Lily Rabe and Jesse L. Martin Will Return for Broadway Merchant; Christopher Fitzgerald Joins Cast | Playbill

Related Articles
News Lily Rabe and Jesse L. Martin Will Return for Broadway Merchant; Christopher Fitzgerald Joins Cast Lily Rabe, Jesse L. Martin, Byron Jennings and Heather Lind will rejoin Al Pacino for the Broadway transfer of the Shakespeare in the Park production of Merchant of Venice, which will arrive at the Broadhurst Theatre Oct. 19.

//assets.playbill.com/editorial/d450ef3f864c2c9e3a4533cd02c055b7-Merchant200.jpg
Lily Rabe Photo by Joan Marcus

Rabe will reprise her performance as Portia, alongside Martin as Gratiano, Jennings as Antonio and Lind as Jessica. Pacino will again star as Shylock in the Daniel Sullivan staging of the drama, which will officially open Nov. 7 and play a limited 78-performance engagement through Jan. 9, 2011. The Public Theater, Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel produce the Broadway run.

Additional returning principals from the summer run include Gerry Bamman as the Duke of Venice, Matthew Rauch as Solanio and Richard Topol as Tubal. Returning ensemble members include Happy Anderson, Liza J. Bennett, Bryce Gill, Jade Hawk, Bethany Heinrich, Tia James, Kelsey Kurz, Brian Macdonald and Dorien Makhloghi.

Newly  added to the cast are Tony Award nominee Christopher Fitzgerald as Launcelot Gobbo, Marsha Stephanie Blake as Nerissa, David Harbour as Bassanio, Peter Francis James as Salerio, Isaiah Johnson as Prince of Morocco, Charles Kimbrough as Prince of Arragon and Seth Numrich as Lorenzo.

Fitzgerald, Blake, Harbour, Kimbrough and Numrich replace Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Hamish Linklater, Max Wright and Bill Heck, respectively, all of whom appeared in the Shakespeare in the Park repertory production

The company will also welcome ensemble cast members Glenn Fleshler, Luke Forbes, Herb Foster, Thomas M. Hammond, Curt Hostetter, Dorien Makhloghi, Kim Martin-Cotten and Baylen Thomas. The Broadway run of Merchant will reunite the Shakespeare in the Park creative team, including Mark Wendland (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Kenneth Posner (lighting design) and Acme Sound Partners (sound design). Dan Moses Schreier penned original music for Merchant of Venice.

Here's how the Public bills the Shakespeare classic: "The Merchant of Venice is one of Shakespeare’s most thrilling and controversial plays, rich with love and betrayal, forgiveness and revenge. The Jewish moneylender Shylock makes a loan to Antonio, a Christian merchant. Their loan contract, steeped in prejudice and centered on the play's infamous 'pound of flesh,' sweeps the two men and everyone in their worlds into chaos. Only the insightful Portia can imagine a way forward, but for her and those she loves, even 'the quality of mercy' has its limits."

Pacino earned a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in Does a Tiger Wear Necktie? and was also honored with a Tony Award for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. Pacino starred in the 1996 production of Hughie, which he also directed. In addition to his stage roles in Camino Real, King Richard III, American Buffalo and Chinese Coffee, he is well known for the films "Scent of a Woman" (Academy Award), "The Godfather," "Scarface," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Frankie and Johnny," "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Ocean's Thirteen" and "Angels in America."

For tickets phone (212) 239-6200 or visit Telecharge.com. The Broadhurst Theatre is located at 235 W. 44th Street.

//assets.playbill.com/editorial/b3d633afd5827f675362a238c887b459-merchantinthepark460d.jpg
Lily Rabe, Byron Jennings and Al Pacino
 
RELATED:
Today’s Most Popular News:
 X

Blocking belongs
on the stage,
not on websites.

Our website is made possible by
displaying online advertisements to our visitors.

Please consider supporting us by
whitelisting playbill.com with your ad blocker.
Thank you!