Roundabout Theatre

Clive Owen Opens Roundabout’s 50th Season In Old Times

by Paul Mroczka

Owen on Broadway in Pinter's Old Times

Owen on Broadway in Pinter's Old Times

Owen to make Broadway debut in Pinter’s Old Times.

Clive Owen will star as Deeley in Harold Pinter’s dark and mysterious drama Old Times. The play will be the first offering in the Roundabout Theatre’s 50th season. Opening night is set for October 15, 2015 with previews starting September 17.

First Time on Broadway

This production marks Owen’s Broadway debut. Nominated for an Oscar for the closer, Owen won the Golden Globe for that same film. Theatre work includes Romeo & Juliet, Design for Living, and A Day in the Death of Joe Egg. At present, the actor is in New York filming the second season of Steven Soderbergh’s The Knick. The actor got a nomination for Best Actor from the Golden Globes for his work on that show.

Douglas Hodge

Douglas Hodge, Tony Award winner, will direct. Hodge won the Tony as an actor for his performance as Albin in the Broadway transfer from London of the musical La Cage aux Folles. In the U.K., Hodge has achieved great notoriety as an interpreter of many of Pinter’s characters. As an actor, he has appeared in No Man’s Land (Comedy Theatre 1993), Moonlight (Almeida Theatre 1993), A Kind of Alaska, The Lover and The Collection (Donmar Warehouse 1998). He’s also played as Jerry in Betrayal (Royal National Theatre’s Lyttelton Theatre 1998) and has appeared as Aston in The Caretaker (Comedy Theatre 2000). His stage directing credits include Torch Song Trilogy at the Menier Chocolate Factory in 2012, Last Easter by Bryony Lavery at Birmingham Rep, and See How They Run, which first went on tour and then sold out its West End run.

The Play

In considering Old Times and its meaning, one may simply remember one thing that playwright Pinter said about his play, “A thing is not necessarily either true or false; it can be both true and false.” In the play, Deeley is anticipating meeting his wife Kate’s longtime friend, Anna. After becoming reacquainted and acquainted with Anna, Kate and Deely find that what was supposed to be a time to share and exchange memories has become a stormy fight for superiority and power.

The full cast and creative team will be announced at a later date.

An Act of God on Broadway with Jim Parsons

by Paul Mroczka

An Act of God on Broadway with Jim Parsons

An Act of God on Broadway with Jim Parsons

Parsons, in Harvey, will star in An Act of God.

Emmy winner and Big Bang Theory star Jim Parsons will play the ultimate roe, God, in the Roundabout production of An Act of God. An Act of God, which is being adapted by David Javerbaum, who wrote the book of the same name, will preview May 5, 2015, at Studio 54 and will open on May 28 for a limited run. Parson played Elwood P. Dowd in the Roundabout’s crucially acclaimed revival of the comedy Harvey.

About the Author

Neal Patrick Harris singing "It's not just for gays anymore."

Neal Patrick Harris singing “It’s not just for gays anymore.”

As a former executive producer and writer of The Daily Show with John Stewart, Javerbaum won 11 Emmys. He won two more for his work with co-writer Adam Schlesinger in creating two songs for Neil Patrick Harris for two different Tony telecasts, including the opening number for the 2011 show, which featured the hook that Broadway’s “not just for gays anymore.” Javerbaum with co-writer Schlesinger was also nominated for a 2008 Tony for the score of the musical Cry-Baby.

Javerbaum commented on his upcoming production of the play An Act of God, saying, “I am deeply disappointed that Jeffrey Finn has decided to produce this show. It will force me to continue my unwanted professional association with God, an abstract entity who has given me nothing but discomfort and agita. It is my desperate hope that we close out of town.”

The Play

Not a lot is presently known about the show except that it is not a musical and it will certainly be a comedy. When it was initially published in 2011 the book was described by the Washington Post as being “like The Bible, if The Bible were narrated by Mel Brooks on crack-laced manna,” while the New York Times said that it was “fearless…. A recklessly funny series of gags about all things religious and quite a few things secular too.”

More information will be forthcoming about An Act of God.