Hearthrob Clive Owen is coming to Broadway! Producers Nelle Nugent, Steve Traxler, Kenneth Teaton, Benjamin Feldman, and Doug Morris (CEO, Sony Music), announced that the Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Owen will star as Rene Gallimard in the first Broadway revival of David Henry Hwang’s Tony Award®-winning play, M. BUTTERFLY, directed by Julie Taymor, also a Tony Award® winner. The production will open on October 26, 2017 at a Broadway theatre to be announced.
David Henry Hwang’s modern classic, M. BUTTERFLY explores the romance between a married French diplomat and a mysterious Chinese opera singer, a love story impacted by international espionage and personal betrayal. Their 20-year relationship pushed and blurred the boundaries between male and female and East and West while redefining the nature of love and exploring the devastating cost of deceit.
“I could not be more excited to take on such a complex and fascinating role for my return to Broadway,” said Owen. “M. BUTTERFLY offers a novel challenge with its inherent mystery and astonishing storyline. I’m looking forward to diving into the mind of Rene Gallimard and I can think of no one better than the brilliant Julie Taymor to bring this wonderful, daring, original play to life.”
For the play’s first Broadway return, Hwang will introduce new material inspired by the real-life love affair between French diplomat Bernard Boursicot and Chinese opera singer Shi Pei Pu that has come to light since the play’s 1988 premiere.
“M. BUTTERFLY is like a Chinese puzzle, with layer upon layer of meaning; the more deeply you explore it, the more its essence is revealed,” said Taymor. “To have this complex character brought to life by Clive Owen, an actor I’ve wanted to work with for many years, is an extraordinary opportunity..”
The original production of M. BUTTERFLY, directed by John Dexter, ran on Broadway from March 20, 1988 through January 27, 1990 for a total of 777 performances.
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