Guide to 'Other Desert Cities' on Broadway starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe

Other Desert Cities follows the politically prominent Wyeth family as they're thrown into chaos by a memoir written by a daughter, who could expose dark secrets. Family conflict, privilege, and how children can misjudge their parents are among the play’s themes.

Beginning September 29, Other Desert Cities plays at the Hudson Theatre at 141 W. 44th St. between Broadway and Sixth Avenue.

Plays and musicals that have recently run at the 1,009-seat venue include Every Brilliant Thing, Waiting for Godot, The Last Five Years, All In: Comedy About Love, Once Upon A Mattress, and Merrily We Roll Along.

Other Desert Cities hasn’t set a Broadway run time yet, but the previous Broadway production ran 2 hours and 15 minutes, including an intermission.

Other Desert Cities is recommended for ages 12+. The play explores sensitive topics including political violence and suicide, so it’s not for kids.

Other Desert Cities plays Tuesday through Sunday, with two performances on Wednesdays and Saturdays and no performances on Mondays. The play is scheduled to run from September 29, 2026 to January 17, 2027.

Other Desert Cities was first presented as a staged reading at the Ojai Playwrights Conference in California in in August 2010.

The play premiered off Broadway in January 2011 at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, where it ran through February.

The play transferred to the Booth Theatre on Broadway and ran from October 2011 to June 2012. The 2026 revival, starting performances September 29, marks the play's first on Broadway.

Jon Robin Baitz wrote Other Desert Cities. He is an acclaimed American playwright, screenwriter, TV producer, and two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist for his theatrical works: for A Fair Country in 1996 and for Other Desert Cities in 2012.

His other plays include Ten Unknowns, The Substance of Fire, and Three Hotels. Baitz created and produced the ABC series Brothers & Sisters, and he wrote the FX/Hulu anthology series Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.

Other Desert Cities focuses on five members of a family marked by loving devotion, political divides, and a dark chapter in their past.

• Polly Wyeth: A former screenwriter who left Hollywood to support her husband’s political aspirations. She’ll do anything to protect her three children.
• Lyman Wyeth: A former movie star-turned-GOP politician whose love for his children runs very deep.
• Silda Grauman: Polly’s sister and former writing partner who has secretly been helping her niece write a memoir.
• Trip Wyeth: Polly and Lyman’s youngest child, who produces a legal-themed reality TV show.
• Brooke Wyeth: An independent-minded author whose soon-to-be-published memoir stirs up dark family matters.

The 2026 cast of Other Desert Cities on Broadway includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Polly, Ed Harris as Lyman, Allison Janney as Silda, Joe Keery as Trip, and Lily Rabe as Brooke. Louis-Dreyfus and Keery make their Broadway debuts with the show.

Louis-Dreyfus is an 11-time Emmy winner for her work in The New Adventures of Old Christine, Veep, and Seinfeld.

Harris is a four-time Oscar nominee known for Pollock, The Hours, Apollo 13, and The Truman Show.

Janney’s work on stage and screen has earned her an Oscar, a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA (for I, Tonya), seven Emmy Awards (for The West Wing, Masters of Sex, and Mom), and two Tony nominations (for A View from the Bridge and 9 to 5).

Joe Keery is a SAG Award winner for Best Ensemble for Netflix's Stranger Things.

Rabe was nominated for a Tony for her role as Portia in The Merchant of Venice. She’s known for TV roles in American Horror Story, Shrinking, and The First Lady.

Productions of Other Desert Cities have been honored with various prizes and nominations.

• 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Other Desert Cities was a finalist.
• 2012 Tony Awards: Judith Light won the Best Featured Actress award for her role as Silba, and the show was nominated for four other prizes: Best Play, Best Actress (Stockard Channing), and for scenic and lighting design.
• 2012 Drama Desk Awards: Light won for her featured performance.
• 2012: Drama League Awards: Other Desert Cities won a Distinguished Production honor.
• 2011 Outer Critics Circle Awards: It won for Outstanding New Off-Broadway Play.

The 2026 Broadway revival of Other Desert Cities will be in the running for the 2026-27 season’s upcoming New York awards, including Tony Awards.

Other Desert Cities has had a handful of high-profile stagings.

• August 2010: The play's first staged reading takes place at the Ojai Playwrights Conference in California.
• January 2011: The play premieres off Broadway at the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater at Lincoln Center Theater. Director Joe Mantello’s cast included Stockard Channing, Stacy Keach, Linda Lavin, Elizabeth Marvel, and Thomas Sadoski.
• October 2011: The production transfers to the Booth Theatre on Broadway, where future Tony winner Judith Light replaced Lavin, and Rachel Griffiths replaced Marvel.
• September 2026: The first Broadway revival starts performances at the Hudson Theatre. Director John Benjamin Hickey’s cast includes Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe.

No — as of 2011, Baitz was set to adapt and co-produce a film version of his play, but no further updates have surfaced since.

Learn more about how the play got its name, a starry reunion within the show, and design tidbits about the hotly awaited revival.

• Jon Robin Baitz changed the play’s title from Love and Mercy after seeing an Interstate 10 highway sign that led him to think about driving into places unknown. Families, too, are made up of mysteries.
• Allison Janney and John Benjamin Hickey reunite after playing spouses in the 2017 Broadway revival of Six Degrees of Separation.
• Dysfunctional family dramas are his specialty. Mikaal Sulaiman, a 2026 Tony winner for Death of a Salesman’s sound design, also sound-designs and composes original music for Other Desert Cities.
• Prolific scenic designer Scott Pask, a three-time Tony winner, can look to his own desert home in Tucson, Arizona for creative juice.
• The original production of Other Desert Cities marked Baitz's Broadway debut.

Get Other Desert Cities tickets on New York Theatre Guide soon. Themes of family dysfunction make the play evergreen, and the star-studded cast makes it a must-see this season.