Neil Patrick Harris and Kate Jennings Grant are expected to join Anne Heche in the Broadway company of Proof, a source close to the production told Playbill On-Line, but no official announcement has been made.
Harris, known for TV's "Doogie Howser, M.D." and as a concertizing Toby in the 2000 New York Philharmonic concert of Sweeney Todd, will play Hal, a math student and suitor to Heche's character, Catherine, whose father is a math genius. Grant was seen in the Encores! concert of Bloomer Girl, on tour in Finian's Rainbow and in Off Broadway's Summer of '42. She would step into the role of Claire, Catherine's concerned sister, who worries if her sibling may have inherited her father's genius and madness.
The role of the father, now played by Patrick Tovatt at the Walter Kerr Theatre, has not been announced. The current cast, including Jennifer Jason Leigh as Catherine, Seana Kofoed as Claire and Josh Hamilton as Hal, continues to June 30. The new cast begins July 2.
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Anne Heche admitted struggling with mental turbulence in her 2001 memoir, "Call Me Crazy," will play the mentally frazzled Catherine in the Pulitzer Prize-winning smash, the producers of the play confirmed. Heche will be making her Broadway debut as the troubled daughter of a math genius who may or may not have inherited his mental illness.
Mary-Louise Parker (Prelude to a Kiss, "Fried Green Tomatoes") created the central role in the David Auburn play when it began Off-Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club May 23, 2000. She won the Best Actress Tony when it moved to the Walter Kerr Theatre in 2000-2001, and Auburn picked up the Best Play Tony Award and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Jennifer Jason Leigh ("The Anniversary Party," Cabaret on Broadway) took over the role of Catherine in September 2001.
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Heche's most high profile role may have been in the Harrison Ford picture, "Six Days Seven Nights," and she became widely known for having been Ellen DeGeneres' partner and for a very public breakdown, which she chronicled in her memoir, "Call Me Crazy."
Heche recently appeared in "John Q.," opposite Denzel Washington and will be seen in "Prozac Nation," with Christina Ricci, due out early next year. Recent film credits include "Auggie Rose," "The Third Miracle" and Gus Van Zant's update of "Psycho." She won The National Board of Review Award for Best Supporting Actress for Barry Levinson's "Wag the Dog." She starred opposite Tommy Lee Jones in "Volcano" and achieved critical acclaim for "Donnie Brasco." Her films also include "The Juror," "Walking and Talking," "The Wild Side," "Twist of Fate," "Pie in the Sky," "Milk Money," "The Investigator" and "I'll Do Anything." She won an Emmy Award for her television debut on "Another World," and recently appeared in a multi-episode story arc on "Ally McBeal."
The Proof national tour, led by Chelsea Altman and Robert Foxworth, with Stephen Kunken and Tasha Lawrence, has two more engagements before shuttering: June 4-16 at the Wilshire Theatre in Beverly Hills, CA, and June 18-23 at the Auditorium Theatre in Denver.
Daniel Sullivan won the 2001 Tony Award for Best Director (Play) for Proof.
Proof is produced on Broadway by Manhattan Theatre Club (Lynne Meadow, artistic director; Barry Grove, Executive Producer), Roger Berlind, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Jujamcyn Theatres, Ostar Enterprises, Inc., Daryl Roth and Stuart Thompson.
The Walter Kerr Theatre is at 219 West 48th Street.
