Laura Benanti, Nell Campbell, Jane Krakowski, Chita Rivera and Saundra Santiago. These will some of the women in Guido's life when the Roundabout Theatre Company revives the musical Nine in 2003.
The names were reported by Variety, but were not confirmed by the Roundabout at press time. All of the above ladies would vie for the attention of Antonio Banderas, who will play filmmaker Guido, the only man in the show. (Banderas, too, is unconfirmed, but widely known to be slated for the role created by Raul Julia.)
Benanti, who will play Claudia, is currently living a Cinderalla story in Broadway's Into the Woods. She won a Tony nomination for her slipper-losing servant girl. Krakowski, who has been cast as Carla, spent much of the '90s in L.A., co-starring in the television show "Ally McBeal." She graced Broadway in Grand Hotel. Santiago, set to play Stephanie, appeared in Chronicle of a Death Foretold and A View from the Bridge. Rivera, of course, boasts many Broadway credits; this year she will be among the Kennedy Center honorees. She will play Liliane. Campbell will fill the role of Saraghina.
Nine has music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and a book by Arthur Kopit. It first opened at the 46th Street Theatre on May 9, 1982, under the direction of Tommy Tune, who also did the choreography along with Thommie Walsh.
The show was the brainchild of Yeston, who loved the Fellini film, about Guido Contini, a stalled Italian film director experiencing a career crisis. Tune filled the show with dreamlike stage images, establishing his reputation as a musical theatre director driven by arresting visions and stage pictures. Tune also came up with the idea of surrounding the director hero with female characters, making star Raul Julia the only adult male in the show. Among the women were Akers as Guido's wife, Liliane Montevecchi as his French producer, Shelly Burch as his leading actress and Anita Morris as his mistress. The buxom Morris owned what was perhaps the most sensational moment in the musical, singing "A Phone Call from the Vatican" in nothing but a body suit.
Nine went on to play 732 performances and win the Tony Award for best musical. The show helped establish Julia as a bankable star.
No casting has been announced for the revival at this time.
