Cymbeline
Broadway Drama Previews
November 1 2007
Opened December 2 2007
Limited run to January 6 2008 Run
34 previews & 40 performances Running time
3 hrs | 1 intermission Producers
Lincoln Center Theater
Creative
William Shakespeare author
Mark Lamos director
Jess Goldstein costume design
Brian MacDevitt lighting design
Michael Yeargan scenic design
Tony Smolenski IV & Walter Trarbach sound design
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Opening Night Cast |
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John Cullum |
Cymbeline |
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Phylicia Rashad |
Queen |
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Adam Dannheisser |
Cloten |
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Martha Plimpton |
Imogen |
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Daniel Breaker
Richard Topol |
Gentleman |
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Michael Cerveris |
Posthumus Leonatus |
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Jonathan Cake |
Iachimo |
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Anthony Cochrane |
Frenchman
Roman Captain |
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Noshir Dalal |
Spaniard
Ghost of Posthumus' Brother |
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Herb Foster |
Cornelius
Ghost of Posthumus' Father |
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David Furr |
Guiderius |
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Adam Greer |
Ghost of Posthumus' Brother |
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Michael W Howell |
Philarmonus |
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Ezra Knight |
Caius Lucius |
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Paul O'Brien |
Belarius |
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Daniel Oreskes |
Philario
Jupiter |
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John Pankow |
Pisanio |
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Gordana Rashovich |
Helen
Ghost of Posthumus' Mother |
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Gregory Woodell |
Arviragus |
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Jeff Woodman |
Ducthman |
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Jeffery M Bender
Jordan Dean
LeRoy McClain
Nancy Rodroguez
Michael Rossmy |
Ensemble |
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Synopsis
A man falsely accused is banished.
The king's sons are kidnapped. Another man is banished from
the kingdom for marrying the king's daughter. The daughter, falsely
besmirched and life threatened, goes into exile. Her brothers met,
but not known. The queen's son loses his head. The king is captured
The King is
rescued. The daughter's husband is captured, then visited by ghosts
And in the end, all -- except for the dead
-- live
happily ever after
Broadway Show History
This is kind of interesting. If we
include the preview performances of the current production we come
up with 74 performances. That likely outnumbers the total for the
three prior major NYC stagings over the past almost 250 years
According to the
IBDB, Cymbeline was first played in New York at the John
Street Theater, back in December 1767. Adam Allyn and Margaret Cheer
took to the boards as Cymbeline and Imogen. We don't know how many
performances there were; they were most likely part of a touring
company, so probably no more than a small handful at most
The next production of the play
opened at the Astor Theater on October 22, 1906 and ran for 22
performances. Another interesting tidbit: Father and daughter team C
Leslie and Viola Allen appeared as Belarius and Imogen. The stage
father was played by Henry J Hadfield
The last time Cymbeline was staged at
a Broadway theater was more than 80 years ago, 15 performances at
Jolson's 59th Street Theater in October 1923. V L Granville appeared
in the title role, Julia Marlowe as Imogen, Albert Howsori as
Belarius and Lenore Chippendale as the Queen
In the Movies
The first screen treatment we can
find for Cymbeline is a 1913 version. Directed by Lucius
Henderson the film featured William Russell in the title role with
Florence La Badie as Imogen and Jean Darnell as the Queen. Ms
Darnell appeared in 20 films during her two-year career (1912-1913).
That's quite a lot by today's standards but pales in comparison to
Mr Russell's career: 206 films between 1910 and 1929, with 32 others
besides Cymbeline in 1913 alone. Whew! On Television
The BBC filmed a Berkeley Shakespeare
Festival production of the show for airing in 1982. Not a bad cast:
Richard Johnson as the king opposite Claire Bloom's Queen, with
Helen Mirren as Imogen and Michael Pennington as Posthumus |
