Sometimes you look at the best shows across a year of New York theater and see clear trends, the patterns of storytelling or corners of the industry that seem to be thriving most artistically. In 2023, however, there was a happy diversity in the tapestry of the theater that resonated most deeply, from small-scale international entries at the Under the Radar Festival, to puntastic Broadway musical comedies, to potent new voices telling tender stories off-Broadway. Even in a year that often stretched New York theater to the breaking point financially, with several companies closing and nonprofits shortening their current seasons, theater artists were able to thrive and rediscover across the city’s stages.
If there’s a pattern to be found in the dozen selections below, it’s the two writers who show up twice. One is the late legend Stephen Sondheim, represented here by both the stunning revival of Merrily We Roll Along,...
If there’s a pattern to be found in the dozen selections below, it’s the two writers who show up twice. One is the late legend Stephen Sondheim, represented here by both the stunning revival of Merrily We Roll Along,...
- 12/22/2023
- by Dan Rubins
- Slant Magazine
When David Hyde Pierce said he would not return for the acclaimed Frasier reboot, fans lamented the absence of one of the show’s most beloved characters. While Hollywood runs rampant with stories about shady behind-the-scenes scuffles, creative differences, and stars who can’t stand working alongside one another, Pierce wants everyone to know his reasons for not reprising his iconic role as Niles Crane are not nearly as nefarious.
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times while discussing Here We Are, the Stephen Sondheim/David Ives musical in which Pierce appears, the Frasier favorite came clean about his lack of participation in the Paramount+ revival series.
“I never really wanted to go back,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not like I said, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to do that again.’ I loved every moment. It was that I wanted to do other things. And when...
Speaking with the Los Angeles Times while discussing Here We Are, the Stephen Sondheim/David Ives musical in which Pierce appears, the Frasier favorite came clean about his lack of participation in the Paramount+ revival series.
“I never really wanted to go back,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not like I said, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to do that again.’ I loved every moment. It was that I wanted to do other things. And when...
- 12/11/2023
- by Steve Seigh
- JoBlo.com
Niles Crane, er, David Hyde Pierce is happy to explain why his beloved character won’t be showing up on the reboot of Frasier on Paramount+.
While promoting his appearance in “Here We Are,” the Stephen Sondheim/David Ives musical that’s being staged in Manhattan, Pierce revealed why he didn’t reprise the role that earned him four Emmys.
“I never really wanted to go back,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not like I said, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to do that again.’ I loved every moment. It was that I wanted to do other things. And when we got into real talks about the reboot, I had just started on the ‘Julia’ TV show and was working on a musical and going to do another musical, not this one. And I just thought, ‘I don’t want to be committed to a show...
While promoting his appearance in “Here We Are,” the Stephen Sondheim/David Ives musical that’s being staged in Manhattan, Pierce revealed why he didn’t reprise the role that earned him four Emmys.
“I never really wanted to go back,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “It’s not like I said, ‘Oh, I don’t ever want to do that again.’ I loved every moment. It was that I wanted to do other things. And when we got into real talks about the reboot, I had just started on the ‘Julia’ TV show and was working on a musical and going to do another musical, not this one. And I just thought, ‘I don’t want to be committed to a show...
- 12/11/2023
- by Lynette Rice
- Deadline Film + TV
Steven Pasquale and Jeremy Shamos started working on the new Stephen Sondheim musical, Here We Are, seven years ago, while others, like Denis O’Hare, were asked to join the project last summer.
But for everyone now starring in the show, which opened Off-Broadway at The Shed on Oct. 22, joining the project was an immediate yes, largely due to the novelty of being in a new Sondheim piece, which ended up being the composer’s first new show in decades, as well as his last.
“I know all [his] shows. I know the music. I didn’t even have to read it. I said yes before I read it,” said Bobby Cannavale, who is part of the show’s ensemble cast, which also includes David Hyde Pierce, Micaela Diamond and Rachel Bay Jones.
Here We Are, which features a book by David Ives and direction by Joe Mantello, is based on two surrealist films by Luis Buñuel,...
But for everyone now starring in the show, which opened Off-Broadway at The Shed on Oct. 22, joining the project was an immediate yes, largely due to the novelty of being in a new Sondheim piece, which ended up being the composer’s first new show in decades, as well as his last.
“I know all [his] shows. I know the music. I didn’t even have to read it. I said yes before I read it,” said Bobby Cannavale, who is part of the show’s ensemble cast, which also includes David Hyde Pierce, Micaela Diamond and Rachel Bay Jones.
Here We Are, which features a book by David Ives and direction by Joe Mantello, is based on two surrealist films by Luis Buñuel,...
- 10/29/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In the penultimate song in Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Sunday in the Park with George,” Dot implores the artist George to “give us more to see.” The late maestro has done so himself one last time with the world premiere of his final musical, “Here We Are,” which opened Off-Broadway at The Shed on Oct. 22. Written with dramatist David Ives, the musical takes inspiration from two Luis Buñuel films – “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie” and “The Exterminating Angel” – that it marries with one set of characters.
Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello played an integral role in the show’s development and directs its first production. He has assembled an unrivaled ensemble to take on the roles of the unimaginably affluent characters who spend the first act trying to find a restaurant in which to have brunch, and who in the second act find themselves unable to leave after their meal.
Tony Award-winner Joe Mantello played an integral role in the show’s development and directs its first production. He has assembled an unrivaled ensemble to take on the roles of the unimaginably affluent characters who spend the first act trying to find a restaurant in which to have brunch, and who in the second act find themselves unable to leave after their meal.
