Playbill On-Line first reported on April 30 that Sly Fox would reach Broadway during the 2003-04 season. An exact opening date (set for sometime in March) and specific Broadway theatre are yet to be announced.
Also producing Sly Fox with Schlossberg, Furman and Sprecher are Michael Gardener and James Fantaci by arrangement with Andrew Braunsberg.
The involvement of Dreyfuss will mean the Oscar-winning actor's first Broadway turn since 1992's Death and the Maiden. In recent years, Dreyfuss has returned to the stage in a big way, acting in London (Prisoner of Second Avenue), Off-Broadway (The Exonerated, Trumbo) and regionally (All My Sons at the Westport Country Playhouse this summer).
Dreyfuss would likely headline the play as conniving miser, Foxwell J. Sly. Roles listed as "cast" on the notice included the parts of Abner Truckle and Jethro Crouch.
According to an April casting notice, the play will run in Stamford, CT, from Oct. 3 to Oct. 12 before reaching New York. That is the exact path Fortune's Fool took, beginning its life at the Stamford Center for the Arts. Given the February New York start of Sly Fox, however, those dates may have changed. The play will feature set design by Jesse Poleshuck, costumes by Albert Wolsky and lighting design by Peter Kaczorowski.
Sly Fox is based on Ben Jonson's classic comedy of greed, Volpone. It was first produced on Broadway in 1976 and went on to run 495 performances. Penn directed that production as well. George C. Scott played the lead role of Sly, with Bob Dishy as Truckle and Jack Gilford as Crouch. Dishy won a Drama Desk Award and was nominated for a Tony.
Fortune's Fool, a little know Turgenev play, took Broadway by stealth in spring 2002. The show quietly began previews March 8 at the Music Box Theatre and opened on April 2 to respectful-to-good reviews. The Tonys were a little more than respectful, though. Both Langella and Bates won trophies for their masterly portrayals. Their performances were widely regarded as among the best of the season and audiences lined up to feast on the expert acting. The staging ended its limited run on July 21.
