Merchant of Venice Sets New Opening Night

The Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice that has recently transferred from the Public Theatre has announced a new opening date after the previous date of November 7th was postponed due to the illness and death of Lily Rabe's mother, Jill Clayburgh.  The new opening night is now set for November 13th.  In an interesting move, the producers have released the following request: "So as not to conflict with the Broadway opening of Elf on Sunday, November 14, the producers respectfully request that Merchant reviews be embargoed until Tuesday, November 16." The request has been made because theater reviews do not appear in the Sunday New York Times.

Shylock Making a Late Payment?

The upcoming Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice, which is transferring from the Public Theatre and will star Lily Rabe as Portia and Al Pacino as Shylock, has delayed its opening night.  The original opening night had been planned for November 7th but, as of yet, no replacement opening night has been announced.  The rest of the cast includes Jesse L. Martin, David Harbour, Christopher Fitzgerald, Matt Rauch, and Byron Jennings.

Al Pacino to Bring Venice to Broadway

Broadway.com has announced that the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park staging of The Merchant of Venice will transfer to Broadway.  Al Pacino, star of the Park production, will move with the production for 78 performances from mid October through early January at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway in a production directed by Daniel Sullivan.  The current production will close August 1st.  Al Pacino previously portrayed Shylock in the 2004 movie adaptation of the play and won Tony Awards for his performances in The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie?, as well as appearing in Broadway productions of American Buffalo, Camino Real, and Salome.