The national tour of Steve Martin's comedy, Picasso At The Lapin Agile, which has enjoyed a long summer run at San Francisco's Theatre on the Square, will close on Sept. 6.
Paul Provenza and Mark Nelson began in the tour (Oct. 3), but the show currently stars Dan Hiatt as befuddled Albert Einstein and Chicago actor Robert Kahn as sullen, fiery Pablo Picasso.
The popular comedy follows the chance meeting of physicist Einstein and artist Picasso in a small French cafe at the turn of the century. Both try to pick up the same pretty girl, and the result is a comical debate between the two men about the nature of true genius.
Also populating the cafe are Kimberly King, Ken Grantham, Will Marchetti, Howard Swain, Michael Oosterom, Susannah Schulman and James Kruk. All the actors (except Kahn) appeared in Picasso during Theatre on the Square's homegrown production June 1996- April 1997.
Randall Arney staged the world premiere, NY and L.A., of Picasso as well as the tour. Other Broadway credits include The Rise And Fall Of Little Voice and The Song Of Jacob Zulu, both developed in Chicago. Designing the Picasso tour are Scott Bradley (sets), Patricia Zipprodt (costumes) and Kevin Rigdon (lighting). The tour is produced by Stephen Eich, Joan Stein and Richard Martini.
Since its premiere at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre in October 1994, Picasso has received much critical acclaim. In October 1995, the show opened in New York, where it garnered the 1996 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway play. The New York cast then toured to Theatre on the Square in San Francisco, where the sold-out run was extended for several months.
Though Martin has been a comedian/actor/film director for over two decades, Picasso was his first play. Its success spurred him on to write Wasp And Other Magic Plays, which was produced at the Public Theatre Off-Broadway.
For tickets ($25-$40) and information on Picasso at the Lapin Agile at SF's Theatre on the Square call (415) 433-9500.
-- By Jackie Mastropolo
and David Lefkowitz and Robert Simonson
