Directed by Tony Award winner Doug Hughes, the production will officially open in April 2013. The limited engagement will continue through June 2, 2013.
Full cast and design team will be announced at a later date.
The upcoming production marks the first new Broadway staging of The Big Knife since it premiered on Broadway in 1949 directed by Lee Strasberg.
"In the golden age of Hollywood cinema, actors may have all the glory, but studio execs have all the power," according to Big Knife press notes. "The Hoff-Federated studio has had its most successful star, Charlie Castle, over a barrel ever since it helped cover up a mistake that could have ended his career. When a woman with insider knowledge threatens to come forward, the studio heads will stop at nothing to protect Charlie’s secret... but how far is he willing to go before he quits the movie business for good?
In a statement Roundabout artistic director Todd Haimes said, "The Big Knife is well overdue for a revival - it's written by one of our greatest American playwrights with an array of great roles for actors to sink their teeth into. I love the language Odets uses in The Big Knife and how he digs into the dark side of Old Hollywood. This story has all of the glamour we associate with that time and place. Doug Hughes gets this period and this kind of high-style language. As our Resident Director, he also understands Roundabout and shares our dedication to finding exciting, seldom-seen plays like this to revive. I'm a huge fan of Bobby Cannavale, and I think he's one of those modern actors who you can really imagine fitting right into the 1940s. There's something wonderfully old-school about him, and I'm so happy that we'll get to see Bobby take on a great role like Charlie Castle. "With the musical comedy of Drood, the romance of Picnic, and now the movie-land drama of The Big Knife, I'm thrilled about the range in our Broadway revivals. And including two new plays off-Broadway that mix drama and dark comedy, If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet and The Unavoidable Disappearance of Tom Durnin, I think the new season is shaping up to be an incredibly strong and varied one that represents what Roundabout brings to the audience."
Cannavale made his Broadway debut in Theresa Rebeck’s Mauritius, for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. He was most recently seen in The Motherf**ker With The Hat (Tony Award nomination; Drama Desk Award) and received rave reviews in the 2005 Off-Broadway revival of Hurlyburly. On television Cannavale won an Emmy Award for his performance as Will’s boyfriend on NBC’s “Will & Grace.” Television appearances also include HBO’s “Six Feet Under,” the ABC comedy series “Cupid,” and he is currently co-starring this season on “Nurse Jackie.” This fall Cannavale joins the cast of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire.”
Director Hughes is Roundabout Theatre Company’s resident director. For Roundabout, he most recently staged the world premiere of Maury Yeston’s musical Death Takes a Holiday and the Broadway production of Mrs. Warren’s Profession starring Cherry Jones and Sally Hawkins, A Man For All Seasons starring Frank Langella, A Touch of the Poet starring Gabriel Byrne and A Naked Girl on the Appian Way starring Jill Clayburgh and Richard Thomas.
Show times will be Tuesday-Saturday at 8 PM with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 PM.
Only Roundabout subscribers have first access to tickets. To become a Roundabout Subscriber, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org or call Roundabout Ticket Services (212) 719-1300 today. Single tickets will be available to the general public in winter 2013.
