The Country Girl to play on Broadway in 2008,directed by Mike Nichols

A casting call confirms that Mike Nichols will direct a Broadway revival of Clifford Odets' The Country Girl, which will arrive on the Great White Way in 2008. News of the production was first reported in the New York Post in Aug 2007.

Rehearsals for the production will begin in January 2008, with the dates and theatre for the play still to be announced, though it is expected to begin performances before the end of the 2007-2008 Broadway season.

The Country Girl tells the story of washed up actor Frank Elgin who is provided an oppurtunity to make a come-back when director Bernie Dodd offers him the leading role in his next Broadway play. However, under the pressure of reviving his career, Frank seeks solace in alcohol, thus forcing his wife Georgie to try and keep her husband focused on his career. Dodd believes that it is Frank's domineering wife that is the cause of his leading man's personal difficulties and so decides to take matters in hand...."

The casting call is for the following roles:

Phil Cook: 40s - 50s. A producer. Impatient, nervous, full of anxiety. Good supporting role.

Paul Unger: 30s - 40s. A playwright. Thoughtful and tender-hearted. Somewhat shy. Good supporting role.

Nancy: 20s. An ing�nue. Innocent, but smart, talented and ambitious. Wants to be treated as a grown-up. Good supporting role.

Larry: 40s. The stage manager. Competent, efficient, dedicated to the production.

Ralph: 40s. Frank�s dresser. One scene. Actor may also understudy other role(s).

The casting call confirms that the roles of Frank Elgin, Georgie Elgin and Bernie Dodd have already been cast.

If the earlier report in the New York Post in Aug 2007 is correct, then Morgan Freeman looks set to play 'Frank Elgin', the washed-up alcoholic actor, with Frances McDormand playing his long-suffering wife, 'Georgie' - though this is still to be officialy confirmed.

The same report said that the role of 'Bernie Dodd' was nearly offered to Tony Shalhoub, but Nichols has decided he wants a sexier younger actor.

The Country Girl is one of two plays that Nichols is to direct on Broadway this season. The second play will be Beau Willimon's political drama 'Farragut North', in which it is rumored that Jake Gyllenhaal (Brokeback Mountain) will make his Broadway debut.

Mike Nichols has won seven Tony Awards for directing 'Barefoot in the Park' (1963), The Odd Couple' (1965), 'Luv' (1965), Plaza Suite (1968), The Prisoner of Second Avenue (1972), The Real Thing (1984) and 'Spamalot' (2005). He won a 1968 Academy Award for Best Director for 'The Graduate', and has won two Emmy's for directing 'Wit' and 'Angels in America.'

Mike Nichols