Then and Now: Harvey Fierstein Poses with the TORCH SONG Marquee at the Hayes Theater

Rehearsals commence today for the new Broadway production of Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song, which will play Broadway's Hayes Theater (240 West 44th Street), the same Broadway stage where the Tony Award®-winning production premiered in 1982.

Fierstein posed the the marquee once again, the same way he did over 30 years ago.

Mr. Fierstein said, "Forty years after writing Torch Song, it still speaks to audiences making them laugh and weep and happy. Unbelievable. And to now return to the theater where it played all those years ago... Beyond wishes... Beyond dreams... Beyond the most outrageous fantasy."

Under the direction of Tony Award nominee Moisés Kaufman, Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song stars Drama Desk Award winner Michael Urie and Tony and Academy Award®winner Mercedes Ruehl. Previews for this limited engagement will begin Tuesday, October 9 ahead of a Thursday, November 1 opening night at the Hayes Theater.

Joining Mr. Urie and Ms. Ruehl will be the entire cast from the sold-out Second Stage production: Ward Horton, Jack DiFalco, Roxanna Hope Radja, and Michael Hsu Rosen.

Fiercely funny and heart-wrenching, Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song follows Arnold Beckoff's (Mr. Urie) odyssey to find happiness in New York. All he wants is a husband, a child, and a pair of bunny slippers that fit, but a visit from his overbearing mother (Ms. Ruehl) reminds him that he needs one thing more: respect.

Join Arnold on this all too human journey about the families we're born into, the families we choose, and the battles to bring them all home.

Torch Song Trilogy first premiered on Broadway in 1982 at the Little Theatre, now the Hayes Theater, where it ran for three years. Written by and starring Mr. Fierstein, Torch Song Trilogy won Tony Awards for Best Play and Best Actor in a Play. Now, 36 years later, this landmark play returns to the Hayes under the title: Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song.

The Broadway creative team for Harvey Fierstein's Torch Song includes two-time Tony Award winner David Zinn (scenic design), Tony Award winner Clint Ramos (costume design), Drama Desk Award winner David Lander (lighting design), Drama Desk Award winner John Gromada (sound design), and Telsey + Co (casting).