Full Cast Set for the Broadway Premiere of PRAYER FOR THE FRENCH REPUBLIC

The complete cast has been revealed for the Broadway premiere of Prayer for the French Republic, written by Drama Desk Award winner Joshua Harmon and directed by Tony Award winner David Cromer at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). Performances will begin Tuesday, December 19, 2023, with opening night set for Tuesday, January 9, 2024.
 
Ethan Haberfield (Mary Poppins), Richard Masur (Lucky Guy, Democracy), Nael Nacer (The Orchard), and Daniel Oreskes (Oslo, “Only Murders in the Building”) join previously announced cast members Betsy Aidem (Leopoldstadt, Prayer at MTC), Francis Benhamou (Prayer at MTC – winner, 2022 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Play and Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play), Ari Brand (Prayer at MTC), multi-Emmy Award nominee Anthony Edwards (“ER,” Top Gun), Molly Ranson (Prayer at MTC, Bad Jews), Nancy Robinette (Prayer at MTC), and Aria Shahghasemi (“Legacies”). The full company begins rehearsals for the production today.
 
The Prayer for the French Republic creative team includes Takeshi Kata (scenic design), Sarah Laux (costume design), Amith Chandrashaker (lighting design), Daniel Kluger (