After a stellar New York run in 2012 at Lincoln Center's LCT3, Disgraced is finally making its way to Broadway and we couldn't be more thrilled. The play which deals with Islamophobia and prejudice, is one of the smartest, most thought-provoking pieces to come along in quite a while and the dialogues written by Ayad Akhtar are truly magnificent. Previews will begin September 27th at the Lyceum Theater, with opening night set for October 23. In the meantime, here are five reasons why we can't wait for the show.
1) The Director
Chicago-based Kimberly Senior directed the volatile off-Broadway version of Disgraced and has proved her brilliance in her productions of BUG, The Cripple of Inishmaan and Uncle Vanya. You can currently see her work at LCT3 where she's doing Akhtar's The Who and the What proving that she might be the best person to bring the author's work to life.
2) Josh Radnor
The How I Met Your Mother funnyman has chosen wisely in his follow-up to the popular show's finale. You simply can't go to something as extremely opposite to the CBS comedy as Disgraced, which means he'll be exploring new territory to help him shed his comedic facade. He's already proved his flair for drama with his films Happythankyoumoreplease and Liberal Arts and even though he's already been on Broadway before - he played Benjamin in The Graduate -this will be his most serious part to date...talk about an ingenious way to begin the next phase of his career.
3) Gretchen Mol
The 90's promised us the next superstar and somehow that never happened because studios never knew what to do with her; however Miss Mol has consistently been doing superb work in film and television. Her performance as Bettie Page was a thing of genius and she made Boardwalk Empire feel like it actually had a soul. Here's hoping she'll shine brighter than ever onstage.
4) Hari Dhillon
When Aasif Mandvi, who played the lead role in the off-Broadway version, had to pull out of the Broadway adaptation due to scheduling conflicts the part went to Hari Dhillon, who most people will know from BBC One's drama series Holby City, keyword being "most". The medical drama has a cult following in America which means Mr. Dhillon will be benefited with the virtue of being a fresh face, although he played the part in London, this will be his Broadway debut.
5) The play itself
Disgraced did not win the Pulitzer Prize just because. It won because despite the relevance of its themes and the clever tone of its dialogues, it's a play that feels timeless because of its incisive observations of humanity. Like some of the greatest plays of all time its limited number of characters allows it to be pithy without indulging in generalizations.
Are you as excited about this show as we are? You can read more about Disgraced on its official website.
