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Glengarry Postpones Opening as Actor Withdraws

Following the last-minute withdrawal of one of its cast members, the new West End revival of David Mamet’s Glengarry Glen Ross has delayed its opening night, which was scheduled for this Wednesday 10 October 2007 (following previews from 27 September) at the Apollo Theatre, Shaftesbury Avenue (See News, 31 Jul 2007). The press performance will now take place two days later, on Friday 12 October.

Jonathan Pryce and Aidan Gillen headline an all-male seven-strong company in James Macdonald’s 25th anniversary revival of David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about cut-throat Chicago real estate men. Anthony Flanagan, who plays office manager John Williamson, has withdrawn from the production, citing “personal reasons”.

Peter McDonald (pictured) will now take over the role. His previous credits include Exiles, The Aristocrats (both at the National), Resurrection Blues (Old Vic), Days of Wine and Roses, A Lie of the Mind (Donmar Warehouse), The Wexford Trilogy (Tricycle) and The Lieutenant of Inishmore in the West End.

The Glengarry Glen Ross salesmen are pitched against each other in a cut-throat competition. Close the deal and you’ve won a Cadillac; blow the lead and you’re f...ed. In a world of high stakes and hard sell, these men will do anything, legal or otherwise, to sell the most.

Glengarry Glen Ross had its world premiere at the National Theatre in 1983 and was subsequently produced on Broadway and adapted, by Mamet, for a 1992 film starring Jack Lemmon, Kevin Spacey, Ed Harris, Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin as well as Jonathan Pryce, who now takes on the part of luckless salesman Shelley Levene (played by Lemmon in the film). On stage, Aidan Gillen plays Ricky Roma (Pacino on screen).

Also in the company are Matthew Marsh (as Dave Moss), Paul Freeman (George Aaronow), Shane Attwooll (Baylen) and Tom Smith (James Lingk, Pryce’s screen role). The production is designed by Anthony Ward, with lighting by Howard Harrison. It’s presented by Mark Rubinstein, Ron Kastner, Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Jam Productions and Patrick Myles.

- by Terri Paddock

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