William Hurt Returning To Artists Rep

Actor William Hurt, who is almost my third cousin (he is the grandson of Henry Luce, Jr., the founder of Time, from his second marriage; Luce's first was to my great great aunt) is returning to Portland to play the male lead in Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey Into Night at Artists Repertory Theatre next August. Hurt's performed with Artists Rep twice before, in The Drawer Boy in 2004 and in Vanya in 2007. Journey will be a co-production with Australia's Sydney Theatre Company. Andrew Upton, best known as Cate Blanchett's husband, will direct. Hurt will play opposite Australian actress Robyn Nevin. Artists Rep's press release makes no mention of Krista Vendy, the Australian soap star whose embarrassing performance sabotaged the company's otherwise fine production of Vanya, so hopefully we won't be seeing her again.

The show will open Aug. 13 2010 at the Newmark Theater.