Heather Burns to Replace Maria Dizzia in Dinner with Friends After Delaying Previews

Dinner with Friends is expecting another guest! The Roundabout Theatre Company revival will now feature stage and screen actress Heather Burns, replacing previously announced star Maria Dizzia as Beth. Dizzia departed the production before rehearsals began due to personal reasons. Burns will join Tony nominee Jeremy Shamos, Darren Pettie and Marin Hinkle in the new revival. After delaying previews one week, performances will now begin January 17, 2014 at the Laura Pels Theatre, with an official opening night set for February 13. The production will play a limited engagement through April 13.

Burns’ off-Broadway credits include Medieval Play, Middletown, The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Writer’s Block and Lobby Hero. She starred in This Is Our Youth in the West End. Her film and TV credits include What’s Your Number? Breaking Upwards, You’ve Got Mail, Two Weeks Notice, The Groomsmen, Bewitched and Miss Congeniality.

Directed by Tony winner Pam McKinnon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?), Dinner with Friends follows Karen (Hinkle) and Gabe (Shamos), a couple who played matchmaker for their friends Beth (Burns) and Tom (Pettie). Since then, both pairs have become inseparable—but when one marriage unexpectedly crumbles, the couples’ lives start to veer in opposite directions.

Dinner with Friends will include scenic design by Allen Moyer, costume design by Ilona Somogyi, lighting design by Jane Cox and original music and compositions by Joshua Schmidt.