Two-time Academy Award nominee Bradley Cooper (American Hustle, Silver Linings Playbook) returns to Broadway in Bernard Pomerance's Tony Award-winning classic THE ELEPHANT MAN. Directed by Tony nominee Scott Ellis, THE ELEPHANT MAN is one of the hottest productions to emerge from the prestigious Williamstown Theatre Festival, where it had theatergoers lining up hours ahead of time in the hopes of securing a ticket. This extremely limited engagement also stars Academy Award nominee and Emmy Award winner Patricia Clarkson ("Six Feet Under") and Alessandro Nivola (American Hustle).
Based on the real life of Joseph Merrick, THE ELEPHANT MAN tells the story of a 19th-century British man (Cooper) who became a star of the traveling freak show circuit. When the renowned Dr. Treves (Nivola) takes Merrick under his care, he is astonished by the man's brilliant intelligence, unshakable faith and, most of all, his resounding desire for love and understanding. He introduces Merrick to the beautiful actress Mrs. Kendal (Clarkson), who is deeply touched by this pure and genuine soul. As a complex friendship blossoms among the three, Treves and Kendal struggle to protect Merrick from a world of questionable intentions... and so begins a story of love as unique as "The Elephant Man" himself.
The Booth Theatre is one of Broadway's most intimate venues and seating is limited.
Advance purchase is highly recommended.
In Ellis's efficient production, first staged two years ago in Williamstown with the same lead actors, the audience is, obviously, tasked with imagining Merrick's disfigurement. Some theatergoers will suggest that you can't look at Cooper and 'not' see a movie star, People magazine's 2011 'Sexiest Man Alive.' They'll be wrong, but that's beside the point. Cooper humanizes a man few at the time were willing to treat as human.
In interviews, Cooper has spoken warmly of his longtime dream of playing Merrick (the 1980 movie version drew him to acting), and he certainly rises to the physical and vocal challenges. Employing the tradition of using neither prosthetics nor makeup, Cooper adopts Merrick's painfully askew physique, right arm a swollen club, left one strikingly delicate. His breathing is labored and full of gurgles and gasps, yet when Merrick speaks, it is a thoughtful, refined tenor. This collision of monstrousness and grace-of the animal and human-attracts the professional attention of Dr. Frederick Treves (Nivola), who rescues Merrick after he's been abandoned by the abusive circus impresario Ross (Anthony Heald).
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