Amy Schumer will make her debut on Broadway this coming autumn. She will tackle a significant role in Steve Martin’s play Meteor Shower .
Amy Schumer, alongside Keegan-Michael Key, will hit the Broadway in Steve Martin’s running comedy play Meteor Shower . The Trainwreck actress will act opposite Key, who is known for his creative ideas and acting chops on Key & Peele , Variety reported. The cast also includes Alan Tudyk ( Star Wars: Rogue One ) and Tony winner Laura Benanti ( Gypsy ). Jerry Zaks, whose work on Hello, Dolly! made box office records, will direct the play.
Meteor Shower follows the story of two Californian couples who successfully turn a simple dinner into marital chaos. Corky (Schumer) and Norm (Tudyk) invite another couple, Laura (Benanti) and Gerald (Key) over dinner. A night of food and conversation turns surreal after they invite the couple to watch a meteor shower in their yard. The events are set in Ojai, California, in 1993.
Meteor Shower made its world premiere last year in San Diego’s Old Globe. It set the theater’s all-time sales, according to Slate . Jenna Fischer ( The Office ) was in the headline role. This was followed by a staging at the Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Connecticut.
Steve Martin’s Meteor Shower heading to Broadway but without Long Wharf cast, director, says report. https://t.co/dwmKzpWlTa pic.twitter.com/06VhRYG4PZ
— Frank Rizzo (@ShowRiz) June 17, 2017
This follows Steve Martin’s first musical Bright Star , which earned five Tony nominations, including Best Musical, Best Book of a Musical, and Best Original Score. The original cast won a Grammy for Best Musical Theater Album. The Tony-nominated musical enjoyed a short Broadway run in 2016.
When asked how he was inspired to write Meteor Shower , he surprisingly said that a meteor shower actually came to him first. Speaking to the San Diego Tribune , he revealed that he liked the idea of a couple watching a meteor shower. With his characters in mind, he started to write the play.
Meteor Shower elicited mixed reviews from critics. The Los Angeles Times’ Charles McNulty called it a cross between Saturday Night Live and a parody of Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf . However, some are looking forward to it, especially with two big comedy names aboard, Schumer and Martin.
The same producers from Bright Stars will also produce Meteor Shower , which includes Joey Parnes, Sue Wagner, and John Johnson. Preview begins on November 1, with an official opening at the Booth Theater on November 29.
[Featured Image by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]