Peeking Behind the Curtain of M. BUTTERFLY's Star-Studded History
By: A.A. Cristi Nov. 03, 2017
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David Henry Hwang's Tony Award-winning play, M BUTTERFLY, directed by Julie Taymor, opened just last week at the Cort Theatre.
This modern classic charts the scandalous romance between a married French diplomat and a mysterious Chinese opera singer - a remarkable love story of international espionage and personal betrayal. Their 20-year relationship pushed and blurred the boundaries between male and female, east and west - while redefining the nature of love and the devastating cost of deceit.
Though Oscar nominee, Clive Owen is currently taking his turn in the role of the French diplomat Rene Gallimard in the show's current Broadway revival, he joins a long line of revered actors who have taken on the role.
Let's take a look at some of the other famous actors who have stepped inside the world of David Henry Hwang's M. Butterfly:
Broadway and television favorite, John Lithgow originated the role on Broadway in 1988. Playing opposite B.D. Wong, Lithgow earned a Tony nomination for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play for his performance. In addition to a distinguished film and television career, John Lithgow has appeared on Broadway over twenty times, He is the winner of two Tony Awards, and has accumulated three more Tony nominations, four Drama Desk Awards, and induction into the Theatre Hall of Fame, throughout his nearly fifty year career on the stage.
In 1989, after a period in film and television roles, Anthony Hopkins returned to the stage in M. Butterfly. Shortly after his run in the show, in 1991 Hopkins debuted his chilling performance as cannibal psychopath Hannibal Lector in Jonathan Demme's film The Silence of the Lambs, frightening film fans and scaring the Academy in to an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Hopkins has since gone on to other projects including The Dawning, Amistad, Titus, The Mask of Zorro and Thor. It has recently been announced that he will be appearing alongside Emma Thompson in a BBC televised take on Shakespeare's King Lear.
TV audiences remember Tony Randall as the straight- laced straight man Felix Unger in the popular 1970's television comedy The Odd Couple. Despite a legendary film and TV career, most would be surprised to find that the actor named his run as Gallimund in Broadway's M.Butterfly his favorite role. A devoted stage actor, in 1991, Randall invested 1 million dollars of his own money to found the National Actors Theater, a New York repertory company that staged American and British classics. In addition to his passion for presenting the classics for New York Theater patrons, Randall remained deeply committed to the cause of keeping theatre affordable,
Theatre fans are well-acquainted with Jeremy Irons through his formidable film and stage career. Though he has performed both classic and Modern Stage roles to great renown, Jeremy brought the role of Gallimund to the big screen in 1993, starring opposite John Lone in David Cronenberg's film adaptation of the play. Since then, he has starred in numerous films, including Reversal of Fortune, The Lion King, Lolita, Being Julia and The Fourth Angel. With a stage career beginning in 1969 Jeremy has made numbers appearances on London's West End, taking on roles in The Winter's Tale, Macbeth, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Godspell, Richard II, and Embers. In 1984, he crossed the pond to make his Broadway debut in Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing and took home the Tony Award for Best Actor.
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