Cobie Smulders, Kate Burton & Kristine Nielsen Set for Present Laughter, Starring Kevin Kline, on Broadway

Stage and screen stars Cobie Smulders, Kate Burton and Kristine Nielsen will join Oscar and Tony winner Kevin Kline in the upcoming revival of Noël Coward’s Present Laughter. Performances will begin on March 10, 2017 at Broadway's St. James Theatre; opening night is scheduled for April 5. Moritz von Stuelpnagel will direct.

Smulders will take on the role of Joanna Lyppiatt. Best known for her work on screen in How I Met Your Mother and The Avengers, she appeared off-Broadway in Love, Loss and What I Wore. Burton will play Liz Essendine; she made her Broadway debut in a 1982 production of Present Laughter and picked up Tony nominations for The Constant Wife, Hedda Gabler and The Elephant Man. She received Emmy nods for Scandal and Grey’s Anatomy. Nielsen is set to appear as Monica Reed. Tony nominated for Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, she last appeared on Broadway in You Can’t Take It With You.

Coward’s comedy, which first premiered on Broadway in 1946, follows Garry Essendine, a self-indulgent actor who receives a visit from a young admirer, initiating a parade of intruders and interruptions, including his ex-wife, his manager and an aspiring playwright. The play was last revived on Broadway in 2010 with Victor Garber in the role of Essendine.

The St. James is currently home to Something Rotten!, which will close on January 1, 2017. Disney Theatrical has confirmed that the musical adaptation of Frozen will play the same space in spring 2018.