Before Angela Lansbury heads down under to be chauffeured by James Earl Jones in the Australian run of Driving Miss Daisy, the 87-year-old stage legend is already looking ahead to her next role.
Lansbury is eyeing a part in a New York production of the Enid Bagnold play The Chalk Garden, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. A thoroughly English comedy, the play has not been seen on Broadway since its original Tony-nominated run ended in 1956. The production is aiming for a fall 2013 run.
The Chalk Garden follows a grandmother who tries to find a suitable governess to look after her disturbed granddaughter, Laurel, who is more concerned with exposing the sordid pasts of her potential caregivers. The play opened on Broadway on October 26, 1955, and was nominated for five Tony Awards, including Best Play. The story was adapted into a feature film in 1964 starring Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills.
Five-time Tony winner Lansbury most recently appeared on Broadway opposite her Driving Miss Daisy co-star Jones in the A-list revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. Throughout her career, Lansbury has picked up five separate Tony Awards and seven nominations, winning for Mame, Dear World, Gypsy, Sweeney Todd and Blithe Spirit.