Mary Chase's Harvey, Starring James Dreyfus & Maureen Lipman, Will Play West End

Harvey is hopping to the West End! Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy will play the Theatre Royal Haymarket from March 17 through May 2, following a U.K. tour. The new production, directed by Lindsay Posner, will star James Dreyfus as Elwood P. Dowd and Maureen Lipman as Veta Louise Simmons. It is expected that the Bradley Cooper-led The Elephant Man will play the prestigious venue following Harvey’s limited engagement.

Dreyfus won an Olivier Award in 1998 for his performance in The Lady in the Dark; his additional credits include The Producers, Donkeys’ Years and Breakfast at Tiffany’s as well as on screen in My Hero and Churchill: The Hollywood Years. Lipman earned Olivier nods for See How They Run and her comedy special Live and Kidding. She has also appeared in the West End in Glorious! and on screen in The Pianist.

In addition to Dreyfus and Lipman, the cast will include David Bamber as William R. Chumley, Desmond Barrit as Judge Omar Gaffney, Felicity Dean as Betty Chumley, Ingrid Oliver as Myrtle Mae Simmons, Amanda Boxer as Miss Ethel Chauvenet, Sally Scott as Nurse Ruth Kelly, Youssef Kerkour as Duane Wilson, Jack Hawkins as Lyman Sanderson and Linal Haft as E J Lofgren.

Harvey follows Elwood P. Dowd, who has only one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a six-foot tall, invisible rabbit named Harvey. In order to save the family's reputation, Elwood's sister Veta takes him to see psychiatrist Dr William Chumley. But when the doctor mistakenly commits anxiety-ridden Veta instead of her brother, it sets off a whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit.