Former WABC reporter Art McFarland stars in 'Driving Miss Daisy' play in New Jersey

CAPE MAY, New Jersey (WPVI) -- Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Driving Miss Daisy" opens next week for a one-month run in Cape May, New Jersey.

The beloved show stars a familiar face in the ABC family.

When he retired in 2014, Art McFarland was the longest-tenured on-air reporter for 6abc's sister station, WABC in New York. He worked there for 31 years.

"I loved every minute of it," McFarland says, "but when I got older, my wife said to me, 'Why don't you consider going back to that thing you used to love when you were a kid? Acting.' I was like, 'Huh, that's an interesting idea.' And I did! I've made some modest gains, and that includes the privilege of being cast in 'Driving Miss Daisy' at the East Lynne Theater Company here in Cape May. It's just been great."

McFarland plays Hoke Coleburn, Miss Daisy's chauffeur.

It's the story of the unlikely friendship between Hoke, who is Black, and Miss Daisy, a Southern white woman.

"What a classic story 'Driving Miss Daisy' is of relationships and sensitivities, and of some of the building blocks that bring us to where we are today as a people," McFarland says, "on any side of the fence that you're on."

Uhry's "Driving Miss Daisy" won a Pulitzer Prize, a Tony Award, and an Oscar.

It opens August 2 at the East Lynne Theater Company in Cape May and runs through September 2.