Julia Louis-Dreyfus to Make Broadway Debut in Revival of Other Desert Cities

BySSZee Media

Jun 3, 2026 #Broadway, #Featured, #Hollywood, #News Entertainment

Award-winning actress Julia Louis-Dreyfus is set to make her long-awaited Broadway debut this fall in a revival of Other Desert Cities, joining a star-powered cast that includes Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery and Lily Rabe.

The production will also mark the Broadway debut of Keery, best known for his role in Stranger Things.

Written by Jon Robin Baitz, Other Desert Cities is set against the backdrop of Palm Springs and follows a wealthy conservative family whose holiday gathering is thrown into turmoil when their daughter arrives home with plans to publish a revealing memoir. The drama explores family loyalty, memory and personal truth, asking who has the right to tell a family’s story and what consequences come with doing so.

The revival will be staged at the Hudson Theatre, with previews beginning on 29 September and an official opening night scheduled for 18 October. The limited engagement is slated to run through 17 January.

The production will be directed by John Benjamin Hickey, who has a long history with Baitz’s work. The play originally premiered at Lincoln Center Theater in 2011 before transferring to Broadway later that year, where it earned widespread acclaim.

Reflecting on the revival, Baitz said, “I had, more or less, talked myself out of imagining ‘Other Desert Cities’ back in New York. But John Hickey is family to me, and I trust him completely. We go back longer than I ever imagined: he hears a play – its ideas, its feeling, its music – with an intelligence and knowingness that anchors a room.”

The playwright added, “And with this company of actors, a playwright dreams about, I thought that if there were still something alive in it, they would find it. What’s slightly unnerving is that nearly 20 years later, through all the fractures and divisions, the questions remain the same: how to live with who we are and what we’ve done and call that a life.”

Hickey also emphasized the play’s enduring relevance and emotional resonance. “I have loved Robbie’s plays since he began writing them. I acted in two of them early in my career, and when I recently revisited ‘Other Desert Cities,’ I was stunned at how relevant the play remains, maybe now more than ever,” Hickey said. “To be able to bring it back to Broadway, with this powerhouse ensemble of actors, and incredible creative team, is a dream come true,” said Hickey.

Describing the work, Hickey called the production “incredibly funny, surprising, and heartbreaking,” noting that its themes continue to resonate with contemporary audiences.

The revival is being produced by ATG Productions, Bad Robot Live, Gavin Kalin Productions, Kristin Caskey, Bee Carrozzini and Mike Isaacson. The creative team includes scenic designer Scott Pask, costume designer Tom Broecker, lighting designer Natasha Katz, sound designer and composer Mikaal Sulaiman, hair and wig designer Robert Pickens, production stage manager Richard Hodge and casting director Jim Carnahan.