The Creator of "Downton Abbey" Is Taking Viewers Back to the Gilded Age

Julian Fellowes, who transported us back to post-Edwardian England with “Downton Abbey” (2010-2015) and “Gosford Park” (2001), will take us to 1880s New York next when his new series “The Gilded Age” premieres on HBO. Broadway Stages is excited to play a role in helping Fellowes and his cast and crew recreate that tumultuous period in New York City history.

The Gilded Age (1870s-1900) was a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization in the United States. Wealthy Americans built massive mansions in Newport, Rhode Island, and skyscrapers transformed the skylines of Chicago and New York City. It was also a period of widening disparity between the rich and the poor and a constant tug of war between old money aristocrats and nouveau riche industrialists who ruled high society.

“The Gilded Age,” which is filming now at our stages in Queens, centers on Marian Brook (Louisa Jacobson), a penniless orphaned young woman who moves to New York City in 1882 to live with her aristocratic aunts Agnes van Rhijn (Christine Baranski) and Ada Brook (Cynthia Nixon). She finds herself caught in a growing feud between her aunts and their new-money neighbors, ruthless railroad tycoon George Russell (Morgan Spector) and his ambitious wife Bertha (Carrie Coon). Others in the cast include Taissa Farmiga, Jack Gilpin, Jeanne Tripplehorn, and Nathan Lane.

The period drama has been in development for several years and has faced major changes and challenges since it was first announced. NBC was originally set to distribute a 10-episode first season, but in 2019 the series switched to HBO. Due to the pandemic, filming was delayed, and the part of Bertha Russell had to be recast from Amanda Peet to Carrie Coon.

HBO has not yet announced a release date, but with all the star-studded talent involved we know it will be worth the wait. We will be sure to keep you posted.