Actor Willis Brings Play To Hailey

Actor Bruce Willis is returning to the live stage for the first time in 13 years, with the stage located in his Liberty Theatre in town.

Putting on a 10-day production of Sam Shepard’s “Fool for Love,” Willis plays Eddie, a young man torn by a powerful love affair set in a rundown motel in the Mojave Desert.

For him, it is an emotional performance.

“I did this play 13, almost 14 years ago,” Willis said Tuesday.

“To be able to do it here, in this arena, and bring what I consider a first-rate, totally professional group, well, it’s more for me, it’s just a thrill. I’d put this play up against any off-Broadway play in New York,” he said.

Denise Simone and Rusty Wilson, along with Keith Joe Dick and Willis, are the play’s only four players.

Simone and Willis took acting classes together during college.

Willis was in Richmond, Va., on a movie and talked with Simone. She and Wilson and their 6-year-old daughter, relocated and started the group in the Wood River Valley.

Opening night is April 25.