Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Broadway's Critically Acclaimed Venus in Fur, Directed By Scranton Native Walter Bobbie, Will Re-Open February 2012 For Limited Engagement



The Broadway production of the David Ives play Venus in Fur, directed by Scranton native Walter Bobbie and starring Nina Arianda and Hugh Dancy, will take a break after ending its run at the Manhattan Theater Club's Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Sunday, December 18th and resume performances at the Lyceum Theater on Feb. 7, 2012, for a limited engagement through June 17.

Venus In Fur originally premiered Off-Broadway in January 2010; originally scheduled to run a month, the play was extended multiple times and closed March 25th, 2010. The original lead -- 2011 Tony nominee Nina Arianda (Born Yesterday) -- reprises her role of Vanda that she originated Off-Broadway. Actor Hugh Dancy plays playwright Thomas (originally played Off-Broadway by Wes Bentley).

Venus in Fur opened on Broadway November 8th for a limited one-month engagement but, due to popular demand and critical raves, it will will reopen on February 7th, 2012.

From Broadway.com:

"As David Ives’ new play begins, we meet a modern-day playwright/director who has written an adaptation of Venus in Fur, the 1870 novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch that became infamous when the author’s last name inspired the term “sado-masochism” to describe the interplay of sex and power in the book. An actress arrives to audition, her bag filled with S&M gear and period costumes. Soon the playwright is drawn into reading his own script with this mysterious young woman, with breaks to argue about the meaning of the story and the motivation of the characters."

In addition to Venus In Fur and Chicago, Walter Bobbie's other Broadway directing credits include White Christmas, High Fidelity, Footloose, and the 2005 revival of Sweet Charity (which includes a reference to Scranton in one of the lyrics).

Click here for a previous blog entry on Walter Bobbie.

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