Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon Will Bring FRANKIE AND JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE to Broadway This May

In celebration of four-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally's 80th birthday, producers Hunter Arnold, Debbie Bisno and Tom Kirdahy announce a new Broadway production of Terrence McNally's Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, starring Tony, Grammy and Emmy Award winner Audra McDonald and two-time Academy Award nominee Michael Shannon, directed by Obie Award winner Arin Arbus.

The strictly limited 16-week Broadway engagement will begin previews in May 2019 at a Shubert theater to be announced.

In this new Broadway production, Audra McDonald and Michael Shannon, two of the most acclaimed actors of their generation, will bring the bruised dreamers of Terrence McNally's classic romance to new life. Director Arin Arbus, in her Broadway debut, directs this portrait of a lonely waitress and a short order cook whose first date turns into a one-night stand - and maybe more.

The creative team will include Riccardo Hernandez (Sets), Emily Rebholz (Costumes), Natasha Katz (Lighting), Nevin Steinberg (Sound), J. Jared Janas (Hair, Wig and Makeup), Laurie Goldfeder (Production Stage Manager) and 101 Productions, Ltd. (General Manager).

Audra McDonald last appeared on Broadway in the musicals Shuffle Along, Or, The Making of the Musical Sensation of 1921 and All That Followed and Lady Day at Emerson's Bar & Grill-the role that also served as the vehicle for her record-breaking sixth Tony Award and 2017 debut on London's West End (2018 Olivier Award nomination).

Recently seen in the Academy Award-winning The Shape of Water, Michael Shannon returns to Broadway after his Tony-nominated performance opposite Jessica Lange and Gabriel Byrne in A Long Day's Journey into Night.

Four-time Tony Award winner Terrence McNally is currently represented on Broadway by his book for the hit musical Anastasia. And director Arin Arbus ("exemplary... a star in the making" - The New York Times) will make her Broadway debut with this production. For a decade, she served as the Associate Artistic Director of Theater for a New Audience, where she most recently staged The Winter's Tale to great acclaim.

Originally produced more than 30 years ago Off-Broadway, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune is one of McNally's most acclaimed plays and will appear on Broadway as the playwright celebrates his 80th birthday. The play was a runaway hit from 1987 to 1989, returned to Broadway in an acclaimed production in 2002 and was also turned into a feature film.

Performance schedule, on-sale and ticket information will be forthcoming.