- 10/23/2023
- by David Buchanan
- Gold Derby
“Sometimes people leave you halfway through the wood,” Cinderella sings in “No One Is Alone,” Stephen Sondheim’s clear-eyed reassurance of support and survival at the end of Into the Woods. Sondheim himself, who passed away in November 2021, left artistic companions, including book writer David Ives and director Joe Mantello, halfway through a wood they were constructing together: the musical Here We Are, now playing off-Broadway at the Shed’s Griffin Theater. With his final offering, Sondheim sends one last jolt of structural inventiveness coursing through the veins of the musical theater form. Here We Are may not operate on the grand scale of Sweeney Todd or Into the Woods or Follies, but it is, to quote the composer-lyricist, small and funny and fine.
Here We Are adapts two films by Luis Buñuel. The first act riffs on 1972’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Ives borrows the basic premise...
Here We Are adapts two films by Luis Buñuel. The first act riffs on 1972’s The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie. Ives borrows the basic premise...
- 10/23/2023
- by Dan Rubins
- Slant Magazine
Updated, 11:20 Am: The producers of Here We Are have announced the cast for the first production of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical.
Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos are set for the show, which opens September 28 for a limited Off Broadway engagement at The Shed.
Read details of the show below.
Previously, March 16: Stephen Sondheim’s final, long-awaited musical Here We Are will make its world premiere September 28 in a strictly limited Off Broadway engagement to be directed by two-time Tony winner Joe Mantello.
Formerly known as Square One, the final musical composed by Sondheim before his death in 2021 will be staged at The Shed, the Manhattan arts center that opened in 2019.
Additional information including specific production dates and casting will be announced soon. Producer Tom Kirdahy made the premiere announcement today.
Francois Battiste, Tracie Bennett, Bobby Cannavale, Micaela Diamond, Amber Gray, Jin Ha, Rachel Bay Jones, Denis O’Hare, Steven Pasquale, David Hyde Pierce, and Jeremy Shamos are set for the show, which opens September 28 for a limited Off Broadway engagement at The Shed.
Read details of the show below.
Previously, March 16: Stephen Sondheim’s final, long-awaited musical Here We Are will make its world premiere September 28 in a strictly limited Off Broadway engagement to be directed by two-time Tony winner Joe Mantello.
Formerly known as Square One, the final musical composed by Sondheim before his death in 2021 will be staged at The Shed, the Manhattan arts center that opened in 2019.
Additional information including specific production dates and casting will be announced soon. Producer Tom Kirdahy made the premiere announcement today.
- 7/17/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Stephen Sondheim’s final musical will have its world premiere in New York this fall.
The musical, which was formerly known as Square One and is now titled Here We Are, is inspired by two Luis Buñuel films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel. Joe Mantello (Wicked, Assassins) directs the musical, which features a book by David Ives.
Performances will begin in September for a strictly limited engagement off-Broadway at The Shed’s Griffin Theater.
Sondheim, who died in November 2021 at the age of 91, had been working on this project for years. A production of a musical, created by Ives and Sondheim, was set to premiere off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2017, but never made it to the stage.
In September 2021, the legendary composer told Stephen Colbert that he was writing Square One with Ives and hoped to stage it in the next season. In what...
The musical, which was formerly known as Square One and is now titled Here We Are, is inspired by two Luis Buñuel films, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie and The Exterminating Angel. Joe Mantello (Wicked, Assassins) directs the musical, which features a book by David Ives.
Performances will begin in September for a strictly limited engagement off-Broadway at The Shed’s Griffin Theater.
Sondheim, who died in November 2021 at the age of 91, had been working on this project for years. A production of a musical, created by Ives and Sondheim, was set to premiere off-Broadway at The Public Theater in 2017, but never made it to the stage.
In September 2021, the legendary composer told Stephen Colbert that he was writing Square One with Ives and hoped to stage it in the next season. In what...
- 3/16/2023
- by Caitlin Huston
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
In his one-man show “Laugh Whore,” Mario Cantone looked back in anger at his New York stage debut. He got stuck playing a rustic in one of Shakespeare’s comedies, and night after night in Central Park he could not get the audiences at the Delacorte Theatre to laugh at anything he said. And night after night, he wanted to scream out at them, “You try making f—ing 400-year-old jokes work!” David Ives’ solution to making 400-year-old jokes work is to rewrite the 17th-century comedy “Le Menteur,” by Pierre Corneille, the famous playwright whose many plays you’ve probably never seen.
- 1/27/2017
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
Decision to fete director still haunted by 1977 statutory rape charge sparks controversy in some quarters in France.
French-Polish director Roman Polanski will preside over the 42nd edition of the French Césars on Feb 24, France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences has announced.
“Insatiable aesthete, Roman Polanski has reinvented his art and work over the years,” academy president Alain Terzian said in a statement.
“Artist, cineaste, producer, screenwriter, actor, director, there are many words that define Roman Polanski but only one to express our admiration and enchantment: thank you.”
However, the decision to honour Polanski has sparked protest from some quarters in France due to the 1977 charge that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl, who was modelling for him on a Vogue magazine shoot in Los Angeles.
News of his César presidency prompted a wave of social media postings protesting that Polanski should be honoured in this way given the rape charge, regardless of the...
French-Polish director Roman Polanski will preside over the 42nd edition of the French Césars on Feb 24, France’s Academy of Cinema Arts and Sciences has announced.
“Insatiable aesthete, Roman Polanski has reinvented his art and work over the years,” academy president Alain Terzian said in a statement.
“Artist, cineaste, producer, screenwriter, actor, director, there are many words that define Roman Polanski but only one to express our admiration and enchantment: thank you.”
However, the decision to honour Polanski has sparked protest from some quarters in France due to the 1977 charge that he sexually assaulted a 13-year-old girl, who was modelling for him on a Vogue magazine shoot in Los Angeles.
