Jim Parsons, Jessica Hecht, Charles Kimbrough Will Star in Broadway Revival of Harvey

By Andrew Gans
29 Nov 2011

Jim Parsons
Jim Parsons
Photo by Maarten de Boer

Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Don Gregory will present a new Broadway production of the Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Harvey beginning May 18, 2012, at Studio 54.

Directed by Scott Ellis, the production of Mary Chase's award-winning work will officially open June 14.

The cast will be headed by Jim Parsons (Elwood P. Dowd), Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons) and Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley, M.D.).

Two-time Emmy winner and Golden Globe Award winner Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) returns to Broadway after his debut in Larry Kramer’s 2011 Tony Award-winning play The Normal Heart. Tony nominee Hecht returns to Roundabout Theatre Company following performances in Arthur Miller’s After the Fall and Patrick Marber’s Howard Katz. She received a 2010 Tony Award nomination for her role as Beatrice in A View From the Bridge. Tony and Emmy Award nominee Charles Kimbrough makes his Roundabout debut following his Broadway roles in The Merchant of Venice, Accent on Youth, Hay Fever, Sunday in the Park… and Company (Tony nomination).

Parsons, according to Roundabout, stars as "one of modern theatre’s most lovable characters, Elwood P. Dowd. Charming and kind, Elwood has only one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a 6-foot-tall, invisible white rabbit named Harvey. In order to save the family’s social reputation, Elwood’s sister Veta (Jessica Hecht) takes Elwood to the local sanatorium. But when the doctors mistakenly commit his anxiety-ridden sister, Elwood — and Harvey—slip out of the hospital unbothered, setting off a hilarious whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone in town tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit."

Complete casting and creative team will be announced at a later time.

Tony Award nominee Ellis is the associate artistic director of Roundabout Theatre Company. For Roundabout Theatre Company he has directed Twelve Angry Men, The Man Who Had All the Luck, The Boys From Syracuse, The Rainmaker, 1776, She Loves Me, Picnic, Company and A Month in the Country.

Harvey was first brought to the Broadway stage in 1944 and was directed by Antoinette Perry. The play won the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1944, and its initial run lasted 1,775 performances.

Roundabout subscribers have first access to tickets; to join Roundabout visit www.roundabouttheatre.org or call Roundabout Ticket Services (212) 719-1300.

Tickets go on sale to the general public in January 2012.