Lincoln Center to Bring Bartlett Sher-Directed Golden Boy to Broadway; New Christopher Durang Play Set for Newhouse Theater

Lincoln Center Theater will mount a 75th anniversary production of Clifford Odets’ classic Golden Boy on Broadway, in addition to a new off-Broadway play by Christopher Durang, in fall 2012. Directed by Tony winner Bartlett Sher (South Pacific), Golden Boy will play a yet-to-be-announced theater beginning November 8, with opening night set for December 3. No casting has been announced at this time.

Golden Boy is the story of Joe Bonaparte, a young, gifted violinist who is torn between pursuing a career in music and earning big money as a prize fighter. The play originally premiered on Broadway in 1937 at the Belasco Theatre and has only been revived once, in 1952 at the ANTA Playhouse (now the August Wilson Theatre).

Durang's comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike will begin its run at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on October 25. The production, directed by Nicholas Martin, will officially open on November 12. The play is produced in association with Princeton, NJ's McCarter Theatre, where it will first run September 7 through October 7.

In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Durang transports characters and themes from Chekhov's work to present day Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Vanya and his stepsister Sonia have lived their entire lives in their family’s farmhouse. While they stayed home taking care of their ailing parents, their sister Masha has been gallivanting around the world as a successful actress and movie star, leaving Vanya and Sonia to feel trapped and regretful. Their soothsayer/cleaning woman, Cassandra, keeps warning them about terrible things in the future, which include a sudden visit from Masha and her twenty-something boy toy Spike. Casting and design team will be announced at a later date.