For the contemporary theatre buff, there’s a double excitement in the announcement that The Normal Heart will play Broadway in April.
The first surge of interest comes from the fact that playwright Larry Kramer, after spending 40 years in the business, will finally get a Broadway production. The second is derived from the knowledge that Joe Mantello, one of the busiest and most successful directors in theatre, will return to acting for the first time since he starred in Angels in America. Until now, Mantello (who, I just have to say — because I can — is looking more and more like Rahm Emanuel these days) has steadfastly insisted that he would never step on a stage again. But, as producer Daryl Roth told this reporter earlier this month, “I said to Joe, if we’re able to do this for a limited run on Broadway, would you do it? He said he would. This play means a great deal to him.”
As he did in the earlier reading, Joe Mantello will play Ned Weeks, the hero of the drama about fear and silence in the early days of the AIDS crisis. Joel Grey, who will be seen in the upcoming revival of
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