Antonio Banderas Considers Return to Broadway Next Season in Zorba

It looks like Tony Award nominee Antonio Banderas will return to Broadway. As we previously reported, the actor is considering starring as the exuberant Greek muse in the musical Zorba. The New York Post now reports that the production would play next season.

Banderas, who made his Broadway debut as Italian filmmaker Guido Contini in the 2003 revival of Nine is best known for his roles in films such as The Mambo Kings, Desperado, Assassins, Evita, The Mask of Zorro, Frida, Once Upon a Time in Mexico, Take the Lead and as the voice of “Puss in Boots” in the second and third installments of the animated Shrek films.

Zorba tells the bittersweet story of an uptight writer, Basil, and his unexpected traveling companion, Alexis Zorba, a Greek peasant who tries to inspire the scribe with adventures through the Greek countryside. The film Zorba the Greek was adapted from the novel by Nikos Kazantzakis, was directed by Michael Cacoyannis, starred Anthony Quinn and won three Academy Awards. The movie was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, while Quinn was honored with a nod for Best Actor.

The film was adapted into the Broadway musical Zorba, featuring music and lyrics by John Kander and Fred Ebb and a book by Joseph Stein, in 1968. Starring Herschel Bernardi in the title role, the production played 305 performances at the Imperial Theatre and was nominated for Best Musical in 1969. Quinn later reprised his original role alongside Academy Award-winning film co-star Lila Kedrova in a 1983 revival of the musical at the Broadway Theatre. The new production will be directed by Gary Griffin, choreographed by Sergio Trujillo and produced by Barry and Fran Weissler, according to the Post.

“Antonio Banderas is, of course, much younger than Herschel and Tony were,” Zorba scribe Stein told the Post, “and we'll have to make some adjustments [in the show] to that. But he will bring his own wonderful personality to it."