Darren Criss to join Laurence Fishburne & Sam Rockwell in American Buffalo on Broadway

The star-studded revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo will begin performances at Circle in the Square Theatre on March 24, 2020.

Broadway and "Glee" favorite Darren Criss will return to the Great White Way next spring to star in the previously announced revival of David Mamet's American Buffalo. He is set to take on the role of Bobby opposite Emmy & Tony Award winner Laurence Fishburne (as Donny) and Academy Award & Golden Globe winner Sam Rockwell (as Teach).

Darren Criss made his Broadway debut as J. Pierrepont Finch in How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying in January 2012 and went on to star in the titular role of Hedwig and the Angry Inch in the spring/summer of 2015, later reprising his performance in the show's National Tour in the fall of 2016. He won an Emmy Award in 2018 and a Golden Globe in 2019 for his performance as Andrew Cunanan in FX's "Amerian Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace" and he is arguably best known for his TV role as Blaine Anderson in Fox's hit series "Glee" from 2010 through 2015.

In addition, producers have also announced a first preview date and venue, as American Buffalo is scheduled to begin performances at Circle in the Square Theatre on March 24, 2020. As previously reported, an official opening is set for April 14, 2020.

This new production of American Buffalo will mark Mr. Fishburne's first return to the Broadway stage in 11 years and it will also reunite Mamet with director Neil Pepe, who previously collaborated together on Speed-the-Plow and A Life in the Theatre. Additional creative team members will be announced at a later date.

The three-hander drama follows a trio of small-time crooks who come to blows over a plan to steal a valuable buffalo nickel.

The play first premiered on Broadway in 1977 and it was last seen on the Great White Way in 2008, starring Cedric the Entertainer, John Leguizamo, and Haley Joel Osment. It was last presented in London's West End in 2015, headlined by John Goodman, Damian Lewis, and recent Sea Wall/A Life star Tom Sturridge, and it was immortalized on film in 1996, starring Dustin Hoffman, Dennis Franz, and Sean Nelson.

Laurence Fishburne made his Tony Award-winning Broadway debut in Two Trains Running in 1992. He returned to Broadway in 1999 to star in The Lion in Winter and also earned a Tony Award nomination and won a Drama Desk Award in 2008 for the solo play Thurgood. He is, of course, best known for his Hollywood career, which famously includes the roles of The Bowery King in the "John Wick" franchize, Jason "Furious" Styles in "Boyz in the Hood," Tyrone "Mr. Clean" Miller in "Apocalypse Now," Morpheus in "The Matrix" trilogy, and an Oscar-nominated performance as Ike Turner in "What's Love Got to Do with It."

Sam Rockwell made his Broadway debut in 2010's A Behanding in Spokane and was last seen on the Great White Way in Manhattan Theatre Club's 2015 production of Fool for Love. His recent accolades include a 2018 Oscar and Golden Globe-winning performance in "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri" and Oscar and Golden Globe nominations this year for playing George W. Bush in "Vice." He also earned an Emmy nomination this year for his TV role as Bob Fosse in FX's "Fosse/Verdon." His many film credits include "Seven Psychopaths," "Iron Man 2," "Moon," "Frost/Nixon," "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "Matchstick Men," "Confessions of a Dangerous Mind," "Galaxy Quest," "The Green Mile," and "Lawn Dogs."

American Buffalo is produced on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards.

^{(Artwork courtesy of Polk & Co.)}