Driving Miss Daisy recoups on Broadway

The Broadway premiere of Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play, Driving Miss Daisy, has recouped its initial investment of $2.6 million in less than three months, making it the first play of the 2010-11 Broadway season to do so.

In a joint statement, producers Bernstein and Zotovich said, "Clearly, audiences have taken to this production in a big way, and we couldn't be more pleased."

The show, which stars Tony Award-winners James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd Gaines and is directed by David Esbjornson, recently extended its Broadway run through to 9 Apr 2011, with all three stars remaining with the production. It was originally scheduled to close on 29 Jan 2011.

Directed by David Esbjornson ('The Goat, Or Who Is Sylvia?'), Driving Miss Daisy opened at the John Golden Theatre on 25 Oct 2010, following previews from 7 Oct 2010.

The show opened to mixed, but mostly excellent reviews: The whole point here is the leads, and they bask in the spotlight without ever appearing to hog it (NY Post); Enchanting revival of "Driving Miss Daisy" is the best theater can be (Bloomberg); This ride is owned by the players. They don't drive all that far but the human journey is infinite. (NY1)

Driving Miss Daisy: When 'Daisy Werthan' (Redgrave), a widowed, 72-year-old Jewish woman living in midcentury Atlanta, is deemed too old to drive, her son (Gaines) hires 'Hoke Colburn' (Jones), an African American man, to serve as her chauffeur. What begins as a troubled and hostile pairing, soon blossoms into a profound, life-altering friendship that transcends all the societal boundaries placed between them.

Driving Miss Daisy is produced on Broadway by Jed Bernstein and Adam Zotovich.

The play was produced Off-Broadway by Playwright Horizons, where it played 1,195 performances at the John Houseman Theatre from 15 Apr 1987 - 3 Jun 1990. The production was directed by Ron Lagomarsino, and starred Dana Ivey as 'Daisy Werthan' and Morgan Freeman as 'Hoke Coleburn.'

Driving Miss Daisy was adapted into a screenplay, and released as a movie in 1989. Directed by Bruce Beresford, Morgan Freeman reprised his role as 'Hoke Coleburn' and was joined by actress Jessica Tandy, who played 'Daisy Werthan.' The movie was nominated for nine Academy Awards, and won four. It is the only film based on an off-Broadway production ever to win an Academy Award for Best Picture.