By Robert Simonson
Also sufficiently starry is Elling, a Simon Bent play which will make the Broadway debut of film actor Brenden Fraser. Denis O'Hare, Jennifer Coolidge and Richard Easton will lend support. The play, which was previously seen in London, will be mounted at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, with previews beginning Nov. 2. About two mismatched roommates, Hare will play obsessive-compulsive Elling with Fraser as the wildly enthusiastic gentle giant Kjell.
Producer Jeffrey Richards brings his fourth David Mamet play to Broadway in as many seasons with A Life in the Theatre, a 1977 two-hander about the queasy relationship between two actors. Patrick Stewart and T.R. Knight — taking his first Broadway role since leaving "Grey's Anatomy," make up the cast. Previews begin Sept. 17 at the Schoenfeld Theatre.
At the Roundabout Theatre Company's American Airlines Theatre, meanwhile, Shaw's evergreen Mrs. Warren's Profession brings stage star Cherry Jones back to the stage (it began previews Sept. 3 and opens Oct. 3). Doug Hughes directs. Jones previously starred in Shaw's Major Barbara at the Roundabout's American Airlines Theatre. Also on the Roundabout agenda, at Studio 54, is the return of the Kneehigh Theatre production of Brief Encounter. The British-born, Emma Rice-directed, multi-media stagework inspired by both Noel Coward's Still Life and the later David Lean film ("Brief Encounter") was a critical and popular smash at St. Ann's Warehouse in Brooklyn last winter season. It also played U.S. regional engagements to much acclaim. It begins previews Sept. 10 and opens Sept. 28.
06 Sep 2010
Denis O'Hare
photo by Aubrey Reuben
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| Jeffrey Wright stars in A Free Man of Color | ||
| photo by Aubrey Reuben |
Over on the Lincoln Center campus, John Guare's New Orleans-set A Free Man of Color begins at Lincoln Center Theater's Vivian Beaumont Oct. 21. The large-cast Guare drama, which has been bouncing around for years waiting for its New York bow, will be directed by George C. Wolfe. The cast, rich with stage talent, includes Jeffrey Wright, Veanne Cox, Robert Stanton, Reg Rogers and mos (formerly known as Mos Def).
Here's a fact that will surprise many theatregoers: Alfred Uhry's Pulitzer-Prize-winning drama Driving Miss Daisy — a theatre title familiar to most citizens — has never played Broadway. Its heralded late-'80s run was all Off-Broadway. This fall will change that. The three-hander about an elderly Southern Jewish lady and her longtime African-American driver will start at the Golden Theatre Oct. 7 with James Earl Jones, Vanessa Redgrave and Boyd Gaines.
Finally, it isn't often a tale from the sports world visits Broadway. (A notable recent exception was the baseball drama Take Me Out by Richard Greenberg.) But this fall, the life of a football legend will be enacted in Eric Simonson's new play Lombardi, which stars Dan Lauria as coach Vince Lombari, and is directed by In the Heights' Thomas Kail. The NFL is actually listed as one of the producers, surely a first in Broadway history. Expect a lot of football widows to use the show as a reason to get their never-been-to-the-theatre husbands to Broadway. First preview is Sept. 23 at Circle in the Square. Full disclosure: There is no relation between the playwright and this writer — aside from his being my brother.
(Robert Simonson has been Playbill.com's senior correspondent since 2006. Prior to that, he was the editor of Playbill.com for seven years. His most recent book, "The Gentleman Press Agent," was published by Applause Books in June. Contact him at rsimonson@playbill.com.)
