The previously-announced Fonda heads a cast of eight — including Zach Grenier as Beethoven, Don Amendolia as Anton Diabelli, Susan Kellermann, Erik Steele and pianist Diane Walsh — in the new music-drenched American play written and directed by Kaufman (The Laramie Project).
The new drama concerns Katherine Brandt (Jane Fonda), trying to solve a centuries-old mystery about the world's greatest composer — Beethoven. Her obsession takes her from present-day New York to 19th-century Austria. "As the music that consumes Katherine comes to life on stage, she races against time to find common ground with her daughter [Mathis] and to embrace the legacy of her own life," according to production notes.
Performances begin Feb. 9 at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre, 230 W. 49th Street. The official opening will be March 9. The limited engagement will play through May 24.
The creative team was also announced on Jan. 14. Expect the work of Derek McLane (sets), Janice Pytel (costumes), David C. Woolard (additional costumes), David Lander (lights), André Pluess (sound), Jeff Sugg (projection design), Charles LaPointe (hair/wig design) and Daniel Pelzig (choreography). The dramaturg is Mark Bly.
This marks the Kaufman's debut as a Broadway playwright. He directed the acclaimed Broadway production of I Am My Own Wife. He is the artistic director of Tectonic Theater Project, the award-winning non-profit theatre company behind such plays as The Laramie Project and Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde. Producer David Binder (A Raisin in the Sun) presents the Tectonic Theater Project's production of 33 Variations. Producers also include Ruth Hendel, Barbara Whitman, Hal Goldberg, Eric Schnall, Jayne Baron Sherman, Arielle Tepper Madover and Latitude Link.
Internationally known Oscar and Emmy Award winner Fonda ("Klute," "Coming Home," "The Dollmaker," "The China Syndrome," "On Golden Pond" and many more) made her Broadway debut in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the 1963 drama Strange Interlude.
Mathis returns to Broadway following her performance of Hester Falk in Arthur Miller's The Man Who Had All the Luck opposite Chris O'Donnell. She plays Melinda on TV's "Grey's Anatomy." Hanks is making his Broadway debut following a recurring role on AMC's "Mad Men" (as Father John Gill). His movie credits include "W.," "The House Bunny" and "King Kong."
Grenier portrayed the role of Beethoven in 33 Variations at La Jolla Playhouse and was most recently on Broadway in A Man for All Seasons starring Frank Langella.
Tickets for 33 Variations are currently on sale to the general public and are available by visiting Telecharge.com, calling (212) 239-6200 and at the box office of the Eugene O'Neill Theatre.
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33 Variations will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8 PM with a Wednesday and Saturday matinee at 2 PM and Sunday matinee at 3 PM. (There will be a performance on Monday, Feb. 9 at 8 PM; there will not be a performance on Feb. 11 at 2 PM, Feb. 15 or March 10.) The "Tuesdays at 7 PM" schedule begins on March 17.
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33 Variations premiered on Aug. 30, 2007, at Arena Stage, Washington, DC. A production of 33 Variations was produced in 2008 by The La Jolla Playhouse, La Jolla, CA. The play was developed with assistance from The Sundance Institute Theatre Program, The Orchard Project Theatre Residency Program, The Davis Performing Arts Center and Theater and Performance Studies at Georgetown University, and the Krannert Center for the Performing Arts and the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.
