Official opening is Oct. 15. Tickets are now on sale for American Express card holders. General sale begins June 29. Unless any other dramas or comedies are announced for Broadway in the intervening weeks, Golda will be the first new play of the 2002-03 season, just as the Hayes' current tenant, Say Goodnight, Gracie, was the first new play of last season.
The one-person play by William Gibson started performances at the Manhattan Ensemble Theatre way back on March 13. Following its opening on March 26 to solid reviews, it extended several times, most recently to July 13.
Feldshuh, who plays former Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir, has earned three Tony Award nominations, for Yentl, Sarava and Lend Me a Tenor, but she hasn't been on Broadway since 1990.
As for playwright Gibson, who is just shy of 90 years old, it will be his first Broadway credit since writing the book to the short-lived 1986 musical Raggedy Ann. His biggest successes were, of course, the late-50s hits Two for the Seesaw and The Miracle Worker.
With Golda, director Scott Schwartz will likely have two shows on Broadway in 2002-03, the other being a probable Roundabout Theatre Company revival of Larry Shue's The Foreigner. His Off-Broadway credits include Bat Boy, tick, tick...BOOM! and The Castle at MET. *
MET now has two hits based on the lives of renowned historical figures. Its first offering this season, Hank Williams: Lost Highway, about the troubled country singer and composer, was hailed and quickly transferred following an extended run. It is currently playing the Little Shubert Off-Broadway. (In fact, the runaway success of MET's first two shows caused the nonprofit to postpone its third selection until the 2003 04 season).
Golda's Balcony was originally derived from a different play by Gibson, Golda, a large-cast show which starred Anne Bancroft and played on Broadway in 1977. Gibson converted it into a one-person drama, which had a production at Shakespeare & Co. in the Berkshires last summer. The MET production is, furthermore, a different version than the one seen in Lenox, MA.
The design team of Golda's Balcony includes wig and hair designer Paul Huntley, set designer Anna Louizos, light designer Howell Binkley, costume designer Jess Goldstein, properties designer Kathy Fabian, and projection designer Robin Silvestri of Batwin + Robin Productions.
