James Dreyfus will star as Elwood P. Dowd in a new production of Mary Chase’s Pulitzer Prize-winning comedy Harvey, which will open at Birmingham Repertory Theatre on 6 February, running until 21 February, prior to a UK Tour and the West End. The production will be directed by Lindsay Posner.
Elwood P. Dowd has only one character flaw: an unwavering friendship with a six-foot tall, invisible rabbit named Harvey. In order to save the family’s reputation, Elwood’s sister Veta takes him to see psychiatrist Dr William Chumley. But when the doctor mistakenly commits anxiety-ridden Veta instead of her brother, it sets off an hilarious whirlwind of confusion and chaos as everyone tries to catch a man and his invisible rabbit.
This new production of Harvey is produced by Don Gregory, who produced the play on Broadway in 2012 with Jim Parsons as Elwood P. Dowd. He also produced a television version of Harvey with Leslie Nielsen in 1998. Don Gregory’s other Broadway productions include My Fair Lady with Rex Harrison, Camelot with Richard Burton, Othello with James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer and Clarence Darrow with Henry Fonda.
Harvey premiered on Broadway in 1944, winning writer Mary Chase the Pulitzer Prize for Drama the following year. The production was directed by Antoinette Perry, after whom the Tony Awards are named. The play premiered in London in 1949 at the Prince of Wales Theatre. In 1950, Mary Chase adapted her play for the big screen, with James Stewart in the role of Elwood P. Dowd. James Stewart went on to star in the Broadway and London revivals of the stage play – in 1970 with Helen Hayes on Broadway and in 1975 with Mona Washbourne at the Prince of Wales Theatre.
For more information visit www.harveyonstage.co.uk
