Add Uma Thurman to the list of film actresses who want a piece of the New York stage. Academy Award nominee Thurman ("The Avengers," "Dangerous Liaisons," "Batman & Robin," "Pulp Fiction") and Roger Rees (Nicholas Nickleby, The Uneasy Chair) will star in Martin Crimp's updated adaptation of Moliere's The Misanthrope, presented by Off Broadway's Classic Stage Company, beginning previews Jan. 28, 1999.
Tickets go onsale via Tele-Charge Jan. 8, at (212) 239-6200. A production spokesperson noted that since CSC has frozen subscription for the season (albeit honoring subscriptions that are already extant), and since early tickets have not been made available before Jan. 8, there should be a good selection of seats available.
The opening is set for Feb. 14 (with a Feb. 28, 1999 close) at the CSC's home at 136 East 13th St. in Manhattan. CSC artistic director Barry Edelstein will direct.
Crimp penned the acclaimed Theatre de Complicite's recent revival of Ionesco's The Chairs, which played London and was Tony Award nominated on Broadway. His Moliere adaptation (in verse) sets the tale in contemporary London, where American film actress Jennifer (Thurman) meets brilliant, snarky playwright Alceste (Rees).
Production notes indicate the goal is "satirizing our sound-bite paced, media obsessed culture with the same lacerating energy that Moliere himself aimed at the narcissistic and intrigue-laden world of Louis XIV's court." Also in the cast are Michael Emerson (Gross Indecency), Seth Gilliam (A Question of Mercy), Brian Keane, Adina Porter (Venus), Mary Lou Rosato (Once Upon a Mattress), John Gould Rubin (The Predator's Ball) and Nicholas Wyman (Les Miserables).
Among film actresses who have appeared on the New York stage in the past year are Natasha Richardson, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Nicole Kidman and Holly Hunter. On the male side, Tony Shalhoub, John Turturro and Christopher Lloyd recently starred in CSC's Waiting For Godot.
Designers for The Misanthrope are Narelle Sissons (sets), Martin Pakledinaz (costumes), Stephen Strawbridge (lighting), Darron L. West (sound). Original music is by contemporary classical composer Michael Torke.
Tickets go on sale Jan. 8, 1999. Call (212) 239-6200.
-- By Kenneth Jones and Sean McGrath and David Lefkowitz
