'THE PHILANTHROPIST' Begins Previews 4/10

Steven Weber, Jonathan Cake have joined Matthew Broderick in the Roundabout Theater Company revival of "The Philanthropist." Weber will play a friend of the leading character portrayed by Broderick in Christopher Hampton's 1970 take on "The Misanthrope," while Cake will play a writer.

Anna Madeley is the female lead, reprising a role she played in the 2005 staging of the play at the Donmar Warehouse. Tate Ellington, Jennifer Mudge and Samantha Soule complete the rest of the casting.

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) will present Tony® Award winner Matthew Broderick as "Philip" in a new Broadway production of The Philanthropist by Tony® and Academy Award winner Christopher Hampton, directed by David Grindley.

The Philanthropist will begin previews on April 10th, 2009 and open officially on April 26th, 2009 at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd Street). This will be a limited engagement.

Written as a response to Molière's The Misanthrope, Hampton's biting bourgeois comedy examines the empty, insular lives of college intellectuals. At the center of the story is Philip (Broderick), a professor who seems almost absurdly removed from the political turmoil surrounding him, including the assassination of the Prime Minister and his cabinet.

Stage veteran and 2-time Tony® winner Matthew Broderick (The Producers, How to Succeed in Business...) returns to Roundabout Theatre Company following the 2004 production of The Foreigner at the Laura Pels Theatre. Director David Grindley also returns following his acclaimed 2007 production of Pygmalion starring Claire Danes and Jefferson Mays. Roundabout is pleased to continue their relationship with Christopher Hampton following the recent Tony® nominated Broadway production of Les Liaisons Dangereuses starring Laura Linney and Ben Daniels.

The Philanthropist premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1970. It opened on Broadway in 1971 and was nominated for the Tony® Award for Best Play.

Tickets will be available in the Spring of 2009, by phone at (212) 719-1300, online at www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the American Airlines theatre box office (227 West 42 Street).

The Philanthropist will play Tuesday through Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.