A woman with shoulder-length brown hair wearing a white sweater stands against a purple background with colorful paper pieces floating around her.

Photo credit: Mariska Hargitay. (Photo courtesy of production)

Mariska Hargitay to succeed Daniel Radcliffe in ‘Every Brilliant Thing’; show extends through July

Q: Who wrote Every Brilliant Thing?

Duncan Macmillan, known for the plays Lungs and People, Places and Things wrote this play with comedian Jonny Donahoe.

Q: What is Every Brilliant Thing about?

Every Brilliant Thing is a solo play about a man who makes lists to remind him of why to live, love, and move on.

The Law & Order star will make her Broadway debut in the interactive solo show at the Hudson Theatre after Radcliffe departs as scheduled on May 24.

Summary

Mariska Hargitay will star in Every Brilliant Thing on Broadway from May 26 to July 5
The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star will make her Broadway debut
Current star Daniel Radcliffe will depart the show May 24

Gillian RussoMay 15, 2026, 04:00

This is both special and brilliant! Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Mariska Hargitay will make her Broadway debut this spring in Every Brilliant Thing, succeeding current star and Tony winner Daniel Radcliffe starting May 26. Hargitay has extended her previously announced run at the Hudson Theatre through July 5.

Hargitay is best known for playing Olivia Benson, the longest-running character of all time in an American primetime drama, on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999. She’s won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance, and she has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

She last appeared on the NYC stage in The Exonerated off Broadway in the early 2000s. Now, in Every Brilliant Thing, she stars as a woman who makes a list of things that make life worthwhile to cheer up her depressed mother. Though Hargitay is the sole actor in the show, it involves heavy audience participation from willing volunteers.

“I read Every Brilliant Thing and cried, rejoiced, laughed, cried some more, and loved it so much,” said Hargitay in a statement. “I’m always drawn to themes of healing and renewal, especially when the journey is rendered in all its complexity.

"It feels like an extraordinary gift to make my Broadway debut, the fulfillment of a lifelong dream, with a play that affirms life so emphatically. For me, the triumph of this beautiful piece of work — this luminously brilliant thing — is that through a deeply personal story, we experience the universal endeavor of keeping ourselves pointed towards light, compassion and hope.”

The show is written by Duncan Macmillan with Jonny Donahoe and directed by Jeremy Herrin.