STAGE TUBE: Ellen Helps Jim Parsons Prepare for Broadway's HARVEY!

Jim Parsons, who is starring in the Broadway production of Harvey, recently appeared on Ellen, where the host decided to help him out by preparing him for the onslaught of Broadway distractions, complete with air horns, wind machines, feathers, or whatever else he might encounter on the Great White Way. Watch the video!

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) in association with Don Gregory, presents 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) and Morgan Spector (Lyman Sanderson, M.D.) in HARVEY, directed by Scott Ellis.

Harvey is in previews on Broadway at Studio 54 (254 West 54th Street) with the official opening set for June 14th, 2012. The limited engagement is scheduled to run through August 5th, 2012.

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.

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.