When Denzel Washington, Scarlett Johansson, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones starred on last year's Broadway theater stage, the Tony Awards featured a Hollywood cast picking up theatrical awards. The trend of casting stars has proved popular and a way to ensure the success of the play.
Daniel Craig and Hugh Jackman were in a one-act play called A Steady Rain which Jeremy Gerard, theater critic for Bloomberg News, described as "James Bond and Wolverine in a two-character play," he said, adding that it was a poor play but "audiences went home happy."
This fall, Broadway producers seek to continue the roll call of top-flight actors in staged productions, with Patrick Stewart appearing in David Mamet's A Life in the Theatre. The show co-stars T. R. Knight ( Grey's Anatomy) and begins performances September 21.
Also, Vanessa Redgrave and James Earl Jones will pair up in the Pulitzer Prize-winning play Driving Miss Daisy, about an aging Southern woman and her chauffeur. The story has also been made into an Oscar-winning movie. Miss Daisy looks to be a sell-out because it will have a limited run. Performances start on October. 7.
On September 14, previews begin on Angels in America: Millennium Approaches, starring Zachary Quinto ( Star Trek, the movie) performing in Tony Kushner's award-winning play in two parts.
In November, Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark will open. Though there are no television or film actors in the show, the musical is directed by Julie Taymor ( Across the Universe) and the music and lyrics are by musical stars U2's Bono and The Edge.
RC
Subscribe to Independent Premium to bookmark this article
Want to bookmark your favourite articles and stories to read or reference later? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies