August Wilson’s famous play “Fences” is going to be revived on Broadway and they’re looking for an all-star cast. Some rumors have circulated about them trying to cast Laurence Fishburn, Mos Def, and Anthony Mackie. While these are all big names…they don’t have a thing on Oprah who is no longer up for the role of Rose.
Last year, the latest buzz in the theater world was that Oprah would be cast for the part of the ex-baseball player’s wife. Supposedly, Winfrey wanted to play Rose for a long time. She even spoke to Wilson, who died in 2005, about playing the role in the movie, which has been in development for years.
Winfrey was introduced to the Broadway production by Kenny Leon and producer David Binder, they were the team behind the 2004 hit "A Raisin in the Sun" starring Sean Combs.
They were also close to lining up Forest Whitaker to play Troy- the ex-baseball playing husband.
Their plans, however, fell apart when Wilson's widow, Constanza Romero, refused to give them the rights to the play.
Constanza instead gave the rights to Carole Shorenstein Hays, the San Francisco real estate heiress and the original producer of "Fences."
A secret source told the New York Post "It was a question of loyalty; Carole was August's first producer. She supported all his plays, even the ones that weren't successful."
Binder and Leon were stunned. They had, after all, met with Wilson several times before he died to outline plans for their production. Wilson was especially impressed that they'd been able to lure predominantly black audiences to "A Raisin in the Sun."
~From the New York Post~
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