It's Official! Tony & Oscar Winner Mark Rylance Will Return to Broadway in Farinelli and the King

It's confirmed! The rumors were true and as we predicted, Mark Rylance is set to return to Broadway in Farinelli and the King. Penned by his wife, Claire van Kampen, the three-time Tony and 2016 Oscar winner will reprise his role from the West End production as King Philippe V of Spain; the new play is scheduled to begin performances on December 5, 2017, with an opening night scheduled for December 17, 2017 at the Belasco Theatre. The limited run will conclude on March 25, 2018.

Rylance won the Tony for Twelfth Night, Jerusalem and Boeing-Boeing and was nominated for Richard III (which played in rep with Twelfth Night); he has also appeared on the Great White Way in La Bete. He received the Oscar for Bridge of Spies and an Emmy nod for his recent work in the screen adaptation of Hilary Mantel's Booker Prize-winning novel Wolf Hall.

Directed by John Dove and designed by Jonathan Fensom, the play is set in eighteenth-century Spain and show tells the true story of Farinelli, once the world’s most famous castrato and one of the greatest celebrities of his time, and his decision to trade fame and fortune in the opera-houses of Europe for a life of servitude at the court of King Philippe V. The show explores the dynamics between Farinelli and the royal couple, featuring many of the exquisite arias first sung by Farinelli in the 1730’s.

The London company included Sam Crane playing the acting role of Farinelli and the singing role shared by Iestyn Davies and Rupert Enticknap, Huss Garbiya as Doctor Jose Cervi, Melody Grove as Isabella Farnese, Colin Hurley as Metastasio and Edward Peel as De la Cuadra.