Debra Messing Tapped for The Philadelphia Story at London's Old Vic
Messing was nominated for Emmy Awards as Outstanding Lead Actress in 2000, 2001 and 2002 and won one in 2003 for her work on the hit sitcom Will & Grace. She has also received six Golden Globe nominations, two SAG nominations, two People's Choice nominations, two American Comedy Award nominations and won a TV Guide Award for her performance as interior designer Grace Adler. Messing, who has many feature film credits, will soon be seen on the big screen in The Wedding Date.
Messing has not appeared in a stage production since Will & Grace began in 1998, but, prior to the television show, she did do some work off-Broadway. She understudied Mary-Louise Parker and Polly Draper in Four Dogs and a Bone at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. She then appeared in The Naked Truth at the WPA Theatre and Collected Stories for Manhattan Theatre Club. She also appeared as Harper Pitt in the pre-Broadway workshop of Tony Kushner's Angels in America: Perestroika. Her other theatrical credits include The Importance of Being Earnest at Seattle's Intiman Theatre.
The Philadelphia Story centers on a pretentious socialite who is set to marry an equally pretentious executive when her ex-husband arrives and stirs things up. Helen Hunt, Cameron Diaz, Calista Flockhart, Laura Linney, Nicole Kidman and Gwyneth Paltrow are among the performers who were previously rumored for the role of Lord in this staging.
This production, directed by Jerry Zaks, is scheduled to run at the Old Vic from May 3 through July 23. It is also aiming for a spring 2006 Broadway transfer.