Jayne Houdyshell Is Oswald's Mother in New Group's Mama's Boy Reading

By Ernio Hernandez
03 Dec 2009

Jayne Houdyshell
Jayne Houdyshell

Jayne Houdyshell will play Lee Harvey Oswald's mother Marguerite in the cast of The New Group reading of Rob Urbinati's Mama's Boy: The Woman Behind the Man who Killed Kennedy Dec. 6.

The one-night-only performance, which is part of the company's Dark Nights Series, will take place at Theatre Row's Acorn Theatre at 7 PM. David McCallum directs the Urbinati (Hazelwood Junior High) work.

Houdyshell (Bye Bye Birdie, Well, Wicked) is featured in a cast that also includes Natalia Zvereva (Memory House) as Marina Oswald, Barret O'Brien (Conspirators) as Robert Oswald and Greg Keller (Uncle Vanya) as Lee Harvey Oswald.

The evening will feature selections from "the play-in-process, which is based in part on Marguerite Oswald's testimony before the Warren Commission, and on events between mother and son in the two years leading up to and just following the assassination of JFK," according to an announcement.

McCallum directed the world premiere of Urbinati’s West Moon Street as well as the world premiere of Itamar Moses’ Back Back Back and productions of Charles Mee’s Queens Boulevard and Quiara Hudes’ Pulitzer Prize finalist Elliot: A Soldier’s Fugue.

The Dark Nights series features "cultural conversations and readings designed to create a dialogue between our artists and our audience." The 90-minute events offer an inside look at The New Group's current productions and other projects.

Tickets ($20) to the event at The Acorn Theatre, 410 West 42nd Street, are available by calling (212) 279-4200. This event is free to New Group subscribers. For more information, visit thenewgroup.org.