Theater News

John Turturro to Lead Revival Cast of Kander and Ebb's Zorba!

The musical will play a run at New York City Center Encores!

John Turturro will play the title role in Kander and Ebb's Zorba.
John Turturro will play the title role in Kander and Ebb's Zorba.

John Turturro (O Brother, Where Art Thou?) will make his musical-theater debut this spring in Zorba!, the Kander and Ebb tuner returning to the New York stage for the first time since 1983 as the closer of the New York City Center Encores! season. Directed by Walter Bobbie, choreographed by Josh Rhodes, and musical directed by Rob Berman, the production will run May 6-10.

With a score by Kander and Ebb and a book by Joseph Stein, Zorba! is the story of a larger-than-life Greek jack-of-all-trades who "lives every day as if it will be his last," and his friendship with Nikos, a young American student. Life becomes complicated when the men become involved with two women: Zorba with the aging innkeeper Madame Hortense and Nikos with a beautiful widow. It is adapted from Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis.

Joining Turturro will be Tony nominee Santino Fontana (Cinderella) as Nikos, Olivier Award Zoë Wanamaker (Awake and Sing!) as Madame Hortense, Tony nominee Marin Mazzie (Next to Normal) as The Leader, and Adam Chanler-Berat (The Fortress of Solitude) as Mimiko. Additional casting will be revealed in the coming weeks.

The original production of Zorba!, which starred Herschel Bernardi and Maria Karnilova, was directed by Harold Prince. It opened at the Imperial Theater on November 16, 1968, and ran for 305 performances.

For tickets and more information, click here.

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