http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/09/arts/theater/09BROA.html?searchpv=nytToday

NY Times, Arts & Leisure 
November 9, 2001

ON STAGE AND OFF 
 
Stars Hooked on Highfalutin

By JESSE MCKINLEY

Between Ibsen's "Hedda Gabler" and Strindberg's "Dance of Death," it has been a highly literate couple of months on Broadway. Now come details on another highfalutin production: a little-known play by Turgenev, "Fortune's Fool." 

The production, rumored for some time, is now confirmed for spring at the Music Box Theater. Opening night is April 2.

Alan Bates has long been said to be attached to the play, the story of a fallen nobleman living out his days on an estate. Mr. Bates has just been joined in the cast by Frank Langella, who returned to New York this week after a short-lived stint in "Over the Moon" in London.

Mr. Langella said on Wednesday that he and Mr. Bates had met in London to discuss the play and that he had agreed "within seconds" of finishing the script.

"You always say, Wouldn't it be nice to have an undiscovered classic drop in your lap?" Mr. Langella said. "This time, it did."

The opportunity to come home was welcome; rumors were flying in London that Mr. Langella and Joan Collins, his co-star in "Moon," were not exactly friendly. To which Mr. Langella politely responded, "Far be it from me to ruin a good story."

The director of "Fortune's Fool" is Arthur Penn, the legendary film and stage director, who returns to Broadway for the first time since he directed "Monday After the Miracle" in 1982. Mr. Penn, whose credits include "All the Way Home" and "The Miracle Worker," as well as the films "Bonnie and Clyde" and "Little Big Man," said he had only recently heard of the play.

"This kind of play was not to be seen much of," he said. "But suddenly I think we have a taste again for theater-as-literature."