Official: Martin Short to Replace Nathan Lane in IT'S ONLY A PLAY; Show to Extend, Transfer Theaters!

Producers Tom Kirdahy, Roy Furman, and Ken Davenport announced today that Broadway's record-breaking, star-studded smash hit It's Only a Play by 4-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally, will extend, and with a new star: Tony and Emmy Award winner Martin Short will assume the role of 'James Wicker' originated by Nathan Lane, who departs January 4th to prepare for his upcoming performance in director Robert Falls' production of The Iceman Cometh at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in 2015.

Previously scheduled as a limited engagement through January 4th, It's Only a Play will extend at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (where it has shattered house records) through January 18, 2015 and then transfer to its sibling Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre (242 West 45th Street) starting January 23, 2015 and currently scheduled through March 29, 2015. Short officially joins the company for performances beginning January 7, 2015. Tickets are now on sale for all performances through March 29th.

The biggest hit of the new season, It's Only A Play, is now in performances and celebrated its opening night on Thursday, October 9, 2014. Academy Award winner F. Murray Abraham, Tony Award winner Matthew Broderick, Emmy and Tony Award winnerStockard Channing, international film sensation Rupert Grint, Tony Award winner Nathan Lane, Emmy Award winner Megan Mullally, and newcomer Micah Stock star in It's Only a Play. 3-time Tony Award winner Jack O'Brien directs. For more information, visit www.ItsOnlyAPlay.com.

In It's Only A Play, it's opening night of Peter Austin's (Matthew Broderick) new play as he anxiously awaits to see if his show is a hit. With his career on the line, he shares his big First Night with his best friend, a television star (Nathan Lane), his fledgling producer (Megan Mullally), his erratic leading lady (Stockard Channing), his wunderkind director (Rupert Grint), an infamous drama critic (F. Murray Abraham), and a fresh-off-the-bus coat check attendant (Micah Stock) on his first night in Manhattan. It's alternately raucous, ridiculous and tender - and proves that sometimes the biggest laughs happen offstage.

Mr. McNally-a four-time Tony Award winning playwright-recently celebrated the premiere of his 20th Broadway production, Mothers and Sons, which marks his 50th year on Broadway. Mothers and Sons, which was nominated for Best Play at the 2014 Tony Awards, ended its celebrated Broadway run June 22, 2014 at the Golden Theatre and will be seen in more than twenty countries next year.

The design team for It's Only A Play includes scenic design by Tony winner Scott Pask, costume design by Academy Award and Tony winner Ann Roth, lighting design by Philip Rosenberg, and sound design by Fitz Patton.

It's Only A Play is produced on Broadway by Tom Kirdahy, Roy Furman, Ken Davenport, Hunter Arnold, Morris Berchard and Susan Dietz, Caiola Productions, Carl Daikeler, Jim Fantaci, Wendy Federman, Barbara Freitag and Loraine Alterman Boyle, Hugh Hayes, Jim Herbert, Ricardo F. Hornos, Stephanie Kramer, LAMS Productions, Scott Landis, Mark Lee and Ed Filipowski, Harold Newman, Roy Putrino, Sanford Robertson, Tom Smedes and Peter Stern, and Brian Cromwell Smith.

Martin Short, a celebrated comedian and actor, has won fans and accolades in television, film and theater since his breakout season on Saturday Night Live almost 30 years ago. He returned to SNL to host their Christmas special on Dec 15, 2012.

Short's funny and heartfelt memoir, I Must Say: My Life As a Humble Comedy Legend, was published this month by HarperCollins and he can currently be seen as the self-centered comedy star and game show host Lou Cannon on the new television series Mulaney, airing Sunday nights on FOX.

Short won his first Emmy in 1982 while working on Canada's SCTV Comedy Network, which brought him to the attention of the producers of Saturday Night Live. He became a fan favorite for his portrayal of characters such as Ed Grimley, Jackie Rogers, Jr., lawyer Nathan Thurm and "legendary songwriter" Irving Cohen.

His popularity and exposure on Saturday Night Live led Short to cross over quickly into feature films. He made his debut in Three Amigos and followed with Inner Space, Three Fugitives, Clifford, Pure Luck and Tim Burton's Mars Attacks. One of Short's most memorable roles was as Franck the wedding planner in the remake of Father of the Bride, a role he reprised a few years later in Father of the Bride Part II. Short was featured in the animated films Madagascar 3 and Tim Burton's Frankenweenie and will next be seen as deranged dentist Rudy Blatnoyd in Paul Thomas Anderson's'70s noir, Inherent Vice, the first-ever film adapted from a novel by Thomas Pynchon.

An accomplished stage actor, Short won a Tony and an Outer Critics Circle Award for his role in the revival of Little Me. He was also nominated for a Tony and took home an Outer Critics Circle Award for the musical version of Neil Simon's The Goodbye Girl. Short co-wrote and starred in Fame Becomes Me, promptingThe New York Times to describe Short as "a natural for live musicals, a limber singer and dancer who exudes a fiery energy that makes you want to reach for your sunglasses."

Short returned to television in an Emmy-nominated role for the mini-series Merlin and as host of The Martin Short Show, which garnered him seven Emmy nominations. Short also wrote, produced and starred in three comedy specials, winning two Cable ACE awards and an Emmy. In 2001, he launched the critically acclaimed Primetime Glick, garnering another five Emmy nominations. Short was nominated for his nineteenth Emmy award in 2010 for his work as the lawyer Leonard Winstone on the critically acclaimed FX series Damages.

Photo Credit: Nathan Sternfeld