Boyd Gaines Joins Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones in Driving Miss Daisy

Four-time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines will complete the cast of the forthcoming Broadway production of Alfred Uhry’s Driving Miss Daisy, joining previously announced stars Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones. Gaines will play Boolie Werthan, the son of Redgrave’s title character. The play will begin previews at the Golden Theatre on October 7 and open on October 25, directed by David Esbjornson. Daisy's 16-week limited engagement is set to run through January 29, 2011.

The play centers on Daisy Werthan, a widowed, 72-year-old Jewish woman living in mid-century Atlanta. When Miss Daisy is deemed too old to drive, her son, Boolie, 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 the societal boundaries placed between them. Driving Miss Daisy debuted off-Broadway in 1997 starring Dana Ivey, Morgan Freeman and Ray Gill. The 1989 film version starred Freeman,  Jessica Tandy and Dan Aykroyd and won four Oscars, including Best Picture.

Gaines, who just ended his run as Guthrie McClintic in Lincoln Center Theater’s The Grand Manner, won Tony Awards for Gypsy, Contact, She Loves Me and The Heidi Chronicles and was nominated for a Tony for Journey’s End. His other Broadway credits include Pygmalion, Twelve Angry Men, Cabaret, The Show Off and Company.

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