New Vaudeville clown Bill Irwin will recreate his acclaimed Seattle Rep production of Moliere's Scapin off-Broadway this winter.
Irwin will direct and star in the new adaptation at Roundabout Theatre Company's Laura Pels Theatre (Dec. 4, 1996-March 9, 1997). Irwin, who will play the wily servant Scapin, last appeared in New York in Hip Hop Wonderland off-Broadway in May.
Roundabout announced that it also has added two more revivals to its roster of plays at its Broadway theatre, the Criterion Stage Right: Jean Anouilh's Rehearsal directed by Nicholas Martin Oct. 30-Jan. 12, and Dion Boucicault's London Assurance starring Brian Bedford April 16-July 6, 1997.
Other Roundabout announcements:
* The revival of Cabaret is considering an unorthodox venue -- The Supper Club on West 47th Street. Director Sam Mendes is hoping to recreate the cabaret atmosphere of his London production when he stages the show in New York. Dates TBA. * The Broadway revival of Chekhov's The Three Sisters will star Frances McDormand and Lili Taylor, and will be directed by Scott Elliott Jan. 22-April 6, 1997.
Roundabout previously announced that it will revive two Tony-winning late-1960s musicals, Cabaret (dates TBA) and 1776 (July 16-Oct. 19, 1997 at the Criterion Stage Right).
Scott Ellis (who staged Roundabout revivals of She Loves Me and Company) will direct the revival of 1776, the Tony-winning 1968 musical about the events leading up to the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
London director Sam Mendes (Oliver! and The Glass Menagerie in the West End) will stage Cabaret, John Kander and Fred Ebb's 1966 musical based on "I Am a Camera," about a writer in decadent Berlin during the rise of the Nazis.
In a letter to subscribers, Roundabout Artistic Director Todd Haimes said "this production {of Cabaret] will be a dramatically different event for Roundabout, as it will be mounted at the off-site venue chosen in order to recreate the cabaret in which the show takes place. The show will reprise Mendes' visionary production which received great critical acclaim when it was produced in London two years ago."
