Sylvia (The Dog) Is Coming To Broadway!

Broadway is bound to be barking! Producers are pleased to announce that A.R. GURNEY’S SYLVIA, a modern romantic comedy about a marriage and a dog, will have its first Broadway bow-ow-ow this Fall, beginning previews Friday, September 25, 2015, at a Shubert theatre to be announced. SYLVIA will star two-time Tony nominee ANNALEIGH ASHFORD (You Can’t Take It With You (2015 Tony Nomination), Kinky Boots, Hair) as Sylvia, Tony Award winner JULIE WHITE (Airline Highway (2015 Tony Nomination), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, The Little Dog Laughed) as Kate, and Drama Desk Award winner ROBERT SELLA (Stuff Happens, Sleepy Hollow, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Tom/Phyllis/Leslie, with additional casting to be announced. Rehearsals will begin August 31. Tony Award-winner DANIEL SULLIVAN (Proof, Merchant of Venice, Glengarry Glen Ross) will direct, and the creative team will include scenic design by DAVID ROCKWELL (2015 Tony nominee for You Can’t Take It With You and On the Twentieth Century), costume design by ANN ROTH, and lighting design by JAPHY WEIDEMAN (2015 Tony Nominee for The Visit and Airline Highway). Casting by Telsey + Company/William Cantler, CSA. ------ Has your pet changed your life? Have you ever wondered what she’s thinking when she stares up at you and tilts her head? Could she have the secret to understanding the world at large and your place in it? Or is she just more interested in how your shoe tastes? The world of a middle-aged New York couple is turned topsy-turvy when the husband brings home an exceptionally engaging canine running loose in Central Park in the hilarious and heartwarming comedy, SYLVIA. This wonderful look into the complexities of love and commitment asks what it truly means to be devoted to your partner…and how do you choose between the love of your life and man’s best friend? SYLVIA is produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, and Daryl Roth. ----- SYLVIA was first produced in 1995 at the Manhattan Theatre Club, starring Sarah Jessica Parker, where it received Drama Desk Award nominations for Outstanding Play, Outstanding Actress in a Play (Parker), and Outstanding Costume Design, and ran for 167 performances. It has since played countless times, leaving its mark all over the world -- here’s what critics have had to say about the piece: “A.R. Gurney, the chronicler of sophisticated upper-middle-class angst, author of plays like “The Dining Room” and “Love Letters,” is a man gifted with uncommon insight into human motivations and frailties. So when he turns his gift to the analysis of what a dog might really be thinking and really want, it should not be surprising that the results are so rich. “SYLVIA” is delicious and dizzy, full of theatrical intelligence and writerly skill…for anyone who has ever owned a dog, loved a dog or wished the dog would take a long weekend….” -The New York Times “SYLVIA is one of the most involving, beautiful, funny, touching and profound plays I have ever seen. No one who has ever loved a dog will quibble with my first four adjectives…” -New York Daily News “Who knows what inspired A.R. Gurney to write a play about a talking dog who sees a mild-mannered man through his mid-life crisis? Whatever the inspiration, SYLVIA itself is enchanting and compassionate.” -Variety