Roundabout Theatre Company in association with Don Gregory, has announced the full company for the new Broadway production of Mary Chase’s Harvey starring Jim Parsons (Elwood P. Dowd), Jessica Hecht (Veta Louise Simmons), Charles Kimbrough (William R. Chumley, M.D.), Larry Bryggman (Judge Omar Gaffney), Carol Kane (Betty Chumley), Peter Benson (E.J. Lofgren), Tracee Chimo (Myrtle Mae Simmons), Holley Fain (Ruth Kelly, R.N.), Angela Paton (Mrs. Ethel Chauvenet), Rich Sommer (Duane Wilson), Morgan Spector (Lyman Sanderson, M.D.) and directed by Scott Ellis.
Performances of Harvey will begin on May 18th, 2012 on Broadway at Studio 54 with the official opening set for June 14th, 2012. The limited engagement is scheduled to run through August 5th, 2012.
The design team includes David Rockwell (Sets), Jane Greenwood (Costumes), Kenneth Posner (Lights), Obadiah Eaves (Sound).
Two-time Emmy winner and Golden Globe® Award winner Jim Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) returns to Broadway after his extremely successful debut in Larry Kramer’s 2011 Tony Award winning play The Normal Heart and received the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Ensemble Performance.
Roundabout Theatre Company welcomes back many alumni including Jessica Hecht, having last been seen on their stage in After the Fall (2004) and Howard Katz (2006). Larry Bryggman returns after appearing in Twelve Angry Men (2004) and Picnic (1994). Peter Benson returns after the 2006 Tony winning production of The Pajama Game. Holley Fain returns after the 2010 production of Present Laughter.
Tony Award nominee Scott 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 for four years—1,775 performances. James Stewart assumed the role of “Elwood” from Frank Fay in the 1944 production and originated the role in the 1970 production as well as the film adaptation in 1950. Helen Hayes played “Veta” opposite Mr. Stewart in the 1970 production.
Parsons 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.
Tickets are available by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212)719-1300 or online at www.roundabouttheatre.org. Beginning Monday, April 2nd tickets can be purchased at the Studio 54 box office (254 West 54th Street). Ticket prices range from $37.00-122.00
Harvey will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with a Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinee at 2:00PM.
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JIM PARSONS (Elwood P. Dowd). Two-time Emmy winner and Golden Globe® Award winner Jim Parsons continues to bring a winning combination of indelible charm, charisma and comedic timing to his roles on screen and on stage, establishing himself as one of Hollywood’s leading men. In 2011 and in 2010, Parsons won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and in 2011 he won the Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Comedy or Musical for his hilarious work as Sheldon Cooper on CBS's hit comedy “The Big Bang Theory.” He also received a People's Choice nomination for Favorite TV Comedy Actor in 2011 and was recently nominated again in 2012. He also received the NAB Television Chairman's Award, which honors significant breakthroughs in television, during the 2010 conference in Las Vegas. In addition, Parsons recently won the award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series by the Broadcast Television Journalists Association for its very first Critics’ Choice Television Awards. Parsons received a Theatre World Award for his debut Broadway performance as Tommy Boatwright in The Normal Heart, starring opposite Ellen Barkin, John Benjamin Hickey, and Joe Mantello. The Normal Heart won a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Play and was presented with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Revival of a Play and Outstanding Ensemble Performance. The Normal Heart also received nominations from the Outer Critics Circle for Outstanding Revival of a Play, as well as five Tony Award nominations. Parsons also guest starred in an episode of the hit Nickelodeon sitcom "iCarly" starring Miranda Cosgrove, during its fourth season. He can also be seen in the critically acclaimed and box office hit film The Muppets currently in theaters. In 2009, “The Big Bang Theory” won Best Television Comedy at the People's Choice Award, was selected as an AFI nominee and also won the TCA award for Outstanding Achievement in Comedy. Parsons has been nominated two years in a row (2009 and 2010) for the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Comedy, in addition to winning the award in 2009. TV GUIDE calls Parsons "a marvelous discovery, creating the most hysterical misfit since Monk." "The Big Bang Theory" has helped CBS launch their Thursday night comedy line-up, regularly winning the night across all networks. Additional film credits include David Frankel’s The Big Year, opposite Owen Wilson and Steve Martin, Todd Phillips School for Scoundrels opposite Billy Bob Thorton and Jon Heder as well as Chris Terrio’s Heights opposite Glenn Close and James Marsden for Merchant/Ivory. He has also created scene stealing roles in several independent films such as Zach Braff’s Garden State, Kevin Connolly’s Gardner of Eden and Danny Leiner’s The Great New Wonderful. Parsons has performed in many stage productions including The Castle for the Manhattan Ensemble Theater, The Countess for the Globe Theater as well as The Tempest and As You Like It for the Houston Shakespeare Festival. Parsons has earned a Masters in Fine Arts degree from the Old Globe Theater/University of San Diego and a BA from the University of Houston. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
