The Trip to Bountiful: Adepero Oduye to play Thelma

Adepero Oduye will make her Broadway debut on 16 Jul 2013 when she plays the role of 'Thelma' in the Broadway revival of Horton Foote's The Trip to Bountiful. Oduye will assume the role from original cast member Condola Rashad who played her final performance on 14 Jul 2013.

Oduye is best known for her breakout role in Dee Ree's Sundance film, "Pariah," and for her performance opposite Condola Rashad, Queen Latifah, Alfre Woodard and Phylicia Rashad in the Lifetime Television movie, "Steel Magnolias." She can be seen in the upcoming film, Twelve Years a Slave, directed by Steven McQueen, opposite Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Pitt. Oduye has appeared onstage in 'Eclipsed' at Yale Repertory Theatre and 'The Bluest Eye' at Hartford Stage and Long Wharf Theatre.

Rashad is leaving the show to begin rehearsals in preparation for her role as 'Julia,'in the upcoming Broadway revival of Romeo & Juliet, starring opposite Orlando Bloom.

The Trip to Bountiful, starring Cicely Tyson in her Tony Award-winning role as 'Carrie Watts,' opened at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre from 23 Apr 2013, following previews from 30 Mar 2013, where it is playing an extended engagement through to 09 Oct 2013.

The show also stars Academy Award winner Cuba Gooding, Jr, Emmy Award nominee and recording artist Vanessa Williams, Tony Award nominee Tom Wopat, Devon Abner, Curtis Billings, Pat Bowie, Leon Addison Brown, Arthur French (Roy), Susan Heyward, Bill Kux, Linda Powell and Charles Turner.

The production, which was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play, opened to mostly excellent reviews: Tyson is simply glorious (newyorktheatreguide.com); Generally sluggish (NY Times); Make sure you have tissues handy (NY Post); Not-to-be-missed (Back Stage); Doesn't, ultimately, amount to much (Record).

The Trip to Bountiful tells the story of Carrie Watts (Cicely Tyson), an elderly woman who dreams of returning to her small hometown of Bountiful, TX one last time, against the wishes of her overprotective son (Gooding) and domineering daughter-in-law (Williams).

The creative team includes set sets by Jeff Cowie, costumes by Van Broughton Ramsey, lighting by Rui Rita and sound by John Gromada.

The Trip to Bountiful premiered as a teleplay on NBC in 1953, starring Lillian Gish as 'Carrie Watts.' The play had its Broadway premiere later that year with the same cast, which also included Eva Marie Saint. The play was adapted by Foote into an acclaimed 1985 film starring Geraldine Page, for which she won the Academy Award. In 2005, Signature Theatre produced the play Off-Broadway starring Lois Smith, for which she won Lortel, Obie, Outer Critics and Drama Desk Awards.