Opening Date Confirmed for Robin Williams in Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo
As first reported by Broadway.com, Robin Williams will make his Broadway acting debut next spring in Rajiv Joseph’s Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo. The 2010 Pulitzer Prize finalist will begin previews on March 10, 2010, and open on March 31, directed by Moises Kaufman. No Broadway theater or other cast members have been set.
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo is described as a darkly comic tale narrated by a tiger held captive in the Baghdad Zoo (Williams). The play follows the intertwined lives of two American marines and one Iraqi gardener as they search through the rubble of war for friendship, redemption and a toilet seat made of gold. Kaufman’s production premiered at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in L.A. in 2009 and transferred to the larger Mark Taper Forum in spring 2010. Williams was not part of the L.A. cast.
From his start as a stand-up comedian in the 1970s, Williams has created an incredibly diverse career as a comedic and dramatic actor. He won the Academy Award in 1998 for Good Will Hunting, having previously been nominated for three other films: Good Morning, Vietnam, Dead Poets Society and The Fisher King. Other notable credits include Mork & Mindy, The World According to Garp, Moscow on the Hudson, Awakenings, Hook, Aladdin, Toys, Mrs. Doubtfire, Jumanji, The Birdcage, Hamlet, Deconstructing Harry, Patch Adams, Artificial Intelligence: AI, One Hour Photo, Insomnia and Night at the Museum.
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo will mark the first dramatic stage appearance for Williams since he played Estragon opposite Steve Martin in Waiting for Godot at Lincoln Center Theater in 1998. He previously appeared on Broadway in a stand-up engagement at the Broadway Theatre in 2002 and had a short run in a San Francisco mounting of The Exonerated. His most recent comedy tour, Weapons of Self Destruction, was filmed for HBO, earning three Emmy nominations.
Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo will be produced on Broadway by Robyn Goodman, Kevin McCollum, Jeffrey Seller and Center Theatre Group.