According to CTG, "In 33 Variations, the audience is transported back and forth from present-day New York to 19th-century Austria, when a musicologist (Jane Fonda) is determined to solve the musical mystery of why Beethoven (Zach Grenier) spent his last years feverishly writing 33 variations of what appeared to be a mediocre waltz. Diagnosed with a serious disease, the scholar dismisses her daughter's (Samantha Mathis, who also appeared in the Broadway production) concerns and flies to Europe to study Beethoven's original papers. It is here that a heartfelt and moving story unfolds of how two remarkable individuals separated by 200 years defy mortality for a short, precious time and revel in their respective passions."
Here is the cast and starry guests on opening night:
The reconstituted production (with some newcomers to the cast) will play to March 6. Samantha Mathis, Don Amendolia, Susan Kellermann, Greg Keller, Grant James Varjas, Scott Barrow and Caitlin O'Connell join Fonda and Grenier in the Tectonic Theater Project production. Mathis, Amendolia and Kellermann appeared in the Broadway run.
33 Variations is the second production of the 2011 Mark Taper Forum subscription season, though the play will be presented at the Ahmanson Theatre.
Tickets, which are priced from $20-$80, are available by calling Center Theatre Group Audience Services at (213) 972-4400, in person at the Center Theatre Group box office or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org.
