Of Mice and Men: Jim Norton joins cast

Tony Award-winner Jim Norton will star as 'Candy' in the upcoming Broadway revival of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men, directed by Tony Award winner Anna D. Shapiro.

Norton will join the previously announced Academy Award nominee James Franco, BAFTA Award nominee Chris O'Dowd, and "Gossip Girl" star Leighton Meester, who are all making their Broadway debut in the revival.

Norton, who currently stars Off-Broadway in Conor McPherson's 'The Night Alive,' won a 2007 Olivier Award and a 2008 Tony Award for his portrayal of 'Richard Harkin' in Conor McPherson's 'The Seafarer.' His other Broadway credits include 'The Mystery of Edwin Drood,' 'Finian's Rainbow' and 'The Weir.'

The rest of the cast and the design team will be announced shortly.

Of Mice and Men will open at the Longacre Theatre on 16 Apr 2014, following previews from 19 Mar 2014, where it will play a strictly limited engagement through to 27 Jul 2014.

John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men is set against the backdrop of America's Great Depression and tells the story of the friendship between George (James Franco) and Lennie (Chris O'Dowd) who dream of buying a small farm of their own after years of ekeing out a living as itinerant farm workers. The two friends soon discover the flip side of their American Dream and the friendship is tested to its limits.

The revival of Of Mice and Men is being produced on Broadway by David Binder, with Kate Lear, Darren Bagert, Adam Zotovich, Barbara Whitman and Latitude Link. 101 Productions, Ltd are the executive producers.

Of Mice and Men premiered on Broadway in 1937, in a production directed by George S. Kaufman, and which starred Wallace Ford as 'George' and Broderick Crawford as 'Lennie.'

It was revived on Broadway in 1974, starring Kevin Conway as 'George' and 'James Earl Jones' as 'Lennie,' with directon by Edwin Sherin.