The Show Goes On for Lynn Redgrave's Nightingale

The show will go on for MTC's Nightingale, the new solo show by and starring Lynn Redgrave, but it will do so with script in hand. Producers announced October 9 that Redgrave, a long-time cancer survivor, is being treated for an undisclosed medical condition. Determined to begin previews as scheduled at New York City Center on October 15, the actress has chosen to perform despite her health, but will need her script to do so. Nightingale officially opens November 3.

"Ms. Redgrave was diagnosed this week with a medical condition that requires immediate treatment at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center," producers Lynne Meadow and Barry Grove said in a statement. "Side effects of the treatment necessitate that Ms. Redgrave rely on her script for the entire run of the play at MTC."

Nightingale was loosely inspired by the memory of Redgrave's grandmother. The play creates the events that likely transformed a woman named Mildred from an eager, naive girl into an embittered woman with complicated relationships.

Nightingale completes the trilogy of shows about Redgrave's famous family, which includes Vanessa Redgrave and the late Natasha Richardson; it is preceded by the Tony Award-nominated Shakespeare for my Father and The Mandrake Root.

Manhattan Theatre Club is producing Nightingale by special arrangement with Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel and Dennis Grimaldi.