Venus in Fur: B'way premiere starring Nina Arianda

Manhattan Theatre Club will produce the Broadway premiere of David Ives' Venus in Fur, featuring Tony Award nominee Nina Arianda reprising her acclaimed Off-Broadway breakthrough performance, once again directed by Tony Award-winner Walter Bobbie.

Venus in Fur will begin previews on 13 Oct 2011 at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre in a limited engagement. A November opening night for the production will be announced shortly. Tickets will go on sale to the general public on 1 Aug 2011.

'Vanda' (Arianda), is a preternaturally talented young actress determined to land the lead in a new play based on the classic erotic novel, Venus in Fur. Her emotionally charged audition for 'Thomas,' the play's adapter/director, becomes an electrifying game of cat and mouse blurring the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex.

Casting for the role of 'Thomas' will be announced in the coming weeks.

The creative team for Venus in Fur includes John Lee Beatty (scenic design), Anita Yavich (costume design), Peter Kaczorowski (lighting design), and Acme Sound Partners (sound design).

Venus in Fur premiered Off-Broadway at the Classic Stage Company where it opened on 26 Jan 2010, following previews from 13 Jan for a run that was originally scheduled to close on 21 Feb 2010, but was then extended twice, ending its run on 28 Mar 2010. The production starred Nina Arianda as 'Vanda' and Wes Bentley as 'thomas'

The Off-B'way production opened to mostly positive reviews: Get thee to Venus pronto. (newyorktheatreguide.com); A tasty teeter-tottering test of wills, directed with laser-sharp precision by Walter Bobbie and featuring a sensational Nina Arianda (NY Times); Good, kinky fun. (NY Daily News); Devastatingly surreal examination of sex and power. (Back Stage).

The show introduced newcomer Nina Arianda to New York audiences with her critical acclaimed portrayal of 'Vanda.' Tulis McCall, who reviewed the production for newyorktheatreguide.com wrote of Arianda's performance, "The quite extraordinary Nina Arianda gives a performance that should knock her career into the stratosphere."

Venus in Fur will be Arianda's second Broadway outing, she recently made her Broadweay debut when she starred to critical acclaim as 'Billie Dawn' in the Broadway revival of 'Born Yesterday,' for which she was nominated for a Tony.

Bios:

David Ives (Playwright) is probably best known for his evenings of one-act comedies called 'All in the Timing' and 'Time Flies.' 'All in the Timing' won the Outer Critics Circle Playwriting Award, ran for two years Off-Broadway, and in the 1995-96 season was the most performed play in the country after Shakespeare productions. His full-length plays include Venus in Fur, 'New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza,' 'Is He Dead?' (adapted from Mark Twain), 'White Christmas,' 'Polish Joke,' and 'Ancient History.'

Walter Bobbie (Director) won the Tony Award as director of the international hit 'Chicago' which and has become the longest-running revival in Broadway history. Recent directing includes David Ives's 'New Jerusalem,' Venus in Fur and 'The School for Lies,' all at Classic Stage Company, Ives's 'The Other Woman' at EST, as well as Evan Smith's 'The Savannah Disputation' at Playwrights Horizons, Christopher Durang's 'The Marriage of Bette & Boo' at the Roundabout, and Terrence McNally's 'Golden Age' at the Kennedy Center. Broadway credits include 'White Christmas,' 'High Fidelity,' 'Sweet Charity,' 'Twentieth Century,' 'Footloose' and 'A Grand Night for Singing.'

Nina Arianda (Vanda), recently nominated for a Tony for her debut Broadway performance as 'Billie Dawn' in 'Born Yesterday,' has become one of the most talked about and sought after actors in New York. Arianda recently wrapped production on Universal's "Tower Heist" playing a flashy role opposite Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. Last year, she debuted Off-Broadway in Venus in Fur with a performance that garnered attention from the entire NY theater community. Based on that performance she was offered roles in Woody Allen's film "Midnight in Paris," Tom McCarthy's film "Win Win" and Vera Farmiga's film "Higher Ground."