Stoppard's Rock 'n' Roll Will Open on Broadway in November

By Andrew Gans
16 May 2007

Brian Cox in Rock 'n' Roll
Brian Cox in Rock 'n' Roll
photo by Johan Persson

Rock 'n' Roll — penned by Coast of Utopia playwright Tom Stoppard — will open on Broadway Nov. 4 at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

Previews of the work, which played a record-breaking run in London, will begin Oct. 19. Trevor Nunn, who helmed the London production, will direct here as well.

Brian Cox, Sinead Cusack and Rufus Sewell, who appeared in the London company, will also star on Broadway. The New York cast will also feature Nicole Ansari and Alice Eve. Sewell won the Olivier, Evening Standard and London Critics' Circle awards for his performance.

Rock 'n' Roll, according to press notes, "spans the years from 1968-1990 from the double perspective of Prague, Czechoslovakia, where a rock 'n' roll band comes to symbolize resistance to the Communist regime — and of Cambridge, England, where the verities of love and death are shaping the lives of three generations in the family of a Marxist philosopher."

The design team includes Robert Jones (set design), Emma Ryott (costume design), Howard Harrison (lighting design) and Ian Dickinson (sound design).
Stoppard's play received its world premiere at the Royal Court and subsequently transferred to the Duke of York's Theatre for a sold-out run. It won the London Evening Standard and London Critics' Circle Theatre Awards for Best New Play.

Rock 'n' Roll will be produced on Broadway by Sonia Friedman Productions, Bob Boyett, Ostar Enterprises, Roger Berlind and Tulbart Productions, in association with Lincoln Center Theater.

Further casting and ticket information will be announced shortly.

Alice Eve and Rufus Sewell in Rock 'n' Roll
Alice Eve and Rufus Sewell in Rock 'n' Roll
photo by Johan Persson