THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG Goes Right and Recoups

Broadway's longest running comedy, The Play That Goes Wrong, announced today that the Tony Award-winning production has recouped its $4 million investment.

Producer Kevin McCollum remarked, "The English use the word 'brilliant' to describe everything from an egg salad sandwich to the cure for polio. However, The Play That Goes Wrong is brilliant and I could not be happier to announce that the show is officially a hit."

The Play That Goes Wrong, created by the Mischief Theatre, began performances on Broadway March 9 and officially opened on April 2, 2017 at The Lyceum Theatre.

The play Ben Brantley of the NY Times calls "a gut-busting hit," is currently slated to play through Sunday, January 6, 2019 at the Lyceum Theatre with a National Tour opening in Pittsburgh, PA this September.

By January 6 the Broadway production will have played 27 previews and 745 performances, making it the 2nd longest running show in the history of the Lyceum Theatre (after the original Born Yesterday in 1947).

The Broadway production of The Play That Goes Wrong received the 2017 Tony Award for Best Set Design and the Theater Fans Award Choice Award for Best Play.

Co-written by Mischief Theatre company members Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields, The Play That Goes Wrong is a riotous comedy about the theatre. The play introduces The 'Cornley University Drama Society' who are attempting to put on a 1920s' murder mystery, but as the title suggests, everything that can go wrong...does, as the accident prone thespians battle on against all odds to get to their final curtain call.

The Broadway cast of The Play That Goes Wrong stars Jason Bowen (Broadway debut) as "Trevor," Preston Truman Boyd (Sunset Boulevard) as "Robert," Ashley Bryant (Emotional Creature) as "Annie," Mark Evans (Paper Mill Playhouse's Mary Poppins) as "Chris," Alex Mandell (Hand to God) as Max, Amelia McClain (Noises Off) as "Sandra," Ned Noyes (You Can't Take It With You) as "Jonathan," and Harrison Unger (Broadway debut) as "Dennis." The company also features Ashley Reyes (Broadway debut), Katie Sexton (Broadway debut), Michael Thatcher (Broadway debut), and Quinn Van Antwerp (Jersey Boys).

Awarded 2015 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, 2014 WhatsOnStage Best New Comedy and 2015 UK BroadwayWorld Best New Play Awards, The Play That Goes Wrong is now in its fourth year in the West End, is currently on a 30 week UK tour and playing on six continents. The producers have avoided Antarctica for fear of a frosty reception.

It is a remarkable rags-to-riches story for a play which started its life at a London fringe venue with only four paying members of the public at the first performance, and has gone on to play to an audience of over 1.5 million people around the world.

Mischief Theatre, led by Artistic Director Henry Lewis and Company Director Jonathan Sayer, was founded in 2008 by a group of graduates of The London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA) and began as an improvised comedy group. Mischief Theatre performs across the UK and internationally with improvised and original scripted work.

In addition to the current hit London production of The Play That Goes Wrong at The Duchess Theatre, Mischief Theatre's The Comedy About A Bank Robbery plays The Criterion Theatre and in January 2017 their production of Peter Pan Goes Wrong completed a limited holiday run at The Apollo Theatre to rave reviews, making Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer and Henry Shields the youngest ever writers to have three shows playing simultaneously in the West End. Their specially filmed studio version of Peter Pan Goes Wrong was broadcast by the BBC on New Year's Eve 2016 and this year they were commissioned to write A Christmas Carol Goes Wrongwhich broadcast on BBC One over Christmas. Both shows were seen by over six million people in the UK.

The Play That Goes Wrong is directed by Mark Bell, featuring set design by Tony Award Winner Nigel Hook, lighting design by Ric Mountjoy, sound design by Andy Johnson and costume design by Roberto Surace.

Photo Credit: Jeremy Daniel