Taxi Stars Danny DeVito & Judd Hirsch Will Reunite for The Sunshine Boys in L.A.

Let the vaudevillian reunion begin! Taxi co-stars and film favorites Danny DeVito and Judd Hirsch are joining forces to play a retired comedy duo in Neil Simon’s The Sunshine Boys. Hirsch will fill the shoes of the late Richard Griffiths, who passed away in March, in the revival of the landmark comedy headed to Los Angeles this fall. Griffiths and DeVito performed in the play together last year in London at the Savoy Theatre. The Sunshine Boys is set to run September 24 through November 3 at the Ahmanson Theatre, with an official opening night scheduled for October 2.

Directed by Thea Sharrock, who also directed the London production, Hirsch and DeVito will play Willie Clark and Al Lewis, an old vaudeville team reunited after many years to do a TV special. The Sunshine Boys follows the duo, who have not spoken since breaking up their act, when they have been invited to participate in a CBS special on the history of comedy, and it proves difficult to get the two to agree to the reunion.

DeVito is best known for his work on films like Romancing The Stone, Batman Returns, Throw Mamma From The Train and the Oscar-winning film version of One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest and the cult TV show It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Hirsch won Tony Awards for Conversations with My Father in 1992 and I'm Not Rappaport in 1986. His other Broadway credits include Talley's Folley and Sixteen Wounded. Hirsch's TV and film credits include Ordinary People, Running on Empty, Independence Day, A Beautiful Mind and Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip.

The Sunshine Boys was originally staged on Broadway in 1972 and earned three Tony nominations including Best Play. It was later made into a movie starring George Burns and Walter Matthau.