BWW Flashback: The Cast of WILL AND GRACE on Stage!
By: Abigail Charpentier Oct. 24, 2019
Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes are reprising their celebrated roles as Will, Grace, Karen and Jack for one last time in the farewell season of beloved NBC sitcom "Will and Grace."
Season 11 of "Will and Grace" premieres Thursday, Oct. 24 at 9:30 p.m. and will conclude its 246-episode run in 2020.
The series returned to NBC on Sept. 28, 2017 and stands as the network's most-watched comedy in seven years. Originally debuting in 1998 "Will & Grace" has been nominated for 91 Emmy Awards, winning 18 of them, including Outstanding Comedy Series. The series has also earned seven SAG Awards among dozens of other kudos, and the show is one of the few in TV history where each member of the cast won an Emmy.
In honor of season 11 premiere, we're looking back on the cast's theatre credits in hope that they may soon return!
Eric McCormack
McCormack spent the late '80s working with the Stratford Shakespeare Festival, where he performed in "Cabaret," "All's Well That Ends Well" and "Henry V," among other shows. He made his Broadway debut as Harold Hill in the revival of "The Music Man" in 2001. In 2003, he was a Mystery Guest Star in "The Play What I Wrote." He went on to play Guy in MCC Theater's "Some Girl(s)" in 2006. With the Reprise Theatre Company in 2009, he played El Gallo in "The Fantasticks." He was last seen on the Broadway stage in "Gore Vidal's The Best Man" as Senator Joseph Cantwell in 2012.
Debra Messing
After graduating from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts with a Master of Fine Arts in 1993, Messing won acclaim as Harper in the pre-Broadway workshop production of "Angels in America: Perestroika." Also in 1993, she was the Brenda/ Collette understudy in the Off-Broadway productions of "Four Dogs and a Bone." Her other Off-Broadway credits include Lynette Marshall in "The Naked Truth" (1994) and Lisa Morrison in "Collected Stories" (1997).
She made her Broadway debut in "Outside Mullingar" in 2014 as Rosemary Muldoon. She will be returning to the Great White Way as Ernestine Ashworth in Noah Haidle's new play "Birthday Candles," which opens at the American Airlines Theatre on April 21, 2020.
Megan Mullally
Mullally made her professional theatre debut in 1991 in Cole Porter's "You Never Know" at The Pasadena Playhouse as Maria. In 2000, she played Pamela Dalrymple in "The Berlin Circle" at the Evidence Room. Also with the Evidence Room, she starred in "Mayhem" in 2003 and "The Receptionist" in 2009.
She made her Broadway debut in 1994 in "Grease" as Marty before appearing in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" as Rosemary Pillkington in 1995. She returned to Broadway in 2007 when she played Elizabeth in "Young Frankenstein." She starred in her first Off-Broadway show, "Annapurna," in 2014 alongside her husband Nick Offerman. She was most recently in "It's Only a Play," as Julia Budder in 2014.
Also in 2014, Mullally played Adelaide in the "Guys and Dolls" concert at Carnegie Hall.
Sean Hayes
Hayes made his New York stage debut in 2008 as Mr. Applegate/ Devil in New York City Center's Encores! production of "Damn Yankees." He went on to star in the 2010 revival of "Promises, Promises" as Chuck Baxter. He also starred as God in "An Act of God" in 2016 in Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Broadway engagement.
While in "Promises, Promises," Hayes hosted the 64th Annual TONY AWARDS on June 13. He also played Mr. Pinky in NBC's "Hairspray Live!" broadcast in 2016.
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