| DEMISE OF A PLAYER PRINCE
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By Roger B. Harris
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Published June 28 2007 |
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| Antony Sher |
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A prince of players, no more. Edmund Kean, the player, no Antony Sher, the actor will cease treading the hallowed boards of the Apollo on July 14, when Kean closes earlier than anticipated. The play was originally scheduled to come off on September 18. This Adrian Noble revival of the Jean Paul Sartre play tells the tale of the legendary 19th century actor, who proportedly had a hard time separating the Shakespearean roles he played from his private life. Or as Sartre put it, "the actor who never ceased acting." Kean was a notorious womanizer, a man who lived life to the hilt, with an ego to match his talents. In November of 1961, a musical version of the Sartre comedy, debuted on Broadway, at the Broadway Theatre. It had music and lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest and starred Alfred Drake, with Joan Weldon and Lee Venora, among others. It closed after only 92 performances.
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