It’s time to book a bed-and-breakfast, go to the local pub, take a hike, and maybe even go to a small, local bookshop. That’s right, we’re heading back to Grover’s Corners. A new production of Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize–winning Our Town is heading for Broadway in October 2024, a.k.a. the perfect season for this meditation on cozy small-town life and also death. The cast, announced April 3, includes Jim Parsons, fresh off Mother Play, as the stage manager. The Webbs will be played by Katie Holmes as Mrs. Webb, Zoey Deutch as Emily Webb, and Richard Thomas as Mr. Webb. Yes, the cast list “Jim Parsons, Zoey Deutch, and Katie Holmes†sounds like an ABC comedy pilot, but, this October, they’re doing a delicate, heartbreaking play.
The Gibbses are made up of Billy Eugene Jones as Dr. Gibbs, Ephraim Sykes as George Gibbs, and Michelle Wilson as Mrs. Gibbs. Mrs. Soames will be played by Julie Halston, while Donald Webber Jr. is taking on Simon Stimpson.
The production will be directed by the ever-prolific Kenny Leon, whose follow-up, Othello with Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington, has already been announced. “Thornton Wilder’s Our Town — in my mind stands at the top of the Mount Rushmore of great American Theatre,†Leon said in a statement. “I feel blessed and fortunate to have gained the trust of the Wilder estate to present this classic to another generation of theatre lovers. It’s long been a burning desire to collaborate on a Broadway production of such magnitude that speaks so beautifully and intimately to all people about our shared time on the planet.†This production spells a death knell for the previously announced, Dustin Hoffman–starring production of the show that was announced in July 2020, with Bartlett Sher attached to direct. Our Town will begin previews September 17 at the Barrymore Theatre and opens on October 10. That gives you more than enough time to visit a small New England town over the summer.
This post has been updated.