Taper postpones ‘Be Bold,’ adds ‘Intimate Apparel’

Lynn Nottage’s “Intimate Apparel” has replaced Sybille Pearson’s “Be Bold” in the Mark Taper Forum’s Aug. 5-to-Sept. 12 slot.

“Be Bold,” which would have been a premiere, was besieged by casting problems, according to a statement from the Taper’s artistic director, Gordon Davidson, who was to have staged it. He said “Be Bold” has been postponed, but he didn’t name a later date for it.

The Taper will import Daniel Sullivan’s staging of “Intimate Apparel” -- which last week was named best play of the year by the New York Drama Critics Circle -- from New York’s Roundabout Theatre. The play’s star, Viola Davis, who received Obie and Drama Desk awards for her portrayal of a skilled but lonely lingerie seamstress in 1905 New York, will repeat her performance.

“Intimate Apparel” was co-commissioned by South Coast Repertory in Costa Mesa and Center Stage in Baltimore, which jointly produced the premiere production last year, first in Baltimore and then in Costa Mesa.

The Taper staging will mark the first time that a play with South Coast Repertory origins has been produced at the Taper, according to spokesmen at both theaters. But the cast and other production credits changed between the South Coast and New York productions.

-- Don Shirley