Richard Schiff Steps into Smash at the Menier Chocolate Factory

Richard Schiff is replacing the previously announced Kerry Shale in the London premiere of Jack Rosenthal’s Smash! The play, which also stars Tony Award winner Tom Conti and Natalie Walter, is set to run from March 24 to May 8 at the Menier Chocolate Factory, with opening night set for March 31. Tamara Harvey directs.

The rarely seen Smash! is described as a hilarious but scathing look at the journey to get a musical from page to stage, complete with a cantankerous composer, a fantasist lyricist, a neophyte female novelist turned playwright, a cocksure director and a bombastic producer.

Schiff’s stage credits include The Exonerated, Underneath the Lintel and Talley’s Folly, a show that was rumored to be heading to Broadway with Robin Wright attached before she withdrew for personal reasons. His film credits include Made in Dagenham, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, and is perhaps best known for Emmy-winning role as White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler on the Aaron Sorkin-penned television drama The West Wing.

In addition to Schiff, Conti and Walter, the cast includes Cameron Blakely and Josh Cohen. The creative team includes production designer Paul Farnsworth, lighting designer Tim Mitchell, and sound designer Gareth Owen.