| CREATIVE JUICES
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By David Lefkowitz
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| Annette Bening |
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In 1988, before she was Warren Beatty's Bugsy babe, not to mention a three-time Oscar nominee, Annette Bening made her Broadway debut in Coastal Disturbances. She hasn't been back to Broadway since, though a well-received Geffen Theater mounting of Hedda Gabler in 1999 showed that the actress still had a yen and gift for live theater. After nearly another decade, Bening will, indeed, return to the New York stage in The Female of The Species, a comedy by Joanna Murray-Smith, the author of Honour Her latest also centers on a successful but conflicted woman here, it's a feminist author battling writer's block - and the criticism of a devoted fan. Although a theater has yet to be announced, the show will begin previews April 11 and open April 28, 2008. Michael Mayer, who just nabbed a Tony for directing Spring Awakening, will stage the Broadway mounting of Species as well as its Feb. 5-March 16 try-out at the aforementioned Geffen Theater. Bening told the New York Times, "Its hard to find new plays. There are classics and other things I'm interested in doing, but to find a new play - that's a joy." Her joy is apparently shared by producers David Richenthal and Mary Beth O'Connor , with Richenthal describing Bening's character as, "a kind of monster, but amazingly articulate and witty and passionate and impetuous." Those qualities can be seen in Bening's film roles, which range from a dangerous moll in The Grifters to an unhappy wife in American Beauty.
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