The House of Blue Leaves to close on 25 Jun

The Broadway revival of John Guare's comedy, The House of Blue Leaves, starring Ben Stiller, Edie Falco and Jennifer Jason Leigh, directed by David Cromer, has posted early closing notices and will play its final performance on 25 Jun 2011. When the show closes it will have played 21 previews and 72 regular performances.

The House of Blue Leaves, directed by David Cromer, opened at the Walter Kerr Theatre on 25 Apr 2011, following previews from 4 Apr 2011, and was originally scheduled to play a limited sixteen week engagement through to 23 Jul 2011.

The play opened to mixed reviews: Brecht meets Beckett (Newyorktheatreguide); Too tame and emotionally mellow (NY Daily News) Terrifically resonant play (The Record); Disappointing revival (Newsroom Jersey).

In addition to Ben Stiller as 'Artie Shaughnessy,' Edie Falco as 'Bananas Shaughnessy' and Jennifer Jason Leigh as 'Bunny Flingus,' the cast includes Thomas Sadoski as 'Billy Einhorn,' Alison Pill as 'Corrinna Stroller,' Mary Beth Hurt as 'Head Nun,' Christopher Abbott as 'Ronnie Shaughnessy,' Halley Feiffer as 'Little Nun,' Susan Bennett as 'Second Nun,' Jimmy Davis as 'Military Policeman' and Tally Sessions as 'White Man.'

The House of Blue Leaves, is set in Queens, NY in 1965, during the visit of Pope Paul VI. Artie Shaughnessy is a zoo keeper who hopes one day to make it big as a successful songwriter. While struggling to have his song writing talent recognized, Artie has to cope with his wife 'Bananas' - a schizophrenic who struggles to keep in touch with reality; his demanding mistress 'Bunnie'; his son 'Ronnie' - who goes AWOL from the army with plans to blow up the pope; and the unexpected arrival in his apartment of Corrinna Stroller (a deaf movie star), and three nuns in search of a TV.

The production team includes Scott Pask (Scenic Design), Jane Greenwood (Costume Design) & Brian MacDevitt (Lighting Design).

The House of Blue Leaves debuted on Broadway in Lincoln Center Theater's Tony-winning 1986 production directed by Jerry Zaks, featuring Ben Stiller in his Broadway and professional debut as 'Ronnie Shaughnessy.' The play was first staged in 1966 by the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center and opened off-Broadway on 10 Feb 1971 at the Truck and Warehouse Theatre, winning the New York Drama Critics' Circle & Obie Awards for Best American Play. Ben Stiller's mother Anne Meara played 'Bunny Flingus' in that original production.