Controversial "Downstate" Delays First Broadway Preview Due to Illness

The production announced today that Bruce Norris's play Downstate will delay its first Broadway preview by two days due to illness in the company. The new first preview is now scheduled for Monday, October 19, at the Booth Theatre. The Sunday, November 15 opening night remains unchanged. Representatives for the production did not specify who is ill or the nature of […]

Bruce Norris' play Downstate will delay its Broadway premiere by two days due to an illness in the company, the show announced today.

The first preview date for the new show is Monday, October 19, at Broadway's Pavilion Theatre. Opening night on Sunday, November 15 remains unchanged.

Representatives of the show did not specify who is sick or the nature of the illness. Ticket holders for the canceled show on Saturday, October 17th will be given a refund or the opportunity to rebook by contacting the venue if they have questions.

Norris' controversial drama about a group home housing convicted sex offenders is directed by Joe Mantello and produced by Scott Rudin and Barry Diller. Downstate has been widely praised by critics in its pre-Broadway run, and has occasionally drawn the ire of right-wingers such as Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, who tweeted about the show: "So now the corporate media glorifies pedophilia," a false simplification that the producer now uses in its marketing campaign.

Official synopsis: "In the state of Illinois, four men convicted of sex crimes against minors live together in a group home, their every move under the constraints that continue to close in around them. The fragile order of the home begins to break down as a defendant arrives to confront his abuser, bringing with him a storm of bitter memories, funny political unsaid, funny political unsaid. Norris's play takes the audience into a world where punishment is endless, compassion itself can feel like a transgression, and forgiveness is always out of reach." Watch on Deadline

Downstate Broadway will star Cassie Beck, K. Todd Freeman, Francis Guinan, Adrian Martinez, Al'Jaleel McGhee, Thomas Sadoski, Ivy Wolk and Liza Colón-Zayas.

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