Dates, Broadway Theater Set for 33 Variations, Starring Jane Fonda

The forthcoming Broadway production of Moises Kaufman’s 33 Variations, which will star Jane Fonda, has booked a 15-week limited engagement at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre. The play will begin previews on February 9, 2009, and open on March 9, running through May 24, directed by Kaufman, author and director of Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project.

33 Variations tells the story of Katherine Brandt Fonda, a woman racing against time to solve the riddle of a composer’s 200-year-old obsession.As she faces her daughter, her past and Beethoven himself Katherine must struggle to embrace the legacy of her own life. Additional cast members and the design team will be announced shortly.

As previously announced, Oscar and Emmy Award winner Fonda will make her first appearnece on Broadway in 46 years with 33 Variations. Fonda debuted in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl, for which she earned a Tony nomination for Best Featured Actress. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the 1963 drama Strange Interlude.

33 Variations was developed in association with Arena Stage and played pre-Broadway tryouts at Arena Stage and the La Jolla Playhouse, where Jayne Atkinson played Katherine Brandt, joined by Don Amendolia, Zach Grenier, Susan Kellermann, Ryan King, Laura Odeh, Erik Steele and Diane Walsh. David Binder A Raisin in the Sun will be lead producer of the Broadway production of the play. The O'Neill's current tenant, <i>Spring Awakening</i>, is set to close on January 18.