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The 1963 film Cleopatra was an epic – in more than one way. And now Cleo, a world-premiere play at the Alley Theatre, shows just how.
In addition to its epic story line and its epic length, the film was also noteworthy for being a sprawling, expensive, debacle of a production that nearly bankrupted 20th Century-Fox. And, perhaps, it was even more notorious for the torrid, off-screen love affair between its two otherwise married stars, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.
The play, which depicts the intense relationship between the two stars against the backdrop of the film’s colossal production, is written by Pulitzer Prize-winning writer Lawrence Wright. He's known for numerous books, such as The Looming Tower, about the lead-up to the 9/11 attacks, and Going Clear, an inside look at Scientology.
Cleo is directed by veteran film and television actor and director Bob Balaban.
In the audio above, Wright talks with Houston Matters producer Michael Hagerty. He says his memories of the sensational tabloid scandal that surrounded Taylor and Burton’s love affair spurred him to write this story.
Cleo premieres April 6 and runs through April 29 at the Alley.
MORE: Bob Balaban Discusses Directing ‘Cleo’
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- Lisa Birnbaum (Elizabeth Taylor) and Richard Short (Richard Burton) of the Alley Theatre's production of Cleo. (Photo Credit: Lynn Lane/Alley Theatre)
- Actor Richard Short plays Richard Burton in the Alley Theatre's production of Cleo. (Photo Credit: Lynn Lane/Alley Theatre)
- Actor Lisa Birnbaum poses in costume as Cleopatra for the Alley Theatre's production of Cleo. (Photo Credit: Lynn Lane/Alley Theatre)
- Director Bob Balaban goes over the script before rehearsal for the Alley Theatre production of "Cleo." (Photo Credit: Erich Schlegel)
- Writer Lawrence Wright in the Houston Matters studio. (Photo Credit: Michael Hagerty)
