Theater News

Jake Gyllenhaal to Lead Broadway Revival of Lanford Wilson's Burn This

The 1987 drama will reopen the historic Hudson Theatre.

Jake Gyllenhaal will lead the first-ever Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's Burn This.
Jake Gyllenhaal will lead the first-ever Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson's Burn This.
(© David Gordon)

Academy Award nominee Jake Gyllenhaal will return to Broadway this coming winter to star in the first-ever revival of Lanford Wilson's Burn This. Directed by Tony Award winner Michael Mayer, the production will mark the official reopening of Ambassador Theatre Group’s historic Hudson Theatre. Performances will begin February 2017, with an opening night set for March 6, 2017.

Set in downtown New York in the raw and gritty 1980s, Burn This explores the spiritual and emotional isolation of Pale and Anna, two iconoclasts who are brought together in the wake of a life-changing event. The drama originally opened on Broadway in 1987, starring Joan Allen, John Malkovich, Jonathan Hogan, and Lou Liberatore.

"I am honored to bring Lanford Wilson's gorgeous and timeless play back to Broadway in a new production starring Jake Gyllenhaal, whose stage work has been exhilarating and who is a dream choice for this role," said Mayer. "What a joy to reopen the historic Hudson Theatre. In the midst of an exquisite restoration, the intimate playhouse is the perfect home for this modern American classic."

Jake Gyllenhaal made his Broadway debut in 2015 opposite Ruth Wilson in Nick Payne's Constellations. He returned to the stage later that year to play Seymour in an Encores! Off-Center production of Little Shop of Horrors and is set to star in the upcoming New York City Center mounting of Sunday in the Park With George opposite Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford.