The Starry Messenger

Matthew Broderick to make West End debut in The Starry Messenger

Will Longman
Will Longman

Actor Matthew Broderick is set to star in a new production of Kenneth Lonergan's play The Starry Messenger at the Wyndham's Theatre later this spring.

Taking inspiration from Galileo's Sidereus NunciusThe Starry Messenger is set in New York in 1995 where an astronomy teacher is in the midst of a mid-life crisis - the planetarium he lectures at is about to close, his marriage is on the rocks and he's mourning the recent loss of his father. But there could be a glimmer of hope, when he meets a trainee nurse, Angela.

Matthew Brocerick
Credit: David Shankbone (flickr)
used under
CC BY 2.0

Broderick starred in the play when it ran Off-Broadway in 2009, and will reprise his role as teacher Mark when the play opens at Wyndham's Theatre on 16th May. Tickets are on sale from 12 noon on 18th January. 

The play will also star Elizabeth McGovern, who may be best known for her Oscar-nominated performance in the 1981 film Ragtime, and playing Cora Crawley in Downton Abbey. On stage, she has appeared in David Rabe's Hurlyburly at the Old Vic, Donald Margulies' Dinner With Friends at the Hampstead Theatre, and most recently in Yasmina Reza's God of Carnage at the Theatre Royal, Bath.

Broderick is possibly best-known to theatre audiences for playing Leo Bloom in the Broadway (and subsequently Hollywood) hit The Producers. He has also won two Tony Awards for appearing in Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and the musical How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. He also appeared in Lonergan's Oscar-winning play Manchester By the Sea.

Lonergan's plays include This Is Our Youth which was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Best Play, The Waverly Gallery which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, and the 2001 play Lobby Hero. His screenwriting includes the 2000 film You Can Count On Me, and the 2002 Oscar-nominated film Gangs of New York.

Sam Yates directs the play. His recent directional credits in London include Glengarry Glen Ross at the Playhouse Theatre starring Christian Slater, The Phlebotomist at the Hampstead Theatre, and Murder Ballad at the Arts Theatre.

The Starry Messenger is at Wyndham's Theatre on 16th May.

The Starry Messenger tickets are available now.

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