The Actors Hall of Fame is launching development of “Our American Cousin” as a miniseries and “The Life of Laura Keene” as a movie, Variety has learned exclusively.
Keene was a British stage actress who was also one of the first female managers in New York. She’s bet remembered as being the lead actress in the play “Our American Cousin,” attended by President Abraham Lincoln at Ford’s Theater in Washington, D.C., on the evening of his assassination.
The foundation will produce the first international revival of the play since Lincoln was assassinated, with limited engagements in London, Los Angeles, New York and Washington, D.C. It’s also developing “Our American Cousin” as a six-hour miniseries.
Rusty Citron, president of the Actors Hall of Fame Foundation, said the organization has over 150 hours of film, television and theater content in development through 2017. The content includes targeted programs on the foundation’s two streaming channels, the Shakespeare Channel and the Actors Channel, both premiering on Roku.
“The goal of our development program is to create content that generates sustainable revenue to restore dramatic arts education in schools,” Citron said.
Popular on Variety
He said the foundation’s model is comparable to the Sesame Street Workshop. Both are operated as a non-profit.
The foundation was launched with the support of HBO, Universal Pictures, Microsoft, MGM, Lionsgate and Google. The Actors Hall of Fame — based in Culver City — has inducted 75 thesps.
