Shelagh Stephenson's The Memory of Water, which opened last month at the Vaudeville with its triumvirate of female stars -- Alison Steadman, Samantha Bond and Julia Sawalha -- has extended its run by six weeks. The show is now booking to May 22. But those who want to see Samantha Bond -- as middle sister Mary in the tale of three sisters dealing with their mother's death -- will have to move quickly. Bond leaves the cast on Saturday Mar. 20 to join Dame Judi Dench for the Broadway transfer of David Hare's Amy's View, in which she plays another daughter of another dominant mother, a role Bond made her own when the play opened at the National Theatre in 1997 and later transferred to the West End.
In The Memory of Water, Bond will be replaced by Stella Gonet, who is best known for her role in British television series "The House of Elliott."
Amy's View tickets will go on sale March 7 by phone and at the Barrymore Box Office for the show's 115 performance run April 3-July 18. Opening night has been set for April 15.
View, by David Hare, examines the relationship between stage legend Esme Allen and her daughter Amy. The play begins in 1979 and follows the two women through to the present day.
Dame Judi Dench will reprise her role in the production. Dench, who was nominated for an Olivier for Amy's View, is perhaps best known in America for her film work including "M" in the most recent James Bond movies, Mistress Quickly in Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V" and her Oscar nominated turn as Queen Victoria in 1997's "Mrs. Brown." She has not been seen on Broadway since a 1961 U.S. tour with the Old Vic Theatre Company. London director Richard Eyre, former head of the Royal National, directs the piece again for New York.
Designing Amy's View are Bob Crowley (sets) and Mark Henderson (lighting). Music is by Richard Hartley. The show is being produced on Broadway by Robert Fox, Scott Rudin, Roger Berlind, Joan Cullman and The Shubert Organization.
Amy's View opened first in June 1997 at the National Theatre in London before transferring to the West End's Aldwych Theatre Jan. 17, 1998. The production closed there April 18, 1998.
Tickets by phone can be ordered by calling (212) 239-6200. The Barrymore Theatre box office is located at 243 West 47th Street.
