If you missed Al Pacino demanding his pound of flesh in Central Park this summer, you’re in luck: His Shylock’s coming to Broadway in the fall.
“The Merchant of Venice” — the Public Theater’s hot ticket, literally and figuratively, since it kicked off in blistering heat — begins performances Oct. 19 at the Broadhurst. Starring Pacino as the moneylender with a grudge, it will play 78 performances.
The Post’s Elisabeth Vincentelli called Dan Sullivan’s staging a “kinder, gentler” reading of the anti-semitism that was rampant in Shakespeare’s time. No word yet on whether Pacino’s co-stars — among them Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Max Wright, Lily Rabe and Jesse L. Martin — will likewise move to Broadway. The Shakespeare in the Park production closes Sunday.
More second chances: Noel Coward’s “Brief Encounter,” which drew rapturous reviews in both London and Brooklyn (it had a short, sold-out run at St. Ann’s Warehouse), is also coming to Broadway. The Kneehigh Theatre’s multimedia production begins previews Sept. 10 at Studio 54.