Excellent news! The Associated Press reports that Oscar-winner Marcia Gay Harden (Best Supporting Actress for “Pollock”) has joined the already astonishing cast of ‘The Seagull’, which opens July 24th. The players, including Streep and Harden, as well as Kevin Kline, Christopher Walken and John Goodman have their last show on August 10 at the outdoor Delacorte Theater.

The Mike Nichols directed “The Seagull”, starring Meryl, Kevin Kline and Natalie Portman, will be performed at the Delacorte Theatre in Central Park -the place, where Meryl started her career in the 1970s.

Emmy-winner Allison Janney is going to play her lesbian lover in the upcoming ‘The Hour’s’. Janney and Streep previousley worked together in “First Do No Harm”

What a cast! Toni Collette (“Muriel’s Wedding”, “The Sixth Sense”), Ed Harris (“Apollo 13”, “Pollock”) and Claire Danes (“Romeo and Juliet”) have joined Meryl Streep, Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore to play in the upcoming ‘The Hours’.

Meryl Streep will be returning to the stage. She has been announced to star in a new production of Chekov’s The Seagull this Summer. The play will be directed by Mike Nichols and will co-star Kevin Kline.

Looks like Gwyneth Paltrow has dropped out of “The Hours”. It’s been reported that this year’s Oscar nominee Julianne Moore (“The End of the Affair”, “Boogie Nights”) has replaced the actress in the upcoming ensemble drama, based on Michael Cunningham’s bestselling novel.

How’s this for a powerhouse combo? Gwyneth Paltrow, Nicole Kidman, and Meryl Streep May star together in a new film, but without ever sharing a scene. The plot of The Hours revolves around three female characters in different story lines and different time periods in the 20th century, related only by a parallel in their personal lives: Virginia Woolf’s novel Mrs. Dalloway. The first woman is Woolf herself, who is working on the novel in 1923 as she recovers from depression. Second is an unhappily married ’40s era Los Angeles housewife who reads Woolf’s novel in 1949 as she awaits the birth of her first child; third is a contemporary woman in New York planning what will be a farewell party for her AIDS-stricken former lover, who nicknamed her Mrs. Dalloway.

Hilary Swank was awarded with the Best Actress Oscar for her performance in “Boys Don’t Cry”. Meryl, who attended the ceremony with her husband and her daughter Grace, was nominated in the same category for “Music of the Heart”.

Meryl has received yet another Oscar nomination in the Best Actress category for her performance in “Music of the Heart”. She’s nominated alongside Annette Bening (American Beauty), Janet McTeer (Tumbleweeds), Julianne Moore (The End of the Affair) and Hilary Swank (Boys Don’t Cry). The Oscars will be handed out this March.

The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama went to Hilary Swank for her performance in “Boy’s Don’t Cry”. Meryl was nominated in the same category for “Music of the Heart”. Cross your fingers when the Oscar nominations are announced on February 15, 2000.