Manhattan Theatre Club, by special arrangement with Jon B. Platt and Scott Landis, will produce the sexually charged work at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre beginning Oct. 13 toward a November opening to be announced. Tony Award winner Walter Bobbie (Chicago) will again direct the production. The leading man opposite Arianda — she reprises the part that brought her critical acclaim in 2010 — has not been announced. (Wes Bentley originated the male role Off-Broadway.)
In Venus in Fur, 2011 Tony Award nominee Arianda (Born Yesterday) plays Vanda, a gifted young actress eager to win a role in a new play based on the classic erotic novel, "Venus in Fur," adapted by director-writer Thomas. According to MTC, "Her emotionally charged audition for Thomas…becomes an electrifying game of cat and mouse blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex."
Casting for the role of Thomas will be announced in the coming weeks.
Venus in Fur had its world premiere by Classic Stage Company in January 2010, where it won raves and became a sold-out hit, extending twice at CSC's home on East 13th Street. The production received two Drama League nominations including Distinguished Production of a Play, an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination, and three Lucille Lortel Award nominations. For the production, Arianda received a Theatre World Award, the Clarence Derwent Award, the Clive Barnes Award, and Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations.
Playwright David Ives and director Walter Bobbie worked together on MTC's 2003 production of Ives' Polish Joke, which featured Bobbie. They also have a long history working together as playwright and director, on Encores! productions as well as The School for Lies and New Jerusalem. The creative team for Venus in Fur includes John Lee Beatty (scenic design), Anita Yavich (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design) and Acme Sound Partners (sound design).
Arianda earned a Best Actress Tony nomination for playing Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday. She recently wrapped production on the new film "Tower Heist," playing opposite Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy, and appears in the current releases of Woody Allen's "Midnight in Paris" and Tom McCarthy's "Win Win." Arianda trained at AMDA in their studio program for acting and at the New School for Liberal Arts in New York, Eugene Lang division. She received her MFA from NYU's Tisch graduate acting program.
Ives' work includes his evenings of one-act comedies called All in the Timing and Time Flies. His full-length plays also include Is He Dead? (adapted from Mark Twain); White Christmas; Polish Joke; and Ancient History), plus translations of A Flea in Her Ear, Yasmina Reza's drama A Spanish Play, Pierre Corneille's 1643 comedy The Liar (a hit this past spring at the Shakespeare Theatre in Washington, DC), and his adaptation of Moliere's The Misanthrope, which he retitled The School for Lies to acclaim at Classic Stage Company. His adaptation of Regnard's The Heir Apparent will be seen next season at Shakespeare Theatre. Ives is also the author of three young-adult novels: "Monsieur Eek," "Scrib" and "Voss," and he has adapted 30 American musicals for New York City's Encores! series.
Subscriptions to MTC's 2011-2012 season are available online at www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com. Single tickets to Venus in Fur will be available beginning Aug. 1.
