Join the Herd, Rhinoceros Brings Turturro and Shalhoub to 42nd Street

John Turturro, Tony Shalhoub and Tatiana Maslany will star in Eugène Ionesco's Rhinoceros at Roundabout's Todd Haimes Theatre on West 42nd Street, with previews from April 7, 2027, an opening on April 25 and a limited run through June 13.

The play is about a small town where, one by one, the people turn into rhinoceroses. Next spring the stampede reaches the block between Seventh and Eighth Avenues, a street that already knows something about crowds.

Roundabout announced the casting last Thursday, and Broadway News reported that the play takes the slot that had been held for The Full Monty. It is the first Broadway revival since the play's 1961 premiere, which starred Zero Mostel, according to the New York Theater weekly roundup.

What Is Rhinoceros About?

Ionesco was a leading figure of the theater of the absurd, the postwar style that treats impossible events with a straight face. His 1959 play follows Berenger, an ordinary man whose friends and colleagues give in to a strange new movement and change into rhinoceroses. Roundabout's production page calls it "by turns hysterical and chilling" and frames the choice in front of its characters as keeping their humanity or joining the herd.

Turturro is deeply affecting as Bérenger. Jacquinn Sinclair, WBUR

The text is the American Repertory Theater's adaptation of Derek Prouse's English translation. Diane Paulus, the A.R.T.'s artistic director, directs again.

Who Is in the Broadway Cast?

Turturro plays Berenger, Maslany plays Daisy and Shalhoub plays Jean, Berenger's friend. Roundabout bills Maslany and Turturro as Emmy winners and Shalhoub as a Tony winner. More casting is still to come.

Turturro and Maslany are repeating their roles from Cambridge. Shalhoub is the new arrival. At the A.R.T., Jean was played by Paul Giamatti, according to the theater's cast list. The Boston Globe's Don Aucoin noted that Roundabout gave no reason for Giamatti's absence from the New York company. He also pointed out that Shalhoub was an early member of the A.R.T., in 1980.

How Did It Play in Cambridge?

The production ran at the Loeb Drama Center on Brattle Street from August 14 to September 27, with an opening on August 21. It played about two hours with one intermission. Around the three leads, the A.R.T. company included Kristine Nielsen as the Grocer's Wife and Mrs. Boeuf, Alex Ross as Dudard, Harriett D. Foy as the Housewife, Peter Francis James as the Grocer and Papillon, and Clay Singer as Botard and the Waiter. Roundabout has not yet said who joins them in New York.

Boston critics were warm. The Boston Globe's review headline called the staging "bone-chillingly prescient." WBUR's Jacquinn Sinclair wrote that "the absurdist play is funnier, and more thought-provoking than I could have imagined," and that "Turturro is deeply affecting as Bérenger."

Sinclair also described how the transformations happen. "There's no wild makeup, puppets or major props (except one large eye)," she wrote. The actors do it with their bodies, and Giamatti's change came through stomping, grunting and growling, with help from sound designer Fitz Patton. On Broadway that physical work passes to Shalhoub.

What Happened to The Full Monty?

Roundabout's revival of the Terrence McNally and David Yazbek musical was due to start performances at the Todd Haimes on April 3, 2027, with Leigh Silverman directing and Connor Gallagher choreographing. The company said it is postponing that return "due to cast availability," Broadway News reports, and promised timing details later.

Who Else Is on the Creative Team?

Riccardo Hernandez designs the set, Anita Yavich the costumes, Jen Schriever the lighting and Patton the sound. Markus Maurette designs special effects. Tom Watson handles hair and wigs, Kyle Krueger makeup and Thomas Schall the fights. Broadway News lists Jill Johnson for movement.

What to Know Before You Go

Rhinoceros plays the Todd Haimes Theatre, 227 West 42nd Street. Previews begin April 7, 2027, the opening is April 25, and the limited run ends June 13. Roundabout's page lists no single-ticket prices or on-sale date yet. It points buyers to subscriptions, group sales and the company's access programs.

It is one of several screen actors bound for a Broadway spring. David Corenswet makes his debut in Three Days of Rain at the Longacre in the new year.

Three actors, one small town and a herd that keeps growing. On 42nd Street, staying human may be the hardest part to play.