Jane Fonda returns to Broadway as a musicologist racing against time to unravel one of Beethoven's towering obsessions as well as her own legacy.
In 1819, fledgling publisher Anton Diabelli commissioned 50 composers to write a variation on a waltz he had created. Beethoven rejected the invitation, dismissing Diabelli's waltz as ordinary. He then obsessively created 33 variations on Diabelli's theme. Why?
Kaufman's play weaves Beethoven's artistic journey with that of Katherine, a musicologist deciphering clues left behind in Beethoven's notebooks and letters and wondering about her own obsession with genius.
Katherine's obsession takes her from present-day New York to 19th century Austria. As the music that consumes Katherine comes to life on stage, she races against time to find common ground with her daughter and to embrace the legacy of her own life.
Oscar & Emmy Award winning Jane Fonda made her Broadway debut in the 1960 play There Was a Little Girl for which she earned a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured actress. Her last appearance on Broadway was in the 1963 drama Strange Interlude. 33 Variations marks her return to Broadway after 46 years.