Jesus Hops Off Fall Broadway Schedule

The planned Broadway mounting of Stephen Adly Guirgis' acclaimed Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train, which had been announced for a fall berth at the Circle in the Square Theatre currently home to Frozen, has been called off.

"John [Ortiz, the show's original star] got a series and Phil [Seymour Hoffman, the director] got a movie," producer John Gould Rubin who will instead be presenting Terrible Advice on the Great White Way told Broadway.com. "I don't want to do it without them."

Jesus Hopped The 'A' Train centers on Angel Cruz, a young and impressionable man in prison waiting for a murder trial, and Lucius Jenkins, a fellow inmate, whose pride and religious zeal defies the bars that hold him prisoner. Throughout the course of the play, the two struggle to come to terms with what they've done, attempting to find meaning where there may be none.

The play, directed by Hoffman, transferred from off-off-Broadway to a limited run at off-Broadway's East 13th Street Theater. The Donmar Warehouse imported the New York cast Elizabeth Canavan, Salvatore Inzerillo, Ron Cephas Jones, Ortiz and David Zayas and creative team for its production of the play in March of 2003. Jesus then hopped to the West End, where it had a successful engagement co-produced by Madonna at the Arts Theatre from April 24 through June 22, 2003.

The Broadway production was expected to use the exact same design team and cast.