Tony, Emmy, Golden Globe and Academy Award winner Al Pacino and Tony Award winning director Daniel Sullivan reunite to bring the Public Theater's critically acclaimed production of William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice to Broadway following a sold-out run in Central Park.
Pacino and Sullivan expertly tackle one of Shakespeare's most controversial plays, offering modern audiences a new, shattering take on this rarely performed play.
The must-see event runs for only 78 performances! Don't miss this legendary production that the Wall Street Journal declared "cries out to be seen by everyone with a passion for truly great theater. The best Merchant I have ever seen!"
Due to a film commitment in Mr. Pacino's schedule, THE MERCHANT OF VENICE went on hiatus following the performance on Sunday, January 9 (when it was originally scheduled to close) and resumed performances on Tuesday, February 1 for an additional three week run through Sunday, February 20.
The uniformly excellent supporting cast includes Byron Jennings, David Harbour, Jesse L. Martin, Heather Lind and Christopher Fitzgerald. Their combined work represents nothing short of a master class in acting Shakespeare.
Well, dear readers, I regret to say that I broke my rule and went to see the new Broadway production of The Merchant of Venice. Shakespeare's problematic play about a Jewish moneylender who asks for a pound of the borrower's flesh in the event of default on a debt of 3,000 ducats is, as you have by now realized, the third play on my 'thumbs-down' list; but the excited word-of-mouth among my critical peers (though not nytheatre.com's own David Gordon, whose assessment of the earlier incarnation of this production last summer is here), plus the chance to see a pair of actors I respect (Al Pacino and Lily Rabe) in classic roles they seemed suited for, made me decide to break my rule and give Merchant another chance. I left at intermission.
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