A Free Man of Color & War Horse to Play Vivian Beaumont Theatre Next Season

News that South Pacific will vacate the Vivian Beaumont Theatre this summer after a 30-month run, is accompanied by an announcement of Lincoln Center Theater's plans for their flagship theater in the 2010-2011 Broadway season. Two new plays have been announced: the previously mentioned A Free Man of Color by John Guare and a transfer of War Horse from The National Theatre of Great Britain.

Directed by George C. Wolfe, A Free Man of Color will start performances at the Beaumont on October 21, 2010, with an opening set for November 18, 2010. Described as a freewheeling epic set in 1802 New Orleans, the play centers around Jacques Cornet, a new world Don Juan and the wealthiest inhabitant of the sexually charged and racially progressive city. Jacques thinks all is well in his paradise until history intervenes, setting off a chain of events which no one, much less this free man of color, realizes is about to splinter the world. A Free Man of Color was originally scheduled to be produced at the Public Theater, with Mos Def and Jeffrey Wright expected in leading roles.

War Horse premiered at the National Theatre in 2007, enjoying two sold-out runs at the theater prior to a move to the West End, where it continues to play at the New London Theatre. Based on an novel by Michael Morpurgo and adapted by Nick Stafford, War Horse uses puppetry to tell the story of young Albert and his beloved horse, Joey. At the outbreak of World War I, Joey is sold to the cavalry and shipped to France, where he's soon caught up in enemy fire and on an extraordinary odyssey, serving on both sides before finding himself alone in no man's land. But Albert cannot forget Joey and, still not old enough to enlist, he embarks on a mission to find him and bring him home. Marianne Elliott and Tom Morris are co-directors of the play. War Horse will start performances on March 17, 2011 and open on April 14, 2011.

No casting has been announced for either production.