Cast change coming to Arena Stage's 'Oklahoma' as E. Faye Butler prepares next role
E. Faye Butler, one of the region's most popular and respected actresses, will soon hand over the role of Aunt Eller in the Arena Stage revival of "Oklahoma," which is back at the venue for a summer-into-fall run after its much-praised premiere last season. Terry Burrell, whose credits "Show Boat" at Signature Theatre and "The Women of Brewster Place" at Arena Stage, steps into Aunt Eller's shoes on Aug. 9.
Butler will then head into rehearsals for "Trouble in Mind," a 1950s play-within-a-play by Alice Childress about a cast preparing to perform an anti-lynching drama on Broadway.
This production, which will ...
director, who will direct the Arena Stage production as well. Meanwhile, "Oklahoma" continues its remarkable reprise. The revelatory revival directed by Molly Smith proved to be quite the sensation when it opened the marvelously renovated Arena Stage in November and quickly sold out, so the company brought it back this summer.
I wouldn't be surprised if this incisive version of "Oklahoma" eventually makes its way to that big city in the north where they say the neon lights are bright.
FILE PHOTOS OF E. FAYE BUTLER IN 'OKLAHOMA' (by Carol Rosegg) AND 'TROUBLE IN MIND' (by Richard Anderson)
