Cuba Gooding, Jr., Vanessa Williams To Be on Broadway This Spring

Cuba Gooding Jr.A starry cast is gathering for The Trip to Bountiful, which is coming to Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre this Spring. As already announced, Cicely Tyson will take the lead role of Carrie Watts, an older woman who yearns to return to her hometown of Bountiful, Texas. It is now confirmed, though, that she will be joined by two other stars, Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Jerry Maguire, Red Tails) and Vanessa Williams (Broadway’s Into the Woods, TV’s 666 Park Avenue), along with up-and-comer Condola Rashad (a standout in the recent Broadway play Stick Fly).

Cuba Gooding, Jr. will play Carrie Watts’ overprotective son, and Vanessa Williams will be her domineering daughter-in-law in this revival of the Horton Foote-penned drama. The Trip to Bountiful is set to play a strictly limited 14-week run, which will begin on March 31, 2013 with preview performances, and then have its official opening on April 23.

Cicely Tyson Coming Back to Broadway

Cicely Tyson

Award-winning actress Cicely Tyson (The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Sounder) will be coming back to the Broadway stage for the first time in 30 years in a new production of Horton Foote’s play The Trip to Bountiful, which will begin a limited 14-week run on March 31, 2013 at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre.  The production will be directed by Michael Wilson.

Cicely Tyson will take on the role of Carrie Watts, an elderly woman who hopes to return to her hometown of Bountiful, Texas, but finds resistance in the form of her over-protective son and daughter-in-law.  “In many ways Broadway is my Bountiful,” stated Tyson, “and I’m eager and honored to return with this strong, passionate, and funny character in a timeless American classic.”

Tyson was last seen on Broadway in the 1983 revival of The Corn is Green.  Among her many other Broadway credits are Trumpets of the Lord, The Cool World, and Jolly’s Progress.  Cicely Tyson’s TV credits include the acclaimed mini-series Roots and her film credits include The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, Fried Green Tomatoes, Madea’s Family Reunion, and The Help.