News of his César presidency prompted a wave of social media postings protesting that Polanski should be honoured in this way given the rape charge, regardless of the...
- 1/18/2017
- ScreenDaily
The Oscar-winning 1989 movie “Dead Poets Society” is getting the stage treatment, and will debut Off Broadway this fall. The Classic Stage Company announced the show Monday as part of its 2016-17 season. “It is thrilling to be announcing our new season for Csc,” said artistic director John Doyle. “Three great stories written by top writers providing, I hope, variety and continuity. A great American story by the wonderful Tom Schulman, a delightful new addition to David Ives‘ on-going work for Csc, and a further opportunity to explore the remarkable Sondheim/Weidman collaboration makes me excited for this new adventure.” Also Read: Jimmy.
- 2/29/2016
- by Linda Ge
- The Wrap
The Old Globe today announced the complete cast and creative team for the West Coast premiere of The Metromaniacs by supremely clever playwright David Ives All in the Timing, Time Flies. This uproarious new 'translaptation' of a classic French farce, Alexis Piron's La Metromanie, will be directed by one of America's most renowned stage directors, Michael Kahn, presented in association with Shakespeare Theatre Company.
- 1/30/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
The Old Globe's world premiere ofAnna Ziegler's The Last Match, directed byGaye Taylor, starsreal-life fiancesPatrick J. AdamsTim SAG Award-nominated star of TV's 'Suits,' Garland Award forBill Cain's play Nine Circles andTroian BellisarioMallory star of TV's 'Pretty Little Liars,' Equivocation and Farragut North atGeffen Playhouse alongsideAlex MickiewiczSergei Broadway's Therese Raquin andNatalia PayneGalina New York premieres ofAnna Ziegler's Novel,Edward Albee's Me, Myself amp I,David Ives's New Jerusalem. Meet the cast below...
- 1/29/2016
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
With Meryl Streep playing its lead, self-funded (and deluded) singer Florence Foster Jenkins, Stephen Frears’ latest already looks a contender to follow Philomena into awards reckoning, even as the cast continues to take shape. The latest to join the jamboree is Nina Arianda. According to Deadline’s scoop, she’s billed to play Agnes Stark, “a sexy showgirl” trying to work her way up the social ladder with her husband’s help.While still an unfamiliar name in film circles, Arianda has been making waves on Broadway. Her turn in David Ives’s two-hander Venus In Fur won her critical acclaim and a Tony Award. She’ll reunite with her on-stage co-star Hugh Dancy for season three of Hannibal. She appears next on the big screen alongside Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy in The Disappearance Of Eleanor Rigby.Frears' film will chronicle the life of Jenkins (Streep), an heiress and...
- 4/14/2015
- EmpireOnline
Lives of the Saints, a world premiere collection of delightfully funny and unforgettable short plays by David Ives All in the Timing, Venus in Fur and directed by Tony Award winner John Rando All in the Timing, On The Town, Urinetown, opens tonight, February 24, at Primary Stages at The Duke on 42nd Street. Let's see what the critics had to say...
- 2/25/2015
- by Review Roundups
- BroadwayWorld.com
‘Lives of the Saints’ Theater Review: ‘Venus in Fur’ Author Delivers Cheap Laughs and Low-Key Whimsy
The title “Lives of the Saints” promises so much: kinky medieval torture, bizarre eating disorders, blood spurting from the hands and feet at key moments. None of these things are touched on in the David Ives comedy, which opened Tuesday at New York’s Duke on 42nd Street, and is actually not one play but six short skits. What these skits — some new, some not — have to do with saints is that the last and the best of them is titled “Lives of Saints,” and portrays two elderly cooks (Kelly Hutchinson, Liv Rooth) who prepare meals for funeral-goers in a.
- 2/25/2015
- by Robert Hofler
- The Wrap
Lives of the Saints, a world premiere collection of delightfully funny and unforgettable short plays by David Ives All in the Timing, Venus in Fur and directed by Tony Award winner John Rando All in the Timing, On The Town, Urinetown, began performances on February 3 at Primary Stages at The Duke on 42nd Street - a New 42Nd Street project. The limited engagement runs through March 27, 2015. Opening night is tonight, February 24 at 7Pm.
- 2/24/2015
- by BWW News Desk
- BroadwayWorld.com
Primary Stages continues its 30th anniversary season with Lives of the Saints, a world premiere collection of delightfully funny and unforgettable short plays by David Ives All in the Timing, Venus in Fur and directed by Tony Award winner John Rando All in the Timing, On The Town, Urinetown. The limited engagement runs February 3 - March 27, 2015 atPrimary Stages at The Duke on 42nd Street - a New 42Nd Street project. Opening night is Tuesday, February 24 at 7Pm. The company just met the press and you can check out photos from inside the special event below...
- 1/13/2015
- by Jennifer Broski
- BroadwayWorld.com
Sneak Peek new clips of footage,plus images from director Roman Polanski's comedy "Venus in Fur", an adaptation of David Ives's play of the same name, from R.P. Productions and Monolith Films, starring Emmanuelle Seigner and Louis Garrel:
"...'Thomas' is a writer-director of a new play, adapting the 1870 novel 'Venus in Furs' by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Alone in a Parisian theatre after a day of auditioning actresses for lead character 'Wanda von Dunayev', Thomas laments on the phone of the poor performances to come through.
"As he is preparing to leave the theatre, an actress named 'Vanda' (Seigner) arrives disheveled.
"In a whirlwind of energy and unrestrained aggression, Vanda convinces the director to let her read for the part.
"To Thomas' amazement, Vanda shows great understanding of the character and knows every line by heart.
