Rachel Griffiths and Judith Light Join Broadway Premiere of Other Desert Cities; Opening Date Set

Broadway newcomer Rachel Griffiths and Tony nominee Judith Light will join returning stars Stockard Channing, Stacy Keach and Thomas Sadoski in Lincoln Center Theater's forthcoming Broadway transfer of Jon Robin Baitz's acclaimed Other Desert Cities. The play, helmed by Tony winner Joe Mantello, is scheduled to begin previews at the Booth Theater on October 12 and open on November 3.

Griffiths will be making her Broadway debut as Brooke Wyeth, a role created off-Broadway by Elizabeth Marvel. Light steps in for original cast member Linda Lavin who, as previously reported, will star in the Vineyard Theatre's forthcoming production of Nicky Silver's The Lyons.

In Other Desert Cities, Brooke Wyeth (Griffiths), a once promising novelist, returns home after a six-year absence to celebrate Christmas in Palm Springs with her parents (Channing and Keach), former members of the Reagan inner-circle, her brother (Sadoski), and her aunt (Light). When Brooke announces that she is about to publish a memoir focusing on an explosive chapter in the family’s history, the holiday reunion is thrown into turmoil as the Wyeths struggle to come to terms with their past.

Griffiths is best known for her Emmy-nominated roles on the HBO series Six Feet Under and the Baitz-created ABC hit Brothers and Sisters. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her role in Hilary and Jackie; other film credits include Muriel’s Wedding, Ned Kelly, The Rookie, Blow and My Best Friend’s Wedding. In her native Australia, the actress has appeared in Sylvia, A Doll's House and Proof.

Light is a 2011 Tony nominee for her role in Lombardi, other Broadway credits include A Doll’s House and Herzl and she was also seen on the New York stage in Wit. She is best known roles on long-running TV shows Who’s the Boss? and Ugly Betty, as well as the soap opera One Life to Live, which earned her two Emmy Awards.

Other Desert Cities premiered on December 16, 2010, at Lincoln Center’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater, where it officially opened on January 13, 2011. The Broadway production will reunite Lincoln Center Theater’s original design team: John Lee Beatty (sets), David Zinn (costumes), Kenneth Posner (lighting), Jill BC DuBoff (sound) and Justin Ellington (original music).