Tonys 2008: 'November' comes in January
The new David Mamet play, "November," is due to open on January 17 at the Barrymore Theater. The political satire stars two-time Tony winner Nathan Lane as the beleaguered incumbent President running for re-election and three-time Emmy winner Laurie Metcalf as his chief strategist. Previews begin December 20 under the direction of Tony winner Joe Mantello.
Of his five previous plays on Broadway, Mamet was Tony nomm'd for "Glengarry Glen Ross" in 1984 (losing to Tom Stoppard for "The Real Thing") and "Speed-the-Plow" in 1988 (losing to David Henry Hwang for "M. Butterfly"). The 2005 remounting of "Ross" did win the Tony for best revival, beating out Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" among others.
Three actors took home Tonys for their work in these two plays. Both Joe Mantegna and Liev Schreiber won the supporting actor award for playing the same part, an obsessed realtor, in the original and revival of "Ross" while Ron Silver won lead actor for "Plow," playing opposite Madonna no less.
While Mamet's last play to premiere on Broadway was a decade ago ("The Old Neighborhood"), he has been busy working in both film and television. He has two Oscar nominations for his adapted screenplays of "The Verdict" and "Wag the Dog" and directing and producing credits that include TV's "The Unit."
