The Merchant of Venice, With Al Pacino, Ends Broadway Run Feb. 20

Pacino stars as Shylock opposite Lily Rabe as Portia in Daniel Sullivan's revival of the classic, which began Broadway previews Oct. 19, 2010, after a run as part of Shakespeare in the Park's repertory programming last summer. Merchant of Venice officially opened to critical praise Nov. 13.
Pacino's casting and strong critical response put Merchant's weekly box-office grosses consistently over  $1 million during its run. The production recouped its $3.45 million investment after ten weeks of performances.
The Merchant of Venice went on hiatus Jan. 9-Feb. 1 in order to allow Pacino to fulfill prior film commitments. Performances will continue through Feb. 20.
While much of the Broadway cast returned for the extension, Rent actor Jesse L. Martin (who played Gratiano) and Seth Numrich (Lorenzo) departed the production for other projects. Numrich is leading the Broadway production of War Horse for Lincoln Center Theater.
Pacino earned a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in Does a Tiger Wear Necktie? and was also honored with a Tony Award for The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel. Pacino starred in the 1996 production of Hughie, which he also directed. In addition to his stage roles in Camino Real, King Richard III, American Buffalo and Chinese Coffee, he is well known for the films "Scent of a Woman" (Academy Award), "The Godfather," "Scarface," "Dog Day Afternoon," "Frankie and Johnny," "Glengarry Glen Ross," "Ocean's Thirteen" and "Angels in America."