Stage Door News
Stage Door News
It is finally happening. The monumental, universally acclaimed Goodman Theatre production of Eugene O’Neill’s epic five-hour drama, “The Iceman Cometh,” is scheduled to be remounted in New York in 2015.
The show will be co-produced by BAM (the Brooklyn Academy of Music) and Scott Rudin (who currently holds the rights to the play), for a limited six-week engagement, Feb. 5-March 15, 2015. Although considered prohibitively expensive for a commercial Broadway run, the not-for-profit BAM, whose well-established mission is to present major national and international theatrical events, has turned out to be an ideal fit for the project.
Goodman artistic director Robert Falls will reprise his direction of the original 2012 Chicago cast of 18 that was led by Tony Award-winning actors Nathan Lane, who played gregarious traveling salesman Theodore “Hickey” Hickman, and Brian Dennehy (now 76 and playing the grueling leading role in “The Steward of Christendom” at Los Angeles’ Mark Taper Forum), as Larry Slade, a brooding former anarchist.
“Iceman,” a near operatic portrait of hope and disillusionment — set in a Bowery flophouse inhabited by men fueled by alcohol and pipe dreams — broke box-office records in its extended run at the Goodman, attracting capacity audiences and becoming the most successful production in Goodman Theatre history.
“BAM has been enthusiastic about this production since we did it, but we’ve had many months of discussions about scheduling and making it work alongside the many European productions to be part of the season there,” said Falls. “The show was a very meaningful experience for all the actors who played in it, and they have signed on to return to it in Brooklyn, and to make their calendars work.”
“During its Chicago run the production changed as the actors lived in the play over time,” said Falls. “And while we will continue to explore it for the remount, we also hope to replicate it. As for the set [designed by Kevin Depinet], we put a great deal of it in storage, and the rest will be reconstructed.”
Falls says “Iceman,” along with “A Long Day’s Journey into Night,” are his two favorite American plays.
“O’Neill wrote them simultaneously in 1939, moving from one room to the other and seeking the ‘comic relief’ of ‘Iceman’ to counter the agony of ‘Long’s Day’s Journey.’ Think about THAT and you’ve got O’Neill in a nutshell.”
In a prepared statement, BAM executive producer Joseph V. Melillo said, “We are thrilled to present Robert Falls’ powerful production of O’Neill’s masterpiece and to welcome Brian Dennehy and Nathan Lane to our stage. This epic drama will continue our tradition of bringing singular productions of great theater to BAM audiences, and will be a highlight of our 2015 winter/spring season.”
Along with Lane and Dennehy, the “Iceman” ensemble will include: John Judd, John Reeger, James Harms, John Hoogenakker, John Douglas Thompson, Stephen Ouimette, Lee Wilkof, Patrick Andrews, Marc Grapey, Larry Neumann, Jr., Salvatore Inzerillo, Tara Sissom, Lee Stark and Kate Arrington.
[Stephen Ouimette, a veteran of the Stratford Festival of Canada, plays Harry Hope, owner of the saloon frequented by Dennehy and Lane.] (Editor)
“‘The Iceman Cometh’ is an artistic triumph for the Goodman and Robert Falls, who is arguably the American theater’s leading interpreter of Eugene O’Neill’s work. said Roche Schulfer, Goodman Theatre’s executive director. “We are proud to partner with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and Scott Rudin to give his profound and revelatory revival another life.”
For tickets, visit www.bam.org.
From Hedy Weiss for http://voices.suntimes.com.
Photo: Stephen Ouimette and Nathan Lane in The Iceman Cometh. ©2012 Chicago Tribune.
2015-02-01
New York: "The Iceman Cometh" with Brian Dennehy, Nathan Lane & Stephen Ouimette opens February 5