Colin, Harris, Rabe Set for Roundabout’s Old Acquaintance

Margaret Colin, Harriet Harris, and Lily Rabe will star in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of John Van Druten’s comedy Old Acquaintance at the American Airlines Theatre, June 1-August 19. The show, to be directed by Michael Wilson, will open officially on June 28. Additional casting and production personnel will be announced shortly.

Old Acquaintance is a comedy about two childhood friends who have grown into very different adults, although they are both successful authors. The independent Katharine “Kit” Markham (Colin) is carrying on an affair with a younger man while divorcée Mildred “Millie” Drake (Harris) refuses to loosen the apron-strings on her teenage daughter, Dierdre (Rabe). When Dierdre’s struggles to become more like her idol Kit have far-reaching consequences, the two women who thought they were growing apart realize that they may have much more in common than they’d like to admit.

The play premiered on Broadway in 1940 at the Morosco Theatre, starring Jane Cowl and Peggy Wood. The 1943 film version starred Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins. Another film loosely based on the play, titled Rich and Famous, was released in 1981; it starred Candice Bergen and Jacqueline Bissett, and was directed by George Cukor.

Colin has starred on Broadway in A Day in the Death of Joe Egg and Jackie: An American Life, and Off-Broadway in such shows as Defiance, Triptych, and Temporary Help. Harris won a Tony Award for her performance in Thoroughly Modern Millie; her other New York theater credits include Jeffrey and The Man Who Came to Dinner, and she is currently finishing up a run as Amanda Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie at the Guthrie Theatre in Minneapolis. Rabe has appeared on Broadway in Heartbreak House and Steel Magnolias.

Wilson is the artistic director of Hartford Stage. He was last represented on Broadway by Enchanted April. Van Druten’s other plays include The Voice of the Turtle, I Remember Mama, Bell, Book and Candle, and I Am a Camera.