Breaking News: After Cast Change, Broadway's ORPHANS Pushes Opening & Preview Dates

The producers of the Broadway production of ORPHANSannounced today that previews will begin on Tuesday March 26 and opening night is Thursday April 18 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 W. 45^th Street).

Patrons holding tickets for the cancelled performances should contact their point of purchase for further assistance.

Last week, the producers of the Broadway production of announced that Ben Foster will join the cast immediately in the role of "Treat" replacing Shia LeBeouf (who left due to 'creative differences').

Alec Baldwin, Ben Foster and Tom Sturridge will star in Lyle Kessler's playdirected by Daniel Sullivan, and produced by Frederick Zollo andRobert Cole. This production will mark the first Broadway staging of the play.

In ORPHANS, two orphaned brothers are living in a decrepit North Philadelphia row house. Treat, the eldest, (Foster), supports his damaged younger sibling Phillip (Sturridge) by petty thievery, and makes the house a virtual prison for the seemingly simple-minded Phillip. One night he kidnaps a rich older man, Harold (Baldwin), who turns out to have his own motives and becomes the father figure the boys have always yearned for.

ORPHANS premiered in 1983 at The Matrix Theatre in Los Angeles where it won the Drama-Logue Award. Following its 1985 engagement at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, the play had a successful run at New York's Westside Arts Theatre and was subsequently produced in London. A film version was also produced. It has been an international success in almost every country in the world since its initial production at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company. Other plays include The Watering Place, Possession, Robbers and Unlisted. Collision had its world premiere at the Rattlestick Theatre Co. this season. Films include Orphans, Gladiator, The Saint of Fort Washington and Touched, in which he co-starred. Mr. Kessler served as the director of the Sundance Screenwriter's Lab and was moderator of the playwright/directors unit of The Actors Studio West. He is a member of The Actors Studio and The Labyrinth Theater Co. He and his wife, actress Margaret Ladd, founded the "Imagination Workshop," the longest running arts and mental health organization in the country.

Tom Sturridge is appearing with the support of Actors' Equity Association. The Producers gratefully acknowledge Actors' Equity Association for its assistance of this production.