To Be or Not To Be - Official Opening

Tonight is the official Broadway opening of the play To Be or Not To Be, which was written by Ernst Lubitsch in 1942. The play started previews on September 16, at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, New York. This is a dark comedy about a troupe of Polish actors during WWII, trying to outsmart the Nazis and protect the Polish resistance.

The story by Lubitsch actually arrived on screen, before it ever made it to the stage. On March 6, 1942, the movie To Be or Not To Be was released. It starred Carole Lombard as Maria Tura, Jack Benny as Joseph Tura and Robert Stack as Lieutenant Stanislav Sobinski.

On Broadway, the play is being directecd by Tony Award winning director Casey Nicholaw. Jan Maxwell will be staring as Maria and David Rasche as Josef. The play also has Peter Benson in the role of Rowicz, Robert Dorfman as Grundberg/Magician, Steve Kazee as Sobinsky and Peter Maloney as Dowaz. This is a really great dark comedy that you won’t want to miss. To Be or Not to Be is only going to be on Broadway until November 23, so be sure to get your tickets as soon as you can. Tickets are currently available at Stubhub.com.

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