Oedipus Rex

CAST / CREW

 

ARTICLES

Al Pacino Goes From 'Ui' to 'Salome' and 'Oedipus', Thu Oct 3

    (thanks Lisa for this info)
   First up is a "concert" reading of Oscar Wilde's Salome for the Actors Studio. Estelle Parsons, who is directing the production, confirmed the news to Variety. Pacino, who starred in the 1992 production of the play at Circle in the Square Theatre, will appear in a cast that also includes Marisa Tomei, Dianne Wiest, David Strathairn and Liev Schreiber. Salome will be performed at St. Anne's Warehouse in November.
    The industry paper also reports that Pacino will star in the title role of Oedipus Rex, also for the Actors Studio. No dates have been announced for this production, although Parsons explained that the Studio hopes to eventually mount the play at the new Daryl Roth Theatre.
    Al Pacino made his Broadway debut in the 1969 production of Does a Tiger Wear Necktie?, earning a Tony Award for his performance. He scored another Tony for his role in the 1977 revival of The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. The stage and film actor was last on Broadway in 1996 in a revival of Hughie, which he also directed. Pacino's other Broadway credits include Camino Real, King Richard III, American Buffalo, Chinese Coffee and Salome. He received the Academy Award for his work in the film "Scent of a Woman" and stars in the New Line motion picture "Simone."
    Pacino is scheduled to appear in Arturo Ui through November 6 at Pace University's Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts.

 

Pacino in Rex Flies into De La Guarda Venue (go to the original story to see a nice pic of Al)

    (thanks Karen Winslow for this info)
   Al Pacino's legit schedule is getting even busier. In addition to The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui at Pace and Salome at St. Anne's Warehouse, the Academy Award-winning actor will star in Oedipus Rex and Salome in repertory at the Daryl Roth Theater, according to Variety.
    As we previously reported, the Actors Studio production of Oscar Wilde's Salome, directed by Estelle Parsons, will premiere at the St. Anne's Warehouse in Brooklyn. The presentation, which is described as a "concert reading," will run at the tiny theater from November 11 through December 22. Pacino will star opposite Liev Schreiber, David Strathairn, Marisa Tomei and Dianne Wiest in the drama.
    Pacino has been working with Parsons on Oedipus Rex for almost two years, but, because of the actor's busy schedule, plans to mount a full-scale production of the piece never came to fruition before now. In order to stage the tragedy at the cavernous Daryl Roth Theater, designer Peter Larkin will create a Greek amphitheater in the large space.
    The Daryl Roth Theater is currently home to the long-running hit De La Guarda. The space housed a bank before Roth acquired the building and turned it into an off-Broadway venue; however, seats were never installed in the theater because De La Guarda, which became its first tenant in 1998, is performed around a standing audience. The show is currently booking through December 22. A closing date has not yet been

 

Report: Pacino, Wiest to Give Dishy Oedipus Readings in NYC, Friday November 09, 2001, By David Lefkowitz and Robert Simonson

    (thanks curiouscat for this info)  
    Back in February 2000, the Actors Studio in New York was seeking an Off Broadway venue for a mounting of Oedipus Rex, to star Al Pacino alongside a host of notable studio alumni. That didn't happen, but the project is far from an ancient myth.
    The New York Times reports (Nov. 9) that three readings of Sophocles' tragedy will take place, Saturdays Nov. 10, 17 and 24 at the Actors Studio, 432 West 44th Street. Along with Pacino as King Oedipus, the readings will feature Dianne Wiest, Bob Dishy and Victor Slezak. Estelle Parsons, artistic director of the organization, directs.
    Pacino had told the the Times in February 2000, "We hope for it to be a commercial run. But we're not quite sure when these [actors] will have the time to do it." At the time, performers involved in rehearsals included Wiest (alternating with Mary Beth Hurt as Jocasta), Earle Hyman, Ruby Dee, B.D. Wong, and Edward Herrmann and David Strathairn alternating as Creon.
    Pacino was last seen on the New York stage in O'Neill's Hughie at Circle in the Square. The actor won a Tony for his work in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. In films, he can currently be seen in "The Insider" and "Any Given Sunday."
    The Actors Studio has become more high profile in recent years owing to the Bravo TV series, "Inside the Actors Studio," with host/interviewer James Lipton becoming something of a celebrity himself.

From 'Sopranos' to the stage, byline: Ward Morehouse III, Date: 10/20/2000

    Dominic Chianese may not have won television's Emmy for playing the vicious Junior Soprano on HBO's "The Sopranos," but there may be a Tony or another theater award in his future.
    Mr. Chianese is planning to portray Nobel Prize-winning Italian playwright and novelist Luigi Pirandello (1867-1936) in a one-person play next year. Chianese is writing the Pirandello play and is in talks with New York's Castillo Theatre about first doing it off-Broadway before it moves to Broadway.
    Chianese has also been cast in Al Pacino's upcoming new stage production of Sophocles "Oedipus," with Mr. Pacino in the title role.
   (ok, most of this is old news, but it's Al news so here it is)

Pacino Eyes Oedipus, February 3, 2000

    If you thought the family tragedies in The Godfather were high drama, then have we got a topper for you. Three-time Michael Corleone portrayer Al Pacino is eyeing (pun intended) a run at the ultimate Greek tragedy, Oedipus Rex.
    The Sophocles drama tells the tale of the doomed Theban king who kills his father, marries his mother, and then puts out his own eyes on discovering this horrific chain of events. Coincidentally, Pacino's Insider co-star, Christopher Plummer, played the doomed king in a 1968 film.
    Pacino's previous stage efforts include Shakespeare's Richard III (which led to his producing, starring in, and directing the 1996 film Looking for Richard).
    Actress Estelle Parsons (Bonnie and Clyde) is directing the play, which she hopes to open at an off-Broadway venue in a few months.
    Mary Beth Hurt (Bringing Out the Dead) and two-time Oscar winner Dianne Wiest have been alternating in the role of Jocasta, Oedipus' mother, with Edward Herrmann (Nixon) and David Strathairn (Limbo) each playing Creon, his uncle.
    Also in on the rehearsals are B.D. Wong (Seven Years in Tibet) as the chorus and Earle Hyman (Bill Cosby's dad on The Cosby Show) as Tiresias the blind seer.
    "We hope for it to be a commercial run. But we're not quite sure when these [actors] will have the time to do it," Parsons says.
    If the commercial run doesn't materialize, Parsons acknowledges that Oedipus Rex may be staged as a special evening at the Actor's Studio, where she is artistic director.
    "People want to tackle this material," she says. "Everyone has been very interested to work on it, with no end in sight - for the fun of it, like working out in a gymnasium."
    The venue is of particular importance to the future of this production, Parsons says. "We want a space like the Actor's Studio, which is an old church. We're looking for something like that."
    She is using poet W.B. Yeats' version of the play, the same English translation heard on Broadway when Laurence Olivier starred in the Old Vic's production of Oedipus Rex in 1946, with Ralph Richardson as Tiresias.
    Reuters contributed to this story.

 

TRIVIA

PLAY LINKS	CAST LINKS
Daryl Roth Theater,  (where it will be staged) 101 East 15th Street @ 20 Union Square East (Between 15th and 16th Streets)           Broadway.com Telecharge.com (order tickets, play info)