Pablo Schreiber to appear on Broadway in Desire Under The Elms
The Goodman Theatre's acclaimed new production of Eugene O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms, the tale of lust, possessions, promises, property and familial bonds broken, will move to Broadway this spring, the Goodman confirmed on Feb. 19.
Director Robert Falls and his Chicago cast of five — including two-time Tony Award winner Brian Dennehy, stage and screen star Carla Gugino and Tony nominee Pablo Schreiber — will reunite at Broadway's St. James Theatre starting April 14; the extended Goodman run ends March 1 in Chicago.
Opening is April 27, three days before the end of eligibility for the 2009 Tony Awards. The producers are Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Steve Traxler.
A 13-week limited run is expected. A $1.9 million capitalization was mentioned in the New York Times.
Falls' visceral new production of O'Neill's Desire Under the Elms officially opened in Chicago Jan. 26. Falls cut ten characters out of the play, and streamlined it to 100 minutes, focusing on the turbulent family drama at the core.
He told Playbill.com Feb. 19 that the St. James is known as a large musical house but that the big themes of the script and stark production will fit well in the space.
"It's an amazing key play that I think has been wildly overlooked," Falls told Playbill.com Feb. 19. "It's had more productions in Chicago than it has in New York. It's a remarkable American play about land, possession, ownership — ownership of land and of people…it's O'Neill's turning-point play where he really found his voice."
Falls chose to cut the Greek chorus-like townspeople from the script. "I don't think it was particularly successful," the director said, adding that the major Greek-drama passions, however, remain intact.
Desire began previews Jan. 17 in the Goodman's 856-seat Albert Ivar Theatre. During previews the run was extended by one week to March 1, owing to buzz and ticket sales. Gugino left the production Feb. 17 to address film publicity commitments (she's in the features "Watchmen" and "Race to Witch Mountain" in the coming weeks). Amy J. Carle plays the role til March 1.
The 1850-set naturalistic play shocked audiences when it first appeared on Broadway in 1924. A love triangle between an aging farmer, Ephraim Cabot (Dennehy), his young wife, Abbie (played by Carla Gugino), and his son, Eben (played by Pablo Schreiber), does not end happily.
Falls' Goodman (and Broadway) cast also includes Boris McGiver ("The Wire") and Daniel Stewart Sherman (Broadway's Cyrano de Bergerac), playing Eben's sweaty half-brothers.
For Desire, Falls reassembled the design team from his 2006 critical and popular hit, King Lear, including Walt Spangler (set design), Ana Kuzmanic (costume design), Michael Philippi (lighting design) and Richard Woodbury (original music and sound design). Their work will be see on Broadway.