When it was announced in March that Stephen King's classic horror novel Misery was getting the Broadway treatment, Elizabeth Marvel was intended to play the juicy role of number-one fan and number-one torturous motivator Annie Wilkes on stage. Due to House of Cards commitments, however, Marvel has left the project and Laurie Metcalf has joined it in her place.
Variety reports that Laurie Metcalf will play Annie Wilkes in the Misery Broadway play. Widely known for her stellar turn as Jackie Harris on Roseanne in addition to a plethora of other TV and film credits, Metcalf is perhaps best known to horror fans for her intense, unflinching portrayal as Mrs. Loomis in Scream 2.
As Wilkes, Metcalf will inflict pain on author Paul Sheldon, played by Bruce Willis in his Broadway debut. Metcalf is no stranger to the stage, having performed both off Broadway in Domesticated and on Broadway in The Other Place.
The play is scribed by William Goldman (The Princess Bride, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid), who also penned the screenplay for the 1990 Misery film adaptation helmed by Rob Reiner. The stage version of Misery made its world premiere in the fall of 2012 at Bucks County Playhouse.
Will Frears (Omnium Gatherum) will direct the Misery play, which will have its previews premiere in New York on October 22nd, followed by a November 15th opening performance at the Broadhurst Theater, where it will run for 16 weeks. Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Castle Rock Entertainment, and Raymond Wu are producing. Here's the play's synopsis and details from BroadwayWorld.com:
"Successful romance novelist Paul Sheldon (Willis) is rescued from a car crash by his "Number One Fan," Annie Wilkes, and wakes up captive in her secluded home. While Paul is convalescing, Annie reads the manuscript to his newest novel and becomes enraged when she discovers the author has killed off her favorite character, Misery Chastain. Annie forces Paul to write a new "Misery" novel, and he quickly realizes Annie has no intention of letting him go anywhere. The irate Annie has Paul writing as if his life depends on it, and if he does not make her deadline, it will.
Misery has a set design by David Korins (Motown), lighting design by David Weiner (The Normal Heart) and sound design by Tony Award winner Darron West (Peter and the Starcatcher)."
James Caan played Sheldon and Kathy Bates portrayed Annie in the Misery film adaptation, the latter winning an Oscar and a Golden Globe for her all-in performance. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more details.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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