Driving Miss Daisy
As part of its 2025-2026 Season, The Old Academy Players is proud to present Driving Miss Daisy, a dramatic comedy by Alfred Uhry, American playwright and screenwriter. The Old Academy Players' 553rd production will run June 12-28, 2026; Friday and Saturday performances at 8:00 pm and three Sunday matinées, June 14th, 21st, and 28th at 2:00 pm. It is presented by special arrangement with Concord Theatricals, Inc.
The original Off-Broadway production was staged at Playwrights Horizons Studio Theatre on 42nd Street, opening on April 15, 1987. Dana Ivey starred as Daisy and was directed by Ron Lagomarsino. The play was the first in Uhry's Atlanta Trilogy, which deals with Jewish residents of that city in the early 20th century. The play won the 1988 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the 1988 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway Play. Uhry adapted his play into the screenplay for a 1989 film of the same name starring Jessica Tandy, Morgan Freeman and Dan Aykroyd. All three actors were nominated for Academy Awards, with Tandy winning the Academy Award for Best Actress. The film received nine nominations total, and won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Uhry also won an Academy Award for his screenplay. Reviews indicated: "A perfectly poised and shaped miniature on the odd-couple theme." – New York Post "The play is sweet without being mawkish, ameliorative without being sanctimonious." – The New York Times "A winner… gives off a warm glow of humane affirmation." – Variety
Synopsis: The place is the Deep South, the time 1948, just prior to the civil rights movement. Having recently demolished another car, Daisy Werthan, a rich, sharp-tongued Jewish widow of seventy-two, is informed by her son, Boolie, that henceforth she must rely on the services of a chauffeur. The person he hires for the job is a thoughtful, unemployed black man, Hoke, whom Miss Daisy immediately regards with disdain and who, in turn, is not impressed with his employer’s patronizing tone and, he believes, her latent prejudice.
Old Academy Players’ stellar cast members are: Kareem Diallo Carpenter as Hoke Colburn, Michael Tarringer as Boolie Werthan, and Susan Blair as Daisy Werthan. Driving Miss Daisy is directed by Carla Childs and Vanessa D. Ballard and produced by Helga Krauss and Karen Taylor-Young.
Ticket prices are: $25 per adult; $15 for Students under 25 with valid ID; group rate (15 or more) $21 each. Tickets can be purchased online at www.OldAcademyPlayers.org. Reservations and more information can be obtained by calling the Box Office at 215-843-1109. Advance tickets are highly recommended.
Old Academy Players is located at 3544 Indian Queen Lane, Philadelphia, PA 19129. Parking for all performances is free. The Old Academy Players has provided continuous community theater entertainment since 1923 and is a non-profit community theater in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia. Constructed in 1819, the Old Academy building has been the OAP home since 1932. Old Academy Players is a member of the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance. Most notable alumni include Tony Award-nominated actor Robert Prosky and Hollywood icon, Grace Kelly. Support is provided by the "Philadelphia Cultural Fund" and the "Sylvia W. and Randle M. Kauders Foundation".
