By Andrew Gans
06 Mar 2003
 |
 |
| Al Pacino |
Al Pacino will return to the stage this spring in a production of Salome by Oscar Wilde: The Reading.
Pacino, who spent the fall in the National Actors Theatre's production of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, will play Herod in the upcoming Salome revival, which will be mounted at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre. A spokesperson for the production confirmed that Pacino will star opposite Marisa Tomei, who will play the title character. (Tomei is also scheduled to star in the upcoming Broadway revival of Sweet Charity in Jan. 2004.) Pacino and Tomei took part in a reading of Salome this past November and December at Brooklyn's St. Ann's Warehouse. Like that production, the Broadway version will be directed by Academy Award winner Estelle Parsons.
Robert Fox, Daryl Roth and Amy Nederlander will produce the spring production, which begins performances at the Barrymore April 12. The official opening night is April 30, and the 58-performance run will end June 7. The cast will also include Dianne Wiest and David Strathairn.
Although Parsons and Pacino have been working on a new version of Sophocles' Oedipus Rex, that production is on the back burner. Robert Fox, who is producing the Salome revival, told the industry paper, "Oedipus will come later."
Salome, a tale of lust and revenge, follows the legend of King Herod and his lust for Salome, his young stepdaughter, and her sexual baiting of John the Baptist. Pacino starred in the 1992 production of the Wilde play at Circle in the Square Theatre. The recent Brooklyn workshop of Salome also starred Tim Altmeyer, Jill Alexander, Brian Delate, Daryl Dismond, Timothy Doyle, Andrew Garman, Bob Heller, Owen Hollander, Bob Lavelle, Chris McGarry, Ed Setrakian, Kevin Stapleton, David Strathairn and Dianne Wiest.
