Laurie Metcalf to Join Nathan Lane in Broadway’s November

Laurie Metcalf will join Nathan Lane in David Mamet’s new play November. The show to be directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, will begin previews on December 20 at the Barrymore Theatre, with an official opening on January 17.

Lane will play U.S. president Charles Smith and Metcalf will play his aide, Claire Bernstein. No further casting has been announced for the five-character play. The creative team will include Scott Pask (sets), Laura Bauer (costumes), and Paul Gallo (lighting).

Mamet was last represented on Broadway by the revival of his Pulitzer Prize-winning work Glengarry Glen Ross, which was also directed by Mantello. His other Broadway plays include The Old Neighborhood, Speed-the-Plow, and American Buffalo. His new musical A Waitress in Yellowstone will be presented at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Los Angeles in May 2008.

Metcalf’s only previous Broadway appearance was in My Thing of Love. She won Theatre World and Drama Desk Awards for her work for the Circle Repertory production of Balm in Gilead, and also appeared Off-Broadway in Educating Rita and Bodies, Rest, and Motion. She is a member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company and co-starred in the Geffen Playhouse production of All My Sons, for which she won an L.A. Ovation Award for Best Actress. She won three Emmy Awards for her work on Roseanne and is nominated this year as Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on Desperate Housewives.

Lane was last seen on Broadway in Butley. He won the Tony Award for his work in The Producers and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. His numerous other Broadway credits include The Frogs, The Odd Couple, Love! Valour! Compassion!, Guys and Dolls, and Present Laughter.