Issue #21: April 15, 1999

• The National Actors Theater began performances of Night Must Fall starring Matthew Broderick at its new digs the Helen Hayes Theater on April 13. This leaves the Lyceum Theater available to begin preparations for Martin McDonagh’s play The Lonesome West, which begins previews in mid-April.

• A revival of Dale Wasserman’s adaptation of Ken Kesey’s novel of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest will be produced by Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Co. and will star co-founder Gary Sinise. Terry Kenney will direct with the curtain rising in April 2000.

• Opening for a month long run at the Almeida Theater is a revival of Wallace Shawn’s Aunt Dan and Lemon. Miranda Richardson returns to the London stage in the role of Aunt Dan, which was originated by Linda Hunt. American actress Glenne Headly will inherit the role of Lemon marking her debut on the London stage when the curtain rises on May 5.

• Another American actress making her London debut this season is Olympia Dukakis. Widely recognized for her role in the television series Tales of the City, Dukakis will play the lead in Martin Sherman’s new play Rose opening June 24 at the National Theatre’s Cottesloe.

• Renowned British playwright Harold Pinter is currently being represented in Australia by The Sydney Theatre Company’s stunning production of Betrayal. The drama starring Angie Milliken, Robert Menzies and Paul Goddard runs through to May 8 at the Wharf Theatre.

• You know his face from the hit movies Shakespeare In Love and Four Weddings And A Funeral but it is the role of director that Simon Callow is now undertaking. He will debut, later this month, a revival of the hit 1954 musical The Pajama Game at the Birmingham Repertory Theatre in Britain. A short run from June 17 to July 24 will take place in Toronto at the Princess of Wales Theatre, then it’s back to Britain to London’s West End. There are talks of a Broadway opening the spring of 2000 — stay tuned!