B'way Update: Amy Ryan in for Tyne Daly in Doubt

Amy Ryan will replace
an ailing Tyne Daly in
Doubt: A Parable

Oscar nominee Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone) will assume the role of Sister Aloysius in Roundabout Theater Company's revival of John Patrick Shanley's Doubt: A Parable. She takes over for Tyne Daly who was hospitalized last Friday and must withdraw from the production while she receives medical care. While Daly's condition was unspecified, it was reported she is expected to make a full recovery. Ryan's first performance will be Tues. Feb. 13 and the opening has been pushed back to March 7. In the interim, Sister Aloysius will be played the understudy, Tony nominee and Drama Desk winner Isabel Keating (The Boy from Oz).

“With respect and admiration for Tyne, we wish her the best and a quick recovery.  We are grateful that Amy Ryan said yes – in a quick minute – to join our company and take on the role of ‘Sister Aloysius.’  We deeply appreciate Isabel Keating, who remarkably stepped in with a day of rehearsal and allowed us to get the production up on its feet during this first week of performances,” notes director Scott Ellis.

The cast of Doubt: A Parable also stars Tony & SAG Award winner Liev Schreiber as “Father Flynn,” Quincy Tyler Bernstine as “Mrs. Muller,” and Zoe Kazan as “Sister James.”

Ryan has received a SAG Award as part of the ensemble for Only Murders in the Building and was nominated for Tony Awards for A Streetcar Named Desire and Uncle Vanya, both Roundabout productions.

'Mothers and Sons' Finds a Home; B'way Season Almost Complete?

Tyne Daly and Manoel Felciano in
Mothers and Sons
at the Bucks County Playhouse
(Credit: Mandee Kuenzle)

Terrence McNally's Mothers and Sons has finally found a home. The drama which had its world premiere at the Bucks County Playhouse earlier this year will begin previews at the Golden Theatre, formerly occupied by the short-lived A Time to Kill, on Feb. 23 and then open on March 24. Tyne Daly will star as the mother from McNally's one-act and teleplay Andre's Mother, several years later. She plays an unexpected call on the partner of her son who died of AIDS, and has a cultural shock when she realizes the man is now happily married to a new partner with a young son. 

That makes the Broadway season almost complete. The long-awaited Houdini with Hugh Jackman looks as if it's been put off for another two seasons. The only major show which had announced for this season and still has no theater is Will Eno's The Realistic Joneses which features an all-star cast (Toni Collette, Michael C. Hall, Tracey Letts, Marisa Tomei). I don't know where they are going to go. They could take the Booth if The Glass Menagerie does not extend again. Or the Cort once Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are finished waiting for Godot in no man's land. 

Here's an updated list of the upcoming Broadway and major Off-Broadway openings through the end of the season and beyond: 

Broadway Season Update: Carole King, Dames, and Tyne Daly

Tyne Daly and Manoel Felciano in Terrence McNally's
Mothers and Sons at Bucks County Playhouse
Credit: Mandee Kuenzle

New Broadway season updates: Beautiful: The Carole King Musical has moved up its opening and announced a theater; a revival of Dames at Sea directed by Randy Skinner will open sometime in 2014; The Bridges of Madison County has settled on an opening date; and Tyne Daly will star in Terrence McNally's Mothers and Sons, opening in the spring. No specific dates yet. This play premiered at Buck County Playhouse in New Hope, PA, earlier this summer and concerns the mother of a gay man who died of AIDS 20 years ago visiting her son's former lover who is now married to another man and has a young son. It's acceptable to be gay now, but the mother doesn't quite see it that way. The characters are based on those in McNally's one-act play Andre's Mother which was part of the Off-Broadway revue Urban Blight at Manhattan Theatre Club. McNally later expanded the story for a TV script which starred Sada Thompson and Richard Thomas and aired as part of PBS's American Playhouse. He won an Emmy for Outstanding Writing. I have a feeling this will be the play to beat for the 2014 Tonys. It's topical and emotional and only about 80 minutes. Below is an updated calendar for the NY 2013-14 theater season: