Torch Song, the Second Stage revival starring Michael Urie and Mercedes Ruhl, ends its Broadway run January 6, after 26 preview performances and 77 regular performances.
This new production, which playwright Harvey Fierstein streamlined into a two-act Torch Song—down from its original trilogy—began previews October 9 following an acclaimed Off-Broadway run last fall at Second Stage Theatre. Moisés Kaufman directs.
Urie will lead a newly announced national tour, scheduled to kick off a multi-city run in Los Angeles in fall 2019.
“Since we first began the Torch Song journey, I have heard from people all over—including our director Moisés Kaufman, who first met Arnold when Torch Song Trilogy toured in the ‘80s—that Arnold’s pride, strength, and frankness helped them come out, come to terms, and come together," Urie said in a statement. "This is something I hope our tour will do today. We need Harvey’s play when our world is suddenly and continually confusing and divided.”
Additional details regarding the tour will be announced at a later date.
Urie and Ruehl are joined on Broadway by fellow members of the Off-Broadway cast, including Ward Horton as Ed, Roxanna Hope Radja as Laurel, Michael Hsu Rosen as Alan, and Jack DiFalco as David.
After an acclaimed Off-Broadway debut, the original production of Torch Song Trilogy opened on Broadway in June 1982 and played an award-winning three-year engagement at the Little Theatre (now the Hayes Theatre).
Fierstein played the lead role of Arnold Beckoff, a gay drag performer in a tempestuous relationship with his bisexual, closeted lover. The play won Fierstein two Tony Awards—both as playwright (for Best Play) and for Best Actor. It was produced throughout the country and also turned into a film in 1988 starring Fierstein, Matthew Broderick, and Anne Bancroft.
