Theater News

The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife Closing September 15

Marilu Henner, Rhea Perlman, and Richard Kindin The Tale of the Allergist's Wife(Photo: Joan Marcus)
Marilu Henner, Rhea Perlman, and Richard Kind
in The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife
(Photo: Joan Marcus)

The producers of Charles Busch’s comedy The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife have announced that the show will close on September 15, ending its run at the Ethel Barrymore Theater after 769 performances.

Following a successful engagement at the Manhattan Theatre Club, Allergist’s Wife opened on Broadway on November 2, 2000 with Tony Roberts and Linda Lavin starring as the allergist and his wife. Michele Lee played the old friend who turns up at the couple’s door and (temporarily!) brings new vitality to their ho-hum, bourgeois life. The Broadway production currently features Richard Kind, Rhea Perlman, and Marilu Henner in the lead roles. Roberts and Lee have been co-starring in Los Angeles and San Francisco on the first leg of a national tour of the show with Valerie Harper, who replaced Lavin on Broadway, in the title role; Jana Robbins will take over for Lee in September, in Denver.

The Tale of the Allergist’s Wife earned Busch the 2000 John Gassner Playwriting Award from the Outer Critics Circle. Directed by MTC artistic director Lynne Meadow, it was produced by Manhattan Theatre Club, Carole Shorenstein Hays, Daryl Roth, Stuart Thompson, and Douglas S. Cramer. The show recouped its investment in January 2001.

Featured In This Story