Violet, a drugged-up, deeply unsettled personality at the center of the familial storm.

"AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is a stupendous undertaking for us and a rare, epic treat. It's a large-scale play, with an complex set, thirteen intriguing characters, and a powerful story," says Don Alsedek, Open Stage Executive Artistic Director and the director of the three act play. "Tracy Letts' play will thrill our audiences."

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY premiered and was produced at Steppenwolf Theatre Company in Chicago in 2007. Nominated for seven Tony Awards and winning five, including Best Play, along with Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and New York Drama Critics Circle Awards, including Best Play, 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 "bet The Farm that no family has ever been as unhappy in as many ways-and to such sensationally entertaining effect-as the Westons of AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY". The play was voted The #1 Play of the Year by Time, The Associated Press, Entertainment Weekly, and TimeOut New York. 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.

The Open Stage production creative team includes Jim Woland (sets), Gwen Alsedek (costumes), and Nick Marino (lights).

AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY plays April 15 - May 8 in the intimate Angino Family Theatre at Open Stage of Harrisburg, 223 Walnut Street, located on the street level of the Walnut Street Parking Garage in downtown Harrisburg. Join Open Stage for 3rd in the Burg on April 15!

Admission to AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY is $27 Regular and $21 for Students with ID. Purchase Advance Tickets ONLINE 24/7 at www.openstagehbg.com, by CALLING 717-232-1505 or WALK-UP Monday-Friday 12:30 to 3:00 pm to our box office, located in the Open Stage lobby.

The theatre lobby opens one hour prior to performance. This season is funded, in part, by the Cultural Enrichment Fund, the capital region's united arts fund. Open Stage of Harrisburg is a Constituent of Theatre Communications Group (TCG), the national organization for American theatre.