Pygmalion moves opening date back by one week

The Roundabout Theatre Company's new Broadway production of George Bernard Shaw�s Pygmalion, featuring Tony Award winner Jefferson Mays as Professor Henry Higgins, has moved its opening night back by one week.

The comedy, to be directed by David Grindley, will now open at the American Airlines Theatre on 18 Oct 2007 and not the 11 Oct as originally announced. The show will still begin previews on 14 Sep 2007 and run through to 15 Dec 2007.

The date was changed because of the Roundabout's recently announced revival of Terrence McNally's farce The Ritz, starring Rosie Perez and Kevin Chamberlin, wth direction by Joe Mantello, which is to open at Studio 54 on 11 Oct 2007, following previews from 14 Sep 2007.

George Bernard Shaw�s famous play, Pygmalion, inspired the legendary and award winning musical My Fair Lady, written and composed by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. Based on the classical myth, Pygmalion plays on the complex business of human relationships in a social world.

When Professor Henry Higgins (Mays) comes across a poor and uneducated Cockney girl named Eliza Doolittle, Higgins makes a bet that he can take Eliza from the gutters of London and pass her off as a society lady, by simply teaching her the right dialect in which to speak. Higgins soon discovers that this task involves much more than knowledge; it involves patience and most importantly, affairs of the heart.

Jefferson Mays (Henry Higgins) currently appears on Broadway as Private Mason in Journey's End. He made his Broadway debut as Charlotte von Mahlsdorf in the one man show I Am My Own Wife (2003) for which he won the 2004 Tony Award for Best Best Actor in a Play.

Pygmalion premiered on Broadway in 1914 at the Park Theatre and subsequently was revived on Broadway in 1927, 1938, 1945 and 1987.

Roundabout Theatre Company has a long association with George Bernard Shaw�s work, having staged over twenty productions since 1971. The most recent Shaw plays seen on Roundabout stages include Heartbreak House (2006-2007), Major Barbara (2000-2001), Arms and the Man (1999-2000), You Never Can Tell (1997-1998) and Misalliance (1996-1997).

David Grindley made his directorial debut on Broadway with Journey's End, which despite opening to unanimous critical acclaim, still struggles at the box office. Journey's End closes on Broadway on 10 Jun 2007.