"As the audition progresses, the intensity is redoubled...
"...'Thomas' is a writer-director of a new play, adapting the 1870 novel 'Venus in Furs' by Austrian author Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Alone in a Parisian theatre after a day of auditioning actresses for lead character 'Wanda von Dunayev', Thomas laments on the phone of the poor performances to come through.
"As he is preparing to leave the theatre, an actress named 'Vanda' (Seigner) arrives disheveled.
"In a whirlwind of energy and unrestrained aggression, Vanda convinces the director to let her read for the part.
"To Thomas' amazement, Vanda shows great understanding of the character and knows every line by heart.
"As the audition progresses, the intensity is redoubled...
- 11/20/2014
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
As BroadwayWorld reported last month, Stephen Sondheim recently announced at the New Yorker Festival that he is working on something new. Confirming previously reported rumors, the new project will be a collaboration between Sondheim and contemporary American playwright David Ives. The project, whose title was not announced, will be based on two classic films by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buuel. The two separate films will be the basis for one complete story which the characters will exist in seamlessly. The first half will be based on The 1972 film 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie' and the second half will be based on the 1962 film 'The Exterminating Angel.'Inthe video below, watch as he reveals some details on the upcoming project...
- 11/6/2014
- by Stage Tube
- BroadwayWorld.com
Primary Stages just held their annual Gala last night, November 3, 2014 at 583 Park Avenue. The event celebrated the company's 30th anniversary and honor Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Donald Margulies and award-winning producer, Julian Schlossberg. The Honorary Gala Co-Chairs are Brian d'Arcy James, Laura Linney, Elaine May, and Susan Stroman. The evening featured performances and tributes by Tony nominee Nick Corderoperforming from Bullets over Broadway, Charles Busch, Judy Gold, David Ives, the creators of In Transit, Tony winner Frank Langella, Elaine May, Tony winner Billy Porter, Marlo Thomas, Rachel York, and surprise guests. BroadwayWorld brings you photos from the event below...
- 11/4/2014
- by Genevieve Rafter Keddy
- BroadwayWorld.com
While it went home empty handed after competing in Cannes, and was released in dozens of territories before Sundance Selects dropped the title onto the market this past April, Venus In Fur did manage to rack up seven Cesar award nominates back home and netted Roman Polanski the Best Director prize. Dark, playful, and featuring a dizzying performance from Emmanuelle Seigner, the title is destined to be one of the year’s most overlooked gems.
The once quite reticent Polanski quickly returned with yet another adaptation of a popular Broadway play. Working from the same stage title, this followed his 2011 star studded Carnage. Say what you will, but Polanski, who often tends to favor claustrophobic chamber pieces, excels with chatty subversiveness, and detractors of the sometimes forced Carnage should revel in this latest effort, a dark labyrinth of comedic mind games that does with words what something like Lady from Shanghai does with mirrors.
The once quite reticent Polanski quickly returned with yet another adaptation of a popular Broadway play. Working from the same stage title, this followed his 2011 star studded Carnage. Say what you will, but Polanski, who often tends to favor claustrophobic chamber pieces, excels with chatty subversiveness, and detractors of the sometimes forced Carnage should revel in this latest effort, a dark labyrinth of comedic mind games that does with words what something like Lady from Shanghai does with mirrors.
- 10/21/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
In today's roundup of interesting projects that have been announced in the past week or so: Iggy Pop and Dario Argento are collaborating on an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman"; an interactive documentary on Ken Loach is in the works; Bertrand Tavernier is working on a personal exploration of French cinema; Bruno Dumont is open to the idea of a second season for P'tit Quinquin; Scarlett Johansson is will star in and executive produce an eight-episode adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1913 novel The Custom of the Country; Stephen Sondheim is at work on a new musical with the playwright David Ives (Venus in Fur) based on two renowned films by Luis Buñuel, El ángel exterminador and Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/15/2014
- Fandor: Keyframe
In today's roundup of interesting projects that have been announced in the past week or so: Iggy Pop and Dario Argento are collaborating on an adaptation of E.T.A. Hoffmann's "The Sandman"; an interactive documentary on Ken Loach is in the works; Bertrand Tavernier is working on a personal exploration of French cinema; Bruno Dumont is open to the idea of a second season for P'tit Quinquin; Scarlett Johansson is will star in and executive produce an eight-episode adaptation of Edith Wharton's 1913 novel The Custom of the Country; Stephen Sondheim is at work on a new musical with the playwright David Ives (Venus in Fur) based on two renowned films by Luis Buñuel, El ángel exterminador and Le charme discret de la bourgeoisie; and more. » - David Hudson...
- 10/15/2014
- Keyframe
Confirming previously reported rumors, the new project will be a collaboration between Sondheim and contemporary American playwright David Ives. The project, whose title was not announced, will be based on two classic films by Spanish filmmaker Luis Buuel. The two separate films will be the basis for one complete story which the characters will exist in seamlessly. The first half will be based on The 1972 film 'The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie' and the second half will be based on the 1962 film 'The Exterminating Angel.'...
- 10/11/2014
- by Rialto Chatter
- BroadwayWorld.com
Based on the Tony Award-winning play by David Ives, Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur (2013) is a playful, highly intelligent and multi-layered examination of passion, perversion and the battle of the sexes from the acclaimed French director (Chinatown, The Pianist). To celebrate the home entertainment release of Polanski's latest offering this coming Monday (28 July), we have Three DVD copies of the challenging and witty Venus in Fur to give away to our cultured returning readers, courtesy of the team at independent and world cinema distributors Artificial Eye. This is an exclusive competition for our Facebook and Twitter fans, so if you haven't already, 'Like' us at facebook.com/CineVueUK or follow us @CineVue before answering the question below.
