Al Pacino returns to the New York stage for the first time in seven years, as Shylock in “The Merchant of Venice” in Central Park in June 2010.
Pacino, 69, played the role of the Jewish moneylender in a 2004 movie directed by Michael Radford.
Shakespeare in the Park, often a magnet for stars, featured Anne Hathaway this past June. It will be Pacino’s first stage role in New York since 2003.
Pacino will not appear in “The Winter’s Tale,” which runs in repertory with “Merchant of Venice.” New York’s Public Theater, which presents the plays, said Pacino has a scheduling conflict with rehearsals.
In 1979, Pacino played the title role in a Broadway production of Shakespeare’s “Richard III.”
The other members of the repertory company, who perform through Aug. 1, included Jesse L. Martin (“Rent”) and Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee”).
