Bates and Langella on the poster for the 2002 Broadway production

Fortune's Fool is a play by Ivan Turgenev. Ivan Turgenev, photo by Félix Nadar (1820-1910) For other uses, see Turgenev (disambiguation). ...

The setting is a vast Russian country estate where the resident aristocrats and their many servants are jolted out of their tranquility by the arrival of someone from the city, down-on-his-luck Vassily Semyonitch Kuzovkin, whose own property has been tied up for years in a hopeless lawsuit. At one time a "court jester" to the estate's original owner, Kuzovkin remained in the house as a permanent guest following his master's death. He is anxious about the impending homecoming of the heiress to the estate and her new husband, fearful that, having forgotten the warm relationship they once shared, she will expect him to move out. Wealthy neighbor Flegont Alexandrovitch Tropatchov, who disdains Kuzovkin and the poverty he represents, goads him into drinking too much at a luncheon that culminates in his drunkenly revealing an unsettling secret that disrupts the lives of everyone involved and forces them to deal with the consequences of his rash action. See aristocracy (social studies; social classes). ... For other uses, see inheritance (disambiguation). ... A boy from an East Cipinang trash dump slum in Jakarta, Indonesia shows his find. ...

A century and a half after it was written in 1848, Fortune's Fool was staged on Broadway for the first time in an adaptation by Mike Poulton. After 28 previews, the production opened on April 2, 2002 at the Music Box Theatre, where it ran for 127 performances. The cast, under the direction of Arthur Penn, included Alan Bates (who had starred in a production staged at the Chichester Festival Theatre and the Theatre Royal in Bath in 1996), Frank Langella, Benedick Bates (Alan's son), and Enid Graham. Broadway theatre[1] is often considered the highest professional form of theatre in the United States. ... April 2 is the 92nd day of the year (93rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 273 days remaining. ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... The Music Box Theatre is a Broadway theatre. ... Arthur Penn (born September 27, 1922 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is a film director of thoughtful films that dont always find an audience. ... Alan Bates as butler in Gosford Park (2001) Sir Alan Arthur Bates CBE, (February 17, 1934 – December 27, 2003) was a British actor. ... Chichester Festival Theatre is one of the UKs flagship theatres with an international reputation for creating magical live performances. ... The Theatre Royal in Bath has been established for over 200 years and is one of the more important provincial (ie not in London) theatres in the UK, with a capacity for an audience of 950. ... Statistics Population: 84,000 Ordnance Survey OS grid reference: ST745645 Administration District: Bath and North East Somerset Region: South West England Constituent country: England Sovereign state: United Kingdom Other Ceremonial county: Somerset Historic county: Somerset Services Police force: Avon and Somerset Fire and rescue: Avon Ambulance: South Western Post office... Frank Langella (born January 1, 1938) is an American stage and film actor. ...

Awards and nominations

• Tony Award for Best Play (nominee)
• Tony Award for Best Actor in Play (Alan Bates, winner)
• Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play (Frank Langella, winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play (Bates, winner)
• Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play (Langella, winner)

What is popularly called the Tony Award (formally, the Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre) is an annual award celebrating achievements in live American theater, including musical theater, primarily honoring productions on Broadway in New York. ... Created in 1955, the Drama Desk Award was created to recognize Off-Broadway and Off-Off-Broadway shows in addition to Broadway shows. ...

External links

• Internet Broadway Database listing