Stage and screen star Jim Parsons is readying to lead a new Broadway revival of Thornton Wilder's Our Town, directed by Kenny Leon and beginning performances at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre September 17. Parsons will play the Stage Manager, a narrator-like, almost character-less character who walks audiences through the people and events of Grover's Corners. The actor dropped by The Late Show With Stephen Colbert September 9 to talk about the production, along with who's inspiring his take on the Stage Manager. Watch above.
Along with Parsons, the starry cast of the revival includes Zoey Deutch (Not Okay) as Emily Webb, Katie Holmes (The Wanderers) as Mrs. Webb, Billy Eugene Jones (Purlie Victorious) as Dr. Gibbs, Ephraim Sykes (Ain't Too Proud) as George Gibbs, Richard Thomas (To Kill a Mockingbird) as Mr. Webb, Michelle Wilson (Sweat) as Mrs. Gibbs, Julie Halston (You Can't Take It with You) as Mrs. Soames, and Donald Webber Jr. (Purlie Victorious) as Simon Stimson.
Ephie Aardema, Heather Ayers, Willa Bost, Bobby Daye, Safiya Kaijya Harris, Doron JéPaul, Shyla Lefner, Anthony Michael Lopez, John McGinty, Bryonha Marie, Kevyn Morrow, Hagan Oliveras, Noah Pyzik, Sky Smith, Bill Timoney, Ricardo Vázquez, Matthew Elijah Webb, Greg Wood, and Nimene Sierra Wureh round out the company. Casting is by Jim Carnahan.
Joining Leon on the creative team are scenic designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Dede Ayite, lighting designer Allen Lee Hughes, sound designer Justin Ellington, hair, wig, and makeup designer J. Jared Janas, and dialect coach Kate Wilson.
READ: A Broadway Field Trip: Cast of Our Town Begin Rehearsals Visiting Quaint New England Town
The 1938 play centers on life in Grover's Corners, New Hampshire, between 1901 and 1931. The work has become one of the most beloved in the repertoire, and one of the most frequently produced. It won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the year it premiered and has been revived on Broadway in 1944, 1969, 1989, and 2003.
Producing the upcoming revival are Jeffrey Richards, Hunter Arnold, Patty Baker, Craig Balsam, Irene Gandy, Rebecca Gold, Louise Gund, Willette & Manny Klausner, M/B/P Productions, Daryl Roth, and Jayne Baron Sherman.
Tickets are available at the newly open Barrymore box office and online at OurTownBroadway.com.
