ABOUT THE SHOW

It’s opening night of Peter Austin’s 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; his novice producer; his doped-up diva; his genius director ; a lethal drama critic; and a fresh-off-the-bus coat check attendant on his first night in Manhattan. It’s alternately raucous, ridiculous and tender — reminding audiences why there’s no business like show business. Thank God!

The original opening-night cast included F. Murray Abraham, Matthew Broderick, Stockard Channing, Rupert Grint, Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, and Micah Stock.

TRIVIA

• It’s Only a Play began as Broadway, Broadway, which was produced as a Broadway-bound tryout in Philadelphia in 1978. The show closed before reaching New York.
• Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane have previously appeared together on Broadway in a revival of Neil Simon’s The Odd Couple and , most famously, as Leopold Bloom and Max Bialystock in the 2001 Tony Award-winning Best Musical The Producers.

HISTORY

McNally’s play debuted Off Off Broadway in 1982, and was restaged Off Broadway at Manhattan Theatre Club in 1985-86. He has since substantially revised the play at least twice. This production opened at Broadway's Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre in October, 2014 and then moved next door to the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in January, 2015.

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