Given James Franco is cracking the books as a PhD candidate in English Literature at Yale University, he’s found an ideal vehicle to make his Broadway debut.
The “Pineapple Express” star will appear as George in a new production of John Steinbeck’s Depression era classic “Of Mice and Men.” He has some able support in the form of Chris O’Dowd, the “Bridesmaids” actor who will also be making his Great White Way debut in the show directed by Tony Award winner Anna D. Shapiro (“August: Osage County”).
Performances will begin March 19, 2014, with an official opening slated for April 16, 2014 at the Longacre Theatre. For readers who may have dozed off in high school English classes, the story focuses on two drifters who dream of owning an acre of land as they bounce around from one blue collar job to another. O’Dowd will play the more simple minded member of the duo, Lennie.
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Franco was recently seen in the big-budget fantasy “Oz: The Great and Powerful” and will next appear in the action-thriller “Homefront.” O’Dowd appeared in the HBO series “Family Tree” and in “Thor: The Dark World.”
David Binder is producing Of Mice and Men on Broadway with Kate Lear, Darren Bagert, Adam Zotovich, Barbara Whitman and Latitude Link. The rest of the cast and design team will be announced shortly.