Tony Winner Jim Norton Joins the Cast of Broadway's Of Mice and Men, Starring James Franco & Chris O'Dowd

Jim Norton is the first Great White Way favorite to join the starry cast of the upcoming Broadway revival of John Steinbeck's Of Mice and Men. The Tony winner will play Candy, the old handyman who's left with only one hand after an accident, in the production. Starring James Franco, Chris O'Dowd and Gossip Girl's Leighton Meester, Of Mice and Men is scheduled to begin performances March 19 at the Longacre Theatre, with an official opening night set for April 16. The show will play a limited engagement through July 27.

Norton won the Tony Award for his featured role in Conor McPherson’s The Seafarer and is currently starring in Atlantic Theater Company's American premiere presentation of McPherson’s The Night Alive off-Broadway. Norton's other Broadway credits include The Weir, Finian's Rainbow and The Mystery of Edwin Drood. His film and TV credits include Straw Dogs, American History X, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Water for Elephants and Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close.

Adapted from Steinbeck’s novella, Of Mice and Men tells the story of two migrant workers: George (Franco), a sharp but uneducated, short-tempered man, and Lennie (O’Dowd), a large but simple-minded man. Together they hope to one day acquire their own piece of land. But when Lennie stirs up trouble on the job, George must choose between protecting his friend or continuing to strive for the American dream.

Of Mice and Men premiered at Broadway's Music Box Theatre in 1937, starring Wallace Ford and Broderick Crawford. The show was revived in 1974 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre, starring James Earl Jones and Kevin Conway.