- 7/31/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
★★★☆☆For Roman Polanski's latest, the now octogenarian director has adapted David Ives play Venus in Fur, which is itself based on the 1870 novel of the same name by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Taking place entirely in a theatre setting, the chamber piece sees a playwright, Thomas Novachek (Mathieu Amalric), who is directing his own adaptation of Venus in Fur, interrupted at the end of a long day of auditioning the lead role by Vanda Jourdain (Emmanuelle Seigner), an actor late for the reading who insists on being seen, despite Thomas' obvious disapproval of her appropriateness for the role. We then have two actors, Amalric and Seigner, playing the part of an actor and a director, themselves performing roles.
- 7/29/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Venus In Fur is from American playwright David Ives’ Tony Award-winning play, a two-character S&M tale set in New York. Now comes the film version, which is set in Paris and is in French. C’est quoi ce bordel? It’s the latest movie directed by 80-year old perv Roman Polanksi who has cast his pretty 46-year old French wife Emmanuelle Seigner in the lead. Venus In Fur is a kinky backstage tango that never quite sizzles, but it’s still an entertaining and often funny riff on the issues of sex and power. I just wish it had been filmed in English.
Venus In Fur opens with stage writer-director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) alone in a Paris theater after a long day of auditioning actresses for his new play, an adaptation of an 18th century erotic tale that explores the explosive relationship between a domineering mistress and her submissive male subject/slave.
Venus In Fur opens with stage writer-director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) alone in a Paris theater after a long day of auditioning actresses for his new play, an adaptation of an 18th century erotic tale that explores the explosive relationship between a domineering mistress and her submissive male subject/slave.
- 7/17/2014
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
What scares Erik Weisz—better known as escape artist extraordinaire Harry Houdini? A lot of things, according to this promo for History’s upcoming bio-miniseries: drowning, heights, crowds. Even so, it’s clear that the father of modern stage magic doesn’t let dread get the best of him: “Some fears you face head-on,” he says in the following exclusive video, thoughtfully waving a pair of handcuffs. “Some you take to your grave.”
It’s all very spooky and atmospheric—doubly so because Houdini is played by Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, who always looks at least slightly haunted. (Just...
It’s all very spooky and atmospheric—doubly so because Houdini is played by Academy Award winner Adrien Brody, who always looks at least slightly haunted. (Just...
- 7/9/2014
- by Hillary Busis
- EW - Inside TV
Roman Polanski's latest play-to-film "Venus and Fur" opened at the end of last year's Cannes Film Festival because it was the only day its star Emmanuelle Seigner could get away to the Riviera. Thus the film (adapted by playwright David Ives) was a bit of an afterthought at the fest. It finally arrives via IFC stateside with terrific reviews. Fair to say that Seigner dominates the film (S & M male-female power dynamics are central to the story) as over the course of a night she comes to overwhelm and control playwright Thomas, well-played by Matthieu Amalric, who happens to be a dead ringer for her real-life director husband. Seigner and I talked on the phone from Paris. What was different about the film from the play? I haven't seen the play, but I read it in French. That makes it different. The girl that was playing the role in America was very young.
- 6/24/2014
- by Anne Thompson
- Thompson on Hollywood
Venus in Fur
Written for the screen and directed by Roman Polanski
France, 2013
What is art if not an artist’s fiction translated into reality? A fiction wrought from fear, self-loathing and prejudice that escapes the confines of a sonnet and burrows its way into the collective consciousness. Now it is reality. Now it has power. Now it’s an idea, and ideas are poisonous. Rather than dispelling the poisonous reality, Polanski’s Venus in Fur toys with the delicate fiction lying beneath. It’s a study in role-playing, where the players and creators are equally baffled by the game. More importantly, this is the intensely personal work of an artist who understands that only by blurring the lines between fiction and reality can he approach what Herzog calls, “the ecstatic truth.”
To call Venus in Fur a ‘play-within-a-play’ is a misnomer. Indeed, it involves the inner workings of a stage play,...
Written for the screen and directed by Roman Polanski
France, 2013
What is art if not an artist’s fiction translated into reality? A fiction wrought from fear, self-loathing and prejudice that escapes the confines of a sonnet and burrows its way into the collective consciousness. Now it is reality. Now it has power. Now it’s an idea, and ideas are poisonous. Rather than dispelling the poisonous reality, Polanski’s Venus in Fur toys with the delicate fiction lying beneath. It’s a study in role-playing, where the players and creators are equally baffled by the game. More importantly, this is the intensely personal work of an artist who understands that only by blurring the lines between fiction and reality can he approach what Herzog calls, “the ecstatic truth.”
To call Venus in Fur a ‘play-within-a-play’ is a misnomer. Indeed, it involves the inner workings of a stage play,...
- 6/23/2014
- by J.R. Kinnard
- SoundOnSight
Mighty Aphrodite: Polanski Returns With Spirited Adaptation
The once quite reticent Roman Polanski quickly returns with yet another adaptation of a popular Broadway play, Venus In Fur, which follows his 2011 star studded Carnage. Say what you will, but Polanski, who often tends to favor claustrophobic chamber pieces, excels with chatty subversiveness, and detractors of the sometimes forced Carnage should revel in this latest effort, a dark labyrinth of comedic mind games that does with words what something like Lady from Shanghai does with mirrors.
A dreary, desolate evening sees a desperate theater director, Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) pacing the stage as he bitches angrily on the phone about the miserable auditions he witnessed all day long for the lead in his new play, Venus In Furs, an adaptation of an infamous novel credited with birthing the term masochism. Clearly, the play is a labor of love for the man, and...
