The Heiress cancels final performance

The Broadway revival of Ruth and Augustus Goetz's The Heiress, directed by Moisés Kaufman, will now play its final performance on 09 Feb 2013, and not on the 10 Feb 2013 as originally scheduled.

The change in schedule is to enable the show's star, Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain, to attend the BAFTA Awards in London on 10 Feb 2013, where the actress is nominated for Best Leading Actress for her role as CIA agent Maya in the film Zero Dark Thirty.

The Heiress opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on 1 Nov 2012, following previews from 06 Oct 2012.

The play opened to mixed reviews: A pleasant surprise (newyorktheatreguide); Starchy new revival (NY Times); Not quite gripping (Record); Everything you want from a Class A revival (Variety).

The principal cast features Academy Award nominee Jessica Chastain as 'Catherine Sloper,' Emmy Award winner David Strathairn as 'Dr. Austin Sloper,' the leading man of "Downton Abbey" Dan Stevens as 'Morris Townsend' and Tony Award winner Judith Ivey as 'Lavinia Penniman.'

They are joined by Molly Camp as 'Marian Almond,' Kieran Campion as 'Arthur Townsend,' Virginia Kull as 'Maria,' Dee Nelson as 'Mrs. Montgomery' and Caitlin O'Connell as 'Elizabeth Almond.'

The Heiress, adapted from the 1880 Henry James novel, "Washington Square," tells the story of 'Catherine Sloper' (Jessica Chastain), a young naive woman who falls for a handsome young man (Dan Stevens) who her emotionally abusive father (David Strathairn) suspects is a fortune hunter.

The design team includes Derek McLane (sets), Albert Wolsky (costumes), David Lander (lighting) and Leon Rothenberg (sound).

The revival is produced on Broadway by Paula Wagner, Roy Furman and Stephanie P. McClelland.

The 1947 Broadway premiere of The Heiress was directed by Jed Harris, and starred Wendy Hiller as 'Catherine Sloper,' Peter Cookson as 'Morris Townsend' and Basil Rathbone as 'Dr. Austin Sloper.'

The play has been revived on Broadway three times. The last revival was in 1995, directed by Gerald Gutierrez, it starred Cherry Jones as 'Catherine Sloper,' Jon Tenney as 'Morris Townsend' and 'Philip Bosco' as 'Dr. Austin Sloper.' The production was nominated for seven 1995 Tony Awards, and won four: Best Revival; Best Director (Gerald Gutierrez); Best Actress (Cherry Jones); and Best Featured Actress (Frances Sternhagen as 'Lavinia Penniman').

The 1949 Academy Award winning movie version was adapted from the play by the Goetzes, and was directed by William Wyler, starring Olivia de Havilland as 'Catherine Sloper,' Montgomery Clift as 'Morris Townsend' and Ralph Richardson as 'Dr. Austin Sloper.' Olivia de Havilland won the 1949 Academy Award for Best Actress, and the film was nominated for the 1949 Academy Award for Best Picture.