Jane Fonda Headed to Broadway in Moises Kaufman's 33 Variations

Academy Award winner Jane Fonda will return to Broadway for the first time in 46 years in Moises Kaufman’s 33 Variations. The play, directed by Kaufman, will open this winter at a theater to be announced. Additional casting, designers and dates will be announced shortly.

33 Variations tells the story of Beethoven’s fascination with a trivial waltz, and the modern-day musicologist, Katherine Brandt Fonda, who sets out to discover the root of his obsession. As Beethoven’s indisputable genius and delightful humanity come to life on the sheet music in front of her, Katherine not only reveals the true nature of his gift, but also comes to embrace the beauty and legacy of her own life. Featuring an on-stage pianist, 33 Variations is described as a feast for the senses and the spirit.

“I am very excited about being in Moisés new play,” Fonda said in a statement. “I can’t wait to get back on stage with him in this role that I understand so well. It’s been 40-some years!”

“I am delighted to be working with one of America’s greatest actresses, a performer of such insight, intellect and heart,” Kaufman said in a statement. “For Tectonic Theater Project, this piece is the culmination of an investigation into the creative life of Beethoven, and Ms. Fonda is the perfect person to lead us on that journey.” Kaufman, known for his plays Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde and The Laramie Project and for his Tony-nominated direction of Doug Wright’s I Am My Own Wife, will make his Broadway debut as a playwright with 33 Variations.

Oscar and Emmy Award winning Jane Fonda made her Broadway debut in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl, for which she earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the 1963 drama Strange Interlude. Highlights of her long and illustrious film career include two Best Actress Oscars for Klute and Coming Home and an Emmy for her performance in The Dollmaker. Fonda now focuses much of her time on activism and social change, including the program she founded in 1995, the Georgia Campaign for Adolescent Pregnancy Prevention.

33 Variations was developed in association with Arena Stage and played pre-Broadway tryouts at Arena Stage and the La Jolla Playhouse, where Jayne Atkinson played Katherine Brandt, joined by Don Amendolia, Zach Grenier, Susan Kellermann, Ryan King, Laura Odeh, Erik Steele and Diane Walsh. David Binder A Raisin in the Sun will be lead producer of the Broadway production of the play.