Hartford Stage

donate now

Buy Tickets

Join our email list

Press Releases

2009 "Best Play" Tony Nominee
Dividing the Estate to Close Hartford Stage's 45th Season 

Broadway Transfer of Hit Horton Foote Comedy
Runs May 28 - July 5 

 

May 19, 2009/Hartford, CT . . . Dividing the Estate, Horton Foote's hit Broadway comedy is transferring to Hartford Stage at the same time the production is nominated for a 2009 Tony Award for Best Play.  Most of the Broadway cast, including Tony nominee Hallie Foote (Featured Actress in a Play) will reprise their roles in Hartford.  New to the cast is legendary actress Lois Smith, playing matriarch Stella Gordon.  Hartford Stage Artistic Director Michael Wilson again directs.  The production runs at Hartford Stage May 28 - July 5. 

Dividing the Estate, a human comedy about a family that must confront its past as it prepares for its future, opened to critical acclaim Off-Broadway in the fall of 2007 at Primary Stages.  It began its limited engagement Broadway run in October 2008 at the Booth Theatre, produced by Lincoln Center Theatre by arrangement with Primary Stages.  In addition to Hallie Foote and Lois Smith, the cast features a number of award-winning stage veterans who are continuing their roles from the New York production, including Obie Award winner Arthur French, Tony Award nominee Penny Fuller, and Gerald McRaney.  Other returning cast members include Devon Abner, Pat Bowie, James DeMarse, Virginia Kull, Maggie Lacey, Nicole Lowrance, Jenny Dare Paulin, and Keiana Richard.  Award winning actress Lois Smith joins the cast at Hartford Stage.  Production Sponsor for the Hartford Stage run of Dividing the Estate is Bank of America.  Assisting Production Sponsors are the Cheryl Chase and Stuart Bear Family Foundation and St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center.  Additional support is provided by The Greater Hartford Arts Council and The Connecticut Commission on Culture and Tourism. 

The cast of Dividing the Estate includes a number of theatre luminaries, many who have previously appeared at Hartford Stage.  Hallie Foote, Tony nominated for her role as Mary Jo, has been seen at Hartford Stage in To Kill a Mockingbird, The Trip to Bountiful, The Death of Papa, and The Carpetbagger's Children.  Lois Smith (Stella) appeared at Hartford Stage in The Stick Wife and has decades of theatre, television, and film work to her credit.  Arthur French (Doug), Penny Fuller (Lucille), and Gerald McRaney (Lewis) all make their Hartford Stage debuts in Dividing the Estate.  French is a Broadway veteran and Obie award winner; Fuller is a two-time Tony nominee and Emmy winner; and McRaney is best known for his television work on Deadwood, Jericho, Major Dad, and Simon and Simon.  

The cast also includes To Kill a Mockingbird veterans Devon Abner, Pat Bowie, James DeMarse, and Virginia Kull.  Hartford Stage audiences will remember Maggie Lacey from The Milk Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore and Nicole Lowrance from The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue.  Jenny Dare Paulin and Keiana Richard both make their Hartford Stage debuts in Dividing the Estate. 

Dividing the Estate received extensive critical praise for its New York runs:


Playwright Horton Foote has been honored with the Pulitzer Prize, two Academy Awards, an Emmy Award, the National Medal of the Arts from President Clinton, and Outer Critics Circle and Obie Awards for Dividing the Estate.  He returns to Hartford Stage where his plays The Carpetbagger's Children, The Trip to Bountiful, and The Death of Papa have been seen under Michael Wilson's direction.  His many other plays include The Day Emily Married, Talking Pictures, and his nine play Orphans' Home Cycle,.  He received the Pulitzer Prize for The Young Man From Atlanta and Academy Awards for his screenplays for Tender Mercies and To Kill A Mockingbird. 

Dividing the Estate is directed by Hartford Stage Artistic Director Michael Wilson, who most recently directed To Kill a Mockingbird at Hartford Stage and the world premiere of Tina Howe's Chasing Manet at Primary Stages in New York.  Wilson directed both the Off-Broadway and Broadway runs of Dividing the Estate.  Also on Broadway, he directed Old Acquaintance (Roundabout Theatre Company), and Enchanted April, for which he received an Outer Critics Circle nomination.  Off-Broadway, he directed the premieres of Christopher Shinn's What Didn't Happen (Playwrights Horizons) and Eve Ensler's Necessary Targets, as well as the New York premieres of Jane Anderson's Defying Gravity and Tennessee Williams' The Red Devil Battery Sign.  He in his 11th season as artistic director of Hartford Stage, where he has directed the premieres of David Grimm's The Learned Ladies of Park Avenue as well as Tennessee Williams' The Palooka, Now the Cats with Jeweled Claws, and The One Exception as part of the theatre's epic two part production, Eight By Tenn.  This fall he will direct the world premiere of Horton Foote's The Orphans' Home Cycle, which will play both Hartford Stage and Signature Theatre in New York.  A longtime collaborator with Mr. Foote, he has directed the premieres of his plays The Carpetbagger's Children (Hartford Stage and Lincoln Center Theater) and The Death of Papa (Hartford Stage); the New York premieres of Dividing the Estate and The Day Emily Married (Primary Stages); and the 50th Anniversary revival of The Trip to Bountiful (Hartford Stage and Alley Theatre).  For the Venice Biennale and Alley Theatre, he directed both parts of Tony Kushner's Angels in America. 
 

Hartford Stage will celebrate Dividing the Estate's Tony nominations with an exclusive viewing party at the theatre on Sunday, June 7.  The red carpet festivities begin at 6:00 p.m. with the live broadcast at 8:00 p.m.  Tickets are $75 and include cocktails and hors d'oeuvres; for reservations, call 860-520-7241. 

Dividing the Estate features scenic design by Jeff Cowie, costumes by David C. Woolard, lighting by Rui Rita, and original music and sound by John Gromada, the play's design team for the Broadway and Off-Broadway runs.  

Tickets for Dividing the Estate are $23 to $66.  A limited number of $10 "Ten Spot" tickets are also available for all performances, making Hartford Stage among the most affordable entertainment options in Connecticut.  Discounts are available for groups of ten or more by calling 860-520-7244. What a Rush! half-price tickets to Dividing the Estate may be purchased, subject to availability, beginning two hours before each performance in person at the box office only.  Patrons must request What a Rush! tickets at the time of purchase to receive this discount.  Tickets for children and students are $10 off the full price when purchased in advance.  Students of Capital Community College may purchase one $10 ticket to Dividing the Estate upon presentation of their student ID at the Hartford Stage box office. All discount programs are subject to availability and cannot combined with other offers. Hartford Stage has wheelchair accessible seating, assistive listening devices and other amenities.  For more information, please call the Hartford Stage box office.  Hartford Stage is located at 50 Church Street in downtown Hartford with parking located in the MAT Garage, directly adjacent to the theatre. The theatre is accessible from I-84 and I-91. 

Key Dates and Information

 

#  #  #

  • © 2004-2010 Hartford Stage