Hughie, the Broadway revival of Eugene O'Neill's two-character drama starring Tony- and Oscar-winning film star Al Pacino, has extended for a third time its limited engagement at the Circle in the Square Theatre.
Originally scheduled to end Aug. 31, then Sept. 14, then Oct. 9, the show is now selling tickets through Nov. 2, though the show will take off the week Oct. 17-23.
The extensions are a bright spot for Circle in the Square, which has been in upheaval since Aug. 23 when longtime artistic director Theodore Mann announced his resignation. The board of directors then declared the theatre bankrupt and requested the resignation of Mann's co-artistic director Josephine Abady.
Hughie has been selling out, providing the theatre with badly-needed income. The extensions must also be satisfying for Pacino because he made his Broadway directing debut in the revival. Pacino will also be making his debut as a film director this fall with Looking for Richard, a film exploring Shakespeare's Richard III.
Pacino, who has been a long time supporter of the theatre, insisted that 100 tickets be set aside and sold to the general public at $20 each. The special $20 tickets go on sale at 10 a.m. the day of each performance at the Circle in the Square Box Office (50th Street between Broadway and 8th Avenue). Full price tickets may be purchased anytime in advance by calling Telecharge at (212) 239-6200 (outside NYC: 800-432-7250). You can also order tickets through Playbill On-Line. Hughie, written in 1941, paints a portrait of a small-time hustler named Erie who returns to a seedy hotel where he was a hero to the old night clerk, Hughie. But when Erie arrives this time, he learns that Hughie is dead, and he must find a new ear (Paul Benedict) for his tall tales of wine, women and gambling glory.
The twin engagements restore two of Pacino's most fruitful relationships with institutional theatres. The show previewed at Long Wharf Theatre in Connecticut, where he debuted David Mamet'sAmerican Buffalo and later National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre. He's also appeared at numerous fund-raisers for the theatre.
A longtime supporter of Circle in the Square, Pacino appeared there most recently in the 1992 double-bill of Salome and Chinese Coffee.
Pacino won Tony Awards in the Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?. He won an Oscar in Scent of a Woman.
