Paul Rudd, Michael Shannon, Edward Asner End Search for Grace Jan. 6

By Andrew Gans
06 Jan 2013

Paul Rudd and Kate Arrington
Paul Rudd and Kate Arrington
Photo by Joan Marcus

Craig Wright's Grace, a four-person darkly comic drama set in Florida that examines the meaning of religion and life, concludes its limited engagement at Broadway's Cort Theatre Jan. 6 at 3 PM.

Upon closing, the production, which officially opened Oct. 4, 2012, following previews that began Sept. 13, will have played 22 previews and 108 regular performances.

Directed by Dexter Bullard (Tracy Letts' Bug), the cast comprises stage and screen star Paul Rudd, Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon, Kate Arrington and seven-time Emmy winner Edward Asner.

Click here to read the recent Playbill magazine feature about Rudd.

The 100-minute intermissionless play is described as such: "In alternating scenes of hilarity and poignancy, life turns surreal for an eclectic foursome whose destinies collide in the Sunshine State. A wide-eyed young couple (Rudd & Arrington) head south with big plans to open a chain of Gospel-themed motels. When an agitated rocket scientist (Shannon) and a prickly pest-control man (Asner) enter the picture, the couple's ordered world is thrown into utter chaos."

Grace premiered to critical acclaim at The Woolly Mammoth Theatre in Washington, DC, in 2004, and was subsequently seen in a celebrated production at Northlight Theater in Chicago, and at the Pasadena Playhouse in Los Angeles (where it received three LA Drama Critics Circle Awards including Best Play).

The creative team included scenic designer Beowulf Boritt (Chaplin), lighting designer David Weiner and costume designer Tif Bullard.

Michael Shannon
photo by Joan Marcus

Paul Rudd made his Broadway debut in the Tony Award-winning The Last Night of Ballyhoo in 1997 and has since starred in Twelfth Night (1998), Three Days of Rain (2006) and Off-Broadway in The Shape of Things (2001), among many other stage productions. Michael Shannon's numerous New York stage credits include Uncle Vanya at Soho Rep and Craig Wright's Mistakes Were Made. He received an Academy Award nomination for "Revolutionary Road" and is a series regular on "Boardwalk Empire." Kate Arrington, who is currently appearing at the Goodman Theatre in Iceman Cometh opposite Nathan Lane and Brian Dennehy, is a Steppenwolf Theatre ensemble member, whose productions there include The Hot L Baltimore, The Well-Appointed Room, The Pain and the Itch and The Violet Hour. Edward Asner (TV's "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Lou Grant") last appeared on Broadway in 1989, opposite Madeline Kahn in Born Yesterday.

This production marked the Broadway debuts of playwright Wright, director Bullard and actor Shannon, who have a 15-plus year history of collaboration in the theatre on works including, most recently, Mistakes Were Made.

Grace was produced by Debbie Bisno, Fox Theatricals, Jed Bernstein and Paula Wagner.

Tickets are available via Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

The Cort Theatre is located at 138 W. 48th Street. Visit graceonbroadway.com.

See Playbill Video's coverage of the recent Grace press conference: