“The Collaboration,” a new play exploring the relationship between painters Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, will move to Broadway ...
“The Collaboration,” a new play exploring the relationship between painters Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, will move to Broadway this fall.
Manhattan Theater Club, a non-profit organization that operates the Samuel J. Friedman Theater on Broadway, said it will partner with London’s Young Vic Theater to bring the play to the Friedman, with previews starting on November 29 and an opening night scheduled for December 29. 20.
The play was written by New Zealand’s Anthony McCarten, who is best known for his biographical screenplays, including Oscar-nominated “The Theory of Everything” and “The Two Popes,” as well as “Bohemian Rhapsody” and “Darkest Hour”. .” If all goes according to plan, “The Collaboration” will be McCarten’s second work to hit Broadway, but only just; he also wrote the book for “A Beautiful Noise,” a biographical musical about Neil Diamond set in Boston and scheduled to premiere on Broadway on November 2.
‘The Collaboration’ will star Paul Bettany (best known for playing Vision in several Marvel projects) as Warhol and Jeremy Pope (who scored two Tony nominations in a single season, for ‘Ain’t Too Proud’ and “Choir Boy”) as Basquiat. The two are set to reprise their roles in a film adaptation.
The play (as well as the upcoming film) is directed by Kwame Kwei-Armah, the artistic director of the Young Vic, where it had its first production this year. He opened up to mixed reviewsbut both actors received praise for their performances, which Matt Wolf, writing in The New York Times, judged “bravery.”
The play takes place in 1984, when Warhol and Basquiat were working together. They both died later that decade.
“The Collaboration” is the second play to be presented on Broadway by the Manhattan Theater Club this season; it is expected to follow closely after “Cost of life”, by Martyna Majok, which is scheduled to open at the Friedman in early October.
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