Star-studded Broadway premiere of The Boys in the Band set for 2018

Jim Parsons, Zacahry Quinto, Matt Bomer, Andrew Rannells and more set to star in Mart Crowley's landmark play.

The boys are back in town... The Boys in the Band, that is! Ryan Murphy and David Stone present a special 50th Anniversary production of Mart Crowley's landmark 1968 play, also marking its debut on the Great White Way. Direced by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, the strictly limited 15-week engagement will run at Broadway's Booth Theatre from April 30 through to August 12, 2018. An official opening date is yet to be confirmed.

The star-studded cast of The Boys in the Band includes Golden Globe winner Jim Parsons (as Michael), Emmy Award nominee Zachary Quinto (as Harold), Golden Globe winner Matt Bomer (as Donald), two-time Tony Award nominee Andrew Rannells (as Larry), two-time Tony Award nominee Robin de Jesús (as Emory), Brian Hutchison (as Alan), Michael Benjamin Washington (as Bernard), and Tuc Watkins (as Hank). Casting for the role of "Cowboy" will be announced at a later date.

Synopsis: "The Boys in the Band centers on a group of gay men who gather in a NYC apartment for a friend's birthday party.  After the drinks are poured and the music turned up, the evening slowly exposes the fault-lines beneath their friendships and the self-inflicted heartache that threatens their solidarity.  A true theatrical game-changer, The Boys in the Band helped spark a revolution by putting gay men's lives onstage -- unapologetically and without judgement - in a world that was not yet willing to fully accept them."

Producer Ryan Murphy commented: "The significance of The Boys in the Band cannot be underestimated. In 1968, Mart Crowley made theatrical history by giving voice to gay men onstage, in this uncompromising, blisteringly honest, and wickedly funny play. The play was groundbreaking in its exploration of how gay men treated each other and how they were made to feel about themselves. And while some attitudes have thankfully shifted, it's important to be reminded of what we have overcome and how much further we still have to go."

The comic-drama originally premiered off-Broadway at the Playwrights' Unit in April 1968. After an initial intended run of just five performances, The Boys in the Band quickly gained a cult following, transferred to Theater Four on West 55th Street and ran for over 1,000 performances. Celebrity patrons during that period included the likes of Jackie Kennedy, Marlene Dietrich, Rudolf Nureyev, and Groucho Marx. The entire original off-Broadway cast also performed the play to great acclaim in London and were immortalised in William Friedkin's 1970 film adaptation