The once quite reticent Roman Polanski quickly returns with yet another adaptation of a popular Broadway play, Venus In Fur, which follows his 2011 star studded Carnage. Say what you will, but Polanski, who often tends to favor claustrophobic chamber pieces, excels with chatty subversiveness, and detractors of the sometimes forced Carnage should revel in this latest effort, a dark labyrinth of comedic mind games that does with words what something like Lady from Shanghai does with mirrors.
A dreary, desolate evening sees a desperate theater director, Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) pacing the stage as he bitches angrily on the phone about the miserable auditions he witnessed all day long for the lead in his new play, Venus In Furs, an adaptation of an infamous novel credited with birthing the term masochism. Clearly, the play is a labor of love for the man, and...
- 6/22/2014
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
It’s not hard to guess why Roman Polanski was moved to make a film of David Ives’s brilliantly silly play Venus in Fur. The tale of an arrogant male writer-director who’s increasingly emasculated by an auditioning actress, the project offers a juicy role for his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, and an opportunity for him—given his resemblance to actor Mathieu Amalric—to stylize his own comeuppance. So Venus in Fur is both kinky and can pass as a form of self-flagellation. One additional, not-small thing: It allows him to demonstrate, with a minimum of means, his superb craftsmanship. Apart from translating the play into French, Polanski and co-screenwriter Ives stick close to the source. A punkish, gum-cracking actress named Vanda (Seigner) arrives late to an empty theater for an audition and begs the playwright, Thomas (Amalric), to let her read for the part of “Vanda” (quelle coïncidence!
- 6/20/2014
- by David Edelstein
- Vulture
Everyone's ideal foreplay is a little different; sometimes a lot different. For 19th century Austrian writer Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, it involved whips and a pair of dirty, dirty boots, at least if his sole major work, the 1870 novella “Venus in Furs,” is any indication. Sacher-Masoch inadvertently gave the world the term masochism (thanks, Leo!), but there's apparently something the matter with male sexual surrender. The concept is hardly settled in playwright David Ives’ new imagining of Sacher-Masoch's novella, and Roman Polanski contributes to his fun-for-a-while French-language adaptation a sense of romp and farce and unease to the procession of...
- 6/20/2014
- by Inkoo Kang
- The Wrap
If you’re in New York or Los Angeles this weekend, run don’t walk to James Ward Byrkit’s dizzying metaphysical horror film “Coherence,” or Roman Polanski’s elegant pas-de-deux “Venus in Fur.” But think twice before heading to Clint Eastwood’s 1960s musical biopic “Jersey Boys,” meeting a mixed critical response, or Paul Haggis’ awful collage of interlocking soap operas “Third Person,” currently crashing with reviewers.
On the indie side of the spectrum, you can catch Brit Joanna Hogg’s “Exhibition,” starring Tom Hiddleston, which Indiewire says has shades of Michael Haneke by way of Miranda July; Filipino helmer Lav Diaz’s latest multi-hour epic, “Norte, The End of History,” will hold court at NY’s Lincoln Center after a long festival tour dating back to Cannes 2013, where “Venus in Fur” also bowed; and Jan Troell’s austere WWII-era psychodrama “The Last Sentence” hits select markets too.
The...
On the indie side of the spectrum, you can catch Brit Joanna Hogg’s “Exhibition,” starring Tom Hiddleston, which Indiewire says has shades of Michael Haneke by way of Miranda July; Filipino helmer Lav Diaz’s latest multi-hour epic, “Norte, The End of History,” will hold court at NY’s Lincoln Center after a long festival tour dating back to Cannes 2013, where “Venus in Fur” also bowed; and Jan Troell’s austere WWII-era psychodrama “The Last Sentence” hits select markets too.
The...
- 6/19/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Indiewire
Paris-born Emmanuelle Seigner, who started out as a model at 14, has already proven herself as a talented performer in films such as "La Vie en Rose" and "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly." Still, her lead turn in "Venus in Fur," a tense two-hander adapted from David Ives Tony-nominated play by Seigner's husband of 25 years, Roman Polanski, is a revelation. In the role that won Nina Arianda a Tony award, Seinger is a complete force as Vanda, an actress who shows up late to an audition for Thomas (Mathieu Almaric), a writer-director with some sadomasochist issues. What transpires over the course of their meeting is a battle of the sexes, where both weave in and out of playing Thomas' characters, blurring the line between what's written in his play and what's happening in reality. Read More: The Films of Roman Polanski, Ranked Worst to Best It's a career-best performance for...
- 6/19/2014
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Roman Polanski‘s Venus in Fur is a film haunted by an epigraph. It’s a quotation from the apocryphal Book of Judith, used first by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch in his similarly titled 1870 novel and later by David Ives in his play, from which this film is directly adapted. It goes something like this: “The Lord hath smitten him and delivered him into the hands of a woman.” The biblical context is the slaying of the Babylonian general Holofernes, whose unfortunate drunken stupor made him easy prey for the knife of the Jewish hero. Polanski’s film is somewhat more wordy, but not necessarily more complex. The quote is the epigram on the play-within-a-film, an adaptation of Venus in Furs for the stage by playwright Thomas (Mathieu Amalric). Late in the evening after a failed day of casting for the female lead, a mysterious and brash woman enters the theater. Thomas...
- 6/19/2014
- by Daniel Walber
- FilmSchoolRejects.com
This is a reprint of our review from the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Ever had the feeling, when the credits roll and the lights go up, that you’ve been watching a completely different film to everyone else? Welcome to our morning, which was spent at a screening of the last Cannes 2013 competition film, Roman Polanski’s adaptation of the David Ives broadway play “Venus in Fur.” Sure, there were laughs to be had, for which the delightful surprise of leading lady (and Polanski’s wife) Emmanuelle Seigner’s performance was largely to thank, and the witty inventiveness of the first act or so had us quite on board. But the overwrought twists and on-the-nose inversions of the second half, all the bigger for taking place in one contained space, along with the sneaking suspicion that the film thought it was being terribly transgressive and daring when it actually felt facile and not a little skeezy,...
