Gummer, Nielsen, Phillips, Walker & More Ready for Les Liaisons Dangereuses
Mamie Gummer, Kristine Nielsen, Siân Phillips, Benjamin Walker, Rosie Benton and Derek Cecil have joined the company of the Roundabout Theater Company's forthcoming revival of Christopher Hampton's Les Liaisons Dangereuses. Directed by Rufus Norris, the production will begin performances at the American Airlines Theatre on April 11, 2008, and open on May 1.
Les Liaisons Dangereuses centers on the amoral rivals and occasional lovers Marquise de Merteuil Laura Linney and Vicomte de Valmont Ben Daniels, who wreak havoc among the aristocracy with their casual seductions just before the French revolution. Hampton's dark comedy was based on the novel by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos, first published in 1782. Lindsay Duncan and Alan Rickman earned Tony nominations for the play's 1987 Broadway premiere. Glenn Close and John Malkovich played the roles in the 1988 movie version, renamed Dangerous Liaisons.
Gummer, who will make her Broadway debut playing Cecile Volanges, was recently seen in the film Evening and off-Broadway in Mr. Marmalade, The Water's Edge and Hunting and Gathering. Currently starring in the off-Broadway play Die Mommie Die!, Nielsen appeared on Broadway in The Iceman Cometh, Jackie, The Green Bird and A Streetcar Named Desire. Here she will play Madame De Volanges. Phillips, cast as Madame De Rosemonde, played Marlene Dietrich in the Broadway play Marlene and was also seen on Broadway in An Inspector Calls and off-Broadway in Regrets Only and My Old Lady. Walker, cast as Danceny, played Bertram Cates in the recent Broadway revival of Inherit the Wind. Benton as Emile and Cecil as Azolan will make their Broadway debuts in the production.
