Debra Messing Will Return to Broadway in Noah Haidle's New Play Birthday Candles

Debra Messing is headed back to the Great White Way. The beloved stage-and-screen star will headline Noah Haidle's Broadway-debut play Birthday Candles next spring at the American Airlines Theatre. The production of Roundabout Theatre Company, directed by Obie winner Vivienne Benesch, will begin previews on April 2, 2020 and officially open on April 21.

Birthday Candles sees Messing as Ernestine Ashworth, who spends her 17th birthday agonizing over her insignificance in the universe. Soon enough, it's her 18th birthday and even sooner, her 41st, her 70th and her 101st. Birthday Candles questions what makes a lifetime into a life.

An Emmy winner for her portrayal of Grace Adler on Will & Grace, Messing made her Broadway debut in John Patrick Shanley's Tony-nominated play Outside Mullingar. She won the attention of musical-theater fans for her turn as Julia Houston on Smash.

Haidle has earned acclaim for his off-Broadway plays, which include Smokefall, Saturn Returns and Mr. Marmalade. His first produced screenplay, Stand Up Guys, starred Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin.

The Broadway production of Birthday Candles is scheduled to play a limited engagement through June 21, 2020. Additional cast members will be announced soon.

Birthday Candles was commissioned and previously produced by Detroit Public Theatre in the spring of 2018.