Plays By Tom Stoppard, Mark Medoff Join Broadway 17-18 Season

Image by Twitter/@TravestiesPlay

By Talya Zax August 16, 2017

The 2017-2018 Broadway season isn’t exactly lacking Jewish representation: “Prince of Broadway” and “The Band’s Visit” will anchor the fall’s offerings, and directors like Julie Taymor, Jerry Zaks, and Rebecca Taichman will be helming shows across the Great White Way.

Yet there’s always room for more: Playwrights Tom Stoppard and Mark Medoff will both have shows on Broadway come next spring.

Stoppard’s Tony Award-winning “Travesties,” produced by Roundabout Theater Company, will begin previews on March 29 and open on April 24. The production, previously seen at London’s Menier Chocolate Factory and on the West End, will retain its original director, Patrick Marber, and star, Tom Hollander. “Travesties” was previously seen on Broadway in 1975, following its West End debut of the previous year.

Medoff’s “Children of a Lesser God,” which premiered in 1980, will arrive on Broadway in a Berkshire Theatre Group production that premiered at that company’s home theater this summer. It won the 1980 Tony Award for best play. Entering previews on March 22 and opening on April 11, it will star Joshua Jackson and Lauren Ridloff.

Yet as bad news always accompanies good, a Broadway closing was announced in tandem with the openings: Danny Rubin and Tim Minchin’s “Groundhog Day” will end its run on September 17.

Talya Zax is the Forward’s opinion editor. Contact her at zax@forward.com or on Twitter, @TalyaZax.

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