Nina Arianda, a 2011 Best Actress Tony nominee for Born Yesterday, will return to Broadway this fall in David Ives’ Venus in Fur, the play that launched her NYC stage career. Walter Bobbie’s production, first seen in 2010 at Classic Stage Company, will begin previews at Manhattan Theatre Club’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on October 13, with opening night on an as-yet unspecified date in November.
Inspired by the infamous erotic novel of the same name, Venus in Fur takes us behind the scenes of an audition, where a playwright/director named Thomas and an actress named Vanda blur the lines between fantasy and reality, seduction and power, love and sex. The original off-Broadway production co-starred Wes Bentley; Arianda’s co-star for the Broadway premiere has not been announced.
Arianda received a Theatre World Award, the Clarence Derwent Award and Drama League and Outer Critics Circle nominations for Venus in Fur. Her Broadway debut performance as Billie Dawn in Born Yesterday drew Tony and Drama Desk nominations and earned Arianda an Outer Critics Circle Award. Film credits include Woody Allen’s Midnight in Paris, Win Win, Higher Ground and the forthcoming Tower Heist.
MTC’s Broadway premiere of Venus in Fur will be presented by special arrangement with Jon B. Platt and Scott Landis.
Watch our video feature on the off-Broadway premiere of Venus in Fur below.