Frontmezzjunkies reports: Olivier-winning play about Roald Dahl arrives from London’s West End

By Ross

John Lithgow steps onto the Broadway stage tonight in a role that has already electrified theatre audiences in London and beyond. Mark Rosenblatt’s Giant begins previews at the Music Box Theatre with Lithgow (Broadway’s Hillary and Clinton) portraying the legendary and deeply complicated author Roald Dahl. The production arrives after a celebrated West End run that earned three Olivier Awards, including Best New Play, and acting honors for Lithgow and Elliot Levey. Lithgow now brings that same commanding performance across the Atlantic as Broadway audiences prepare to confront the unsettling drama at the center of Dahl’s legacy.

Rosenblatt’s play dives into the storm that surrounded Dahl late in his career when public outrage erupted over antisemitic remarks that threatened to reshape how the world viewed the beloved creator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda. The story unfolds as a battle of wills between Dahl and those around him who recognize the damage that words can cause. Two-time Tony Award winner Nicholas Hytner (Bridge’s Guys & Dolls) directs the Broadway production after staging the acclaimed London premiere. He guides a cast that includes Levey (West End’s Good) as Dahl’s Jewish publisher Tom Maschler, Aya Cash as American publisher Jessie Stone, and Rachael Stirling as Felicity Crosland. Designs by the legendary Bob Crowley (Broadway’s The Roommate) place the drama inside an elegant world that slowly reveals the moral tensions pressing in on its famous subject.

The excitement surrounding Giant also adds an intriguing layer to Broadway’s acting landscape this season. Lithgow arrives in New York with the momentum of an Olivier Award win, the very prize that placed him ahead of Adrian Brody (The Fear of 13) during the London awards race, a category the two may well find themselves competing in again on Broadway. Yet what makes this moment most compelling is the promise of seeing a towering performer inhabit one of the most controversial literary figures of the twentieth century. As previews begin tonight at the Music Box Theatre for a strictly limited 16-week engagement, anticipation is building for a production that asks how genius, reputation, and responsibility collide under the unforgiving glare of public scrutiny.