Debra Messing will return to Broadway in New York premiere of Birthday Candles

Birthday Candles is scheduled to begin performances at the American Airlines Theatre on April 2, 2020.

Emmy Award winner and 9-time Golden Globe nominee Debra Messing will officially return to Broadway next spring to star in Roundabout Theatre Company's New York premiere of Birthday Candles. Written by Noah Haidle, marking his Broadway debut, and directed by Vivienne Benesch, the new play is set to begin previews at the American Airlines Theatre on April 2, 2020, ahead of an official opening on April 21 and a limited engagement through June 21, 2020.

Synopsis: "Debra Messing returns to the stage as Ernestine Ashworth, who spends her 17th birthday agonizing over her insignificance in the universe. Soon enough, it's her 18th birthday. Even sooner, her 41st. Her 70th. Her 101st. Five generations, dozens of goldfish, an infinity of dreams, one cake baked over a century. What makes a lifetime...into a life? Birthday Candles is a poignant new play as fearless in scope as it is tremendous in heart."

Birthday Candles was originally commissioned by Detroit Public Theatre, who previously staged its world premiere in the spring of 2018. Additional casting and creative team information for the Broadway premiere will be announced at a later date.

Debra Messing is, of course, best known for her beloved TV role as Grace Adler on NBC's "Will & Grace," having starred in over 200 episodes since 1998. She won an Emmy Award for the role in 2003 and has received a further four Emmy Award nominations, as well as seven Golden Globe nominations. She previously made her Broadway debut as Rosemary Muldoon in Manhattan Theatre Club's 2014 production of Outside Mullingar and she appeared Off-Broadway in MTC's 1997 production of Collected Stories and in The Naked Truth for WPA Theatre in 1994. Her other notable screen credits include her Emmy and two-time Golden Globe-nominated role as Molly Kagan on USA Network's "The Starter Wife," "The Wedding Date," "Along Came Polly," "The Women," and the role of Julia Houston on NBC's Broadway-centric musical TV series "Smash."

^{(Photo courtesy of Polk & Co.)}