Details have been mighty slow in coming regarding the Broadway adaptation of Judgment at Nuremberg, due in a National Actors Theatre mounting this season, but there is one bit of recent news. Sources close to the production say that George Grizzard, last on Broadway in the revival of A Delicate Balance, is likely to have a role in the production, alongside the previously reported Maximilian Schell. A production spokesperson told Playbill On-Line (Oct. 19) that although Grizzard and Schell are, indeed, strongly rumored for the production, no acting contracts have yet been finalized, and casting is still underway. (“They’re particularly searching right now for a youngish person, late twenties-to-early thirties,” he added).
As previously reported, rehearsals for Judgment at Nuremberg are slated to happen sometime between Nov. 1 and Dec. 31. Springer anticipates previews at “a Shubert theatre” happening in February for an opening in March 2001.
Weeks earlier, it was confirmed that Schell, unforgettable as the volcanic attorney defending Nazi war criminals in the film version, would return to the material -- albeit in a different role. This time he'll play a defendant, a calm, intelligent man who should have known better than to just follow orders. (The role was played by Burt Lancaster in the movie.) No word yet on which role Grizzard might undertake. Apart from his Tony-winning stint in Balance, Grizzard’s other stage credits have included 1959’s The Disenchanted and 1961’s Big Fish, Little Fish, both of which earned him Featured Actor Tony nominations.
Director John Tillinger and NAT artistic director Tony Randall are still casting the other roles, and Abby Mann, adapting his own screenplay, has apparently finished the script after weeks of revisions.
Variety had mentioned (Aug. 31) that actor Schell was recently recovering in a Munich hospital after collapsing at the Latvian Film Festival. He didn't require surgery, and Nuremberg spokespersons say he's recovered, remains with the project, and has been in frequent contact with the producers about the show. Judgment at Nuremberg began life at a television production. It was subsequently made into a film starring Spencer Tracy, Montgomery Clift, Lancaster, Judy Garland, Schell and Marlene Dietrich. The NAT commissioned Mann to adapt his own script for the stage. (The play has no connection, by the way, to another television piece: "Nuremberg," a four hour docudrama by David W. Rintels, which premiered July 16 on Turner Network Television.)
Judgment will mark the NAT's first venture since Night Must Fall, which closed on Broadway in spring 1999. Since its first two seasons, in the early '90s, the NAT has operated in a more casual manner, presenting a play whenever the needed elements and talent were brought together. Past productions have included The Gin Game and Inherit the Wind.
Tillinger, whose most recent credit was the short-lived Suite in Two Keys Off Broadway, has almost become the house director for the NAT. For the company, he has mounted Inherit the Wind, Night Must Fall, The Sunshine Boys and Three Men on a Horse.