- 6/18/2014
- by Jessica Kiang
- The Playlist
Plays adapted into movies always feel naked by the time they make it to the screen, their theatrical bones showing through in a most awkward and unbecoming way. That's more or less true of Roman Polanski's screen version of David Ives's Venus in Fur, in which a playwright and first-time director, Mathieu Amalric's Thomas, expresses exasperation over the number of shallow, gum-snapping actresses who have had the temerity to audition for his Very Important Play — only to be undone by shallow, gum-snapping Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner), who understands his material better than he does.
You can see the big reveal a mile away; it comes vamping right at ya, with exaggerated, swaying hips. But Venus in Fur ends up being more fun than it promises, thanks to Polanski'...
You can see the big reveal a mile away; it comes vamping right at ya, with exaggerated, swaying hips. But Venus in Fur ends up being more fun than it promises, thanks to Polanski'...
- 6/18/2014
- Village Voice
★★★☆☆Following on from 2011's raucous American middle-class comedy Carnage - and as we await his long-gestating Dreyfus affair project - Polish director Roman Polanski returns to UK cinema screens with Venus in Fur (2013), a two-handed adaptation of the play by David Ives. The Ives production itself tells the story of an attempt to mould Austrian writer and journalist Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's book Venus in Furs - which gave masochism its name and Lou Reed a classic song - for the stage. Mathieu Amalric plays Thomas, a busy theatre director and writer who has spent an entire day unsuccessfully auditioning actresses to play Vanda, the role of the girl turned dominatrix of von Sacher-Masoch's novel.
- 5/30/2014
- by CineVue UK
- CineVue
Director: Roman Polanski; Screenwriters: David Ives, Roman Polanski; Starring: Emmanuelle Seigner, Mathieu Amalric; Running time: 96 mins; Certificate: 15
Two people. One room. An abundance of intrigue and enthralment. Roman Polanski's adaptation of David Ives' play is a fascinating study of power games, sexual manipulation and textual interpretation, driven by dazzling performances from Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric.
Seigner portrays Vanda, a pushy actress who struts into the theatre adorned with blood red lipstick and a skimpy outfit to accost Amalric's timid director Thomas in order to secure a role in his upcoming production. She thinks the play is a porno while he thinks it's a beautiful love story, but Vanda uses seductive ploys to secure an immediate audition. As the duo rehearse on stage together, Thomas begins to turn from dominant teacher to submissive student as the lines blur between reality and fiction.
Despite taking place solely in the theatre's auditorium,...
Two people. One room. An abundance of intrigue and enthralment. Roman Polanski's adaptation of David Ives' play is a fascinating study of power games, sexual manipulation and textual interpretation, driven by dazzling performances from Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric.
Seigner portrays Vanda, a pushy actress who struts into the theatre adorned with blood red lipstick and a skimpy outfit to accost Amalric's timid director Thomas in order to secure a role in his upcoming production. She thinks the play is a porno while he thinks it's a beautiful love story, but Vanda uses seductive ploys to secure an immediate audition. As the duo rehearse on stage together, Thomas begins to turn from dominant teacher to submissive student as the lines blur between reality and fiction.
Despite taking place solely in the theatre's auditorium,...
- 5/30/2014
- Digital Spy
Roman Polanski‘s new film is Venus in Fur, an adaptation of the stage play by David Ives. With the film opening in the UK this weekend, there’s a new UK trailer for the movie, which features Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Amalric. The play is a two-character affair, with an actress showing up late for an audition. She […]
The post ‘Venus in Fur’ Trailer: Roman Polanski Adapts the Award-Winning Play appeared first on /Film.
The post ‘Venus in Fur’ Trailer: Roman Polanski Adapts the Award-Winning Play appeared first on /Film.
- 5/27/2014
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
This minimalist, intimate offering from renowned filmmaker Roman Polanski signals something of a continuing retreat, as he follows on from Carnage with a similarly smaller-scaled, confined production. The octogenarian director is perhaps starting to show signs of simplification in regards to his work – but they’re certainly no less intricate.
Again like Carnage, he has adapted a stage play to the big screen, this time being David Ives’ Venus in Furs, which itself was inspired by the much celebrated, eponymous novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. As you can see from the surname, it was this piece of literature which gave a name to masochism. Much like the source material, which had been based around the author’s very own wife, Polanski too has ingrained an autobiographical tendency of sorts, providing the lead – and only – female role to his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, blurring the lines between realism and cinema accordingly.
She plays Vanda,...
Again like Carnage, he has adapted a stage play to the big screen, this time being David Ives’ Venus in Furs, which itself was inspired by the much celebrated, eponymous novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. As you can see from the surname, it was this piece of literature which gave a name to masochism. Much like the source material, which had been based around the author’s very own wife, Polanski too has ingrained an autobiographical tendency of sorts, providing the lead – and only – female role to his wife, Emmanuelle Seigner, blurring the lines between realism and cinema accordingly.
She plays Vanda,...
- 5/27/2014
- by Stefan Pape
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
It is occasionally hard to separate a piece of art from the alleged scruples of its creator. Many a Woody Allen fan has struggled with it for years now, and the new X-Men film now arrives under the fresh cloud of the accusations levied at Bryan Singer. It is inherently possible that these men (and many other artists who face illicit allegations for that matter) are completely innocent. Then again, they may not be. It’s the baggage that some will refuse to carry, and it’s the sort of baggage that’s been weighing down Roman Polanski films since the late 70s. It raises the longstanding debate of whether one should judge the art by the artist, or the artist by the art, and it’s not one I shall bore you with here – I’m here to talk about movies.
