Public's The Merchant of Venice to Transfer to Broadway, Starring Al Pacino

The Public Theatre's current Shakespeare in the Park staging of The Merchant of Venice will transfer to Broadway this fall for 78 performances, starring Al Pacino. Performances will run from October 19 through January 9, 2011, at the Broadhurst Theatre, directed by Daniel Sullivan.

The Merchant of Venice began performances at Central Park's Delacorte Theatre on June 12 in repertory with The Winter's Tale. The show will play its final performance on August 1. The Public's announcement says that complete casting will be announced later. (Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who plays Launcelot Gobbo, is expected to return to his Emmy nominated duties as Mitchell Pritchett on TV's Modern Family; Bill Heck, who plays Lorenzo, has signed on to play Joe Pitt in the off-Broadway revival of Angels in America this fall.)

Pacino previously played Shylock in a 2004 film adaptation of The Merchant of Venice. At the Public, he played Marcus Antonius in Julius Caesar (1988). On Broadway, he won Tony Awards for his performances in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and appeared in Camino Real, Richard III, American Buffalo, Chinese Coffee, Hughie (which he also directed) and two productions of Salome (1992 and 2003). Additional credits on his long film resume are Academy Award-nominated performances in The Godfather, Serpico, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, …And Justice For All, Dick Tracy and Glengarry Glen Ross, as well as an Oscar-winning turn in Scent of a Woman.

The show will feature scenic design by Mark Wendland, costume design by Jess Goldstein, lighting design by Kenneth Posner, sound design by Acme Sound Parnters and original music by Dan Moses Schreier. The Public will produce the transfer with Jeffrey Richards and Jerry Frankel.