And it’s a testament to Venus in...
And it’s a testament to Venus in...
- 5/11/2014
- by Dominic Mill
- We Got This Covered
Following on the heels of 2011’s Carnage, Roman Polanski again transports the stage to the screen with Venus in Fur, an adaptation of David Ives’ 2010 Tony Award-winning play about tension that grows between a playwright and an auditioning actress. Relocating the action from NYC to Paris, Polanski stages the nightlong rehearsal between author/director Thomas (Mathieu Amalric) and mysterious Vanda (Emmanuelle Seigner) with a fluidity and grace that captures, from moment to moment, the characters’ shifts in relationship, with Thomas’ initial sexist arrogance soon destabilized by the imposing Vanda’s transition from messy know-nothing to domineering sex kitten. Amalric and Seigner (who previously worked together in 2007’s <i...
- 4/23/2014
- Village Voice
Never one to do much press, Roman Polanski offers Variety a rare interview in which he talks about his new film "Venus in Fur," working with his actress-wife Emmanuelle Seigner and his storied -- and stormy -- cinematic career. Adapted from a 2010 play by David Ives and starring Seigner and Mathieu Amalric, "Venus in Fur" is a two-hander about an actress attempting to convince a director why she's perfect for a role in his upcoming production. "I just thought it was a terrific text. First, the humor of it. But then the sort of anti-macho spirit of it, and the richness of the allusions," Polanski tells Variety scribe Scott Foundas. The film played in the Main Competition section of last year's Cannes Film Festival. Polanski and Seigner met in 1985 during the troubled pre-production days of "Pirates," starring Walter Matthau. Polanski and casting director Dominique Besnehard were scouting in Paris, at a drag cabaret,...
- 4/11/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
I caught Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur at last year's Cannes Film Festival (read my review here) and Sundance Selects is finally bringing the comedy based on the play by David Ives to theaters on June 20. Starring Mathieu Amalric and Emmanuelle Seigner, the story itself is quite small as it centers on an actress' attempts to convince a director she's perfect for a role in his upcoming production. There is, however, more to it than just that. Here's what I wrote in my review: Roman Polanski's Venus in Fur hit me like a breath of fresh air on the morning of my eleventh and final day of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival. Opening with a sequence I'd more associate with a Tim Burton and Danny Elfman collaboration, we're greeted by a wicked rain storm and an upbeat, gothic score from Alexandre Desplat as the camera splits a tree-lined street.
- 4/4/2014
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
A year after making its worldwide debut as the Closing Night Film of the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Roman Polanski's latest stage adaptation following 2011's "Carnage," "Venus in Fur," is set to open stateside. Ahead of its June 20th release and upcoming screenings at the Tribeca Film Festival, Sundance Selects has released the trailer for the sexy two-hander, starring Polanski's wife Emmanuelle Seigner and Mathieu Almaric. Read More: 'Venus in Fur' Director Roman Polanski at Cannes: 'I've lived long enough to know I can direct.' The film is in French, which probably lead to the company's decision to include a dry voice-over in the trailer that breaks down the set up for those unfamiliar with David Ives' acclaimed play. It's bad, but can't eclipse the force that is Seigner, who looks to be having a ball as an actress who'll do anything to nab a juicy part in a new stage production.
- 4/4/2014
- by Nigel M Smith
- Indiewire
Roman Polanski must really love Broadway; the director is once again adapting a Tony-winning play to follow up 2011's "Carnage."
This time, he takes on "Venus in Fur" from writer David Ives. A new U.S. trailer lays out the story -- the movie is in French, with English subtitles -- of a director (Mathieu Amalaric) who's casting a female role in his play. An actress (Emmanuelle Seigner) comes to read for him at the last minute, and though at first she seems totally wrong for the part, she slowly seduces him into casting her.
"You are a goddess," the director says, noting that Venus only ruled over slaves.
"So I should find myself one?" the actress purrs. And where the director once had all the power, it becomes clear that the balance is shifting to her.
"Venus in Fur" opens June 20, possibly as an antidote to summer blockbusters.
This time, he takes on "Venus in Fur" from writer David Ives. A new U.S. trailer lays out the story -- the movie is in French, with English subtitles -- of a director (Mathieu Amalaric) who's casting a female role in his play. An actress (Emmanuelle Seigner) comes to read for him at the last minute, and though at first she seems totally wrong for the part, she slowly seduces him into casting her.
"You are a goddess," the director says, noting that Venus only ruled over slaves.
"So I should find myself one?" the actress purrs. And where the director once had all the power, it becomes clear that the balance is shifting to her.
"Venus in Fur" opens June 20, possibly as an antidote to summer blockbusters.
- 4/4/2014
- by Kelly Woo
- Moviefone
Of late, Roman Polanski has been taking inspiration from stage. His last feature film, "Carnage," was based on an award-winning play, while his forthcoming "Venus In Fur" is also ripped from the boards, adapting the work of David Ives. After premiering at the Cannes Film Festival last year the picture is finally making its way to U.S. theatres, and a new trailer is here to show you what the filmmaker has in store. Mathieu Amalaric and Emmanuelle Seigner lead the cast, telling the story of a writer/director of a new play who is immersed in the process of finding an actress for a role in his upcoming work. A new talent comes in at the last minute and is seemingly the opposite of everything he's looking for. Reviews on this one were mixed on the Croisette, and so too was the opinion of our own Jessica Kiang who...
- 4/4/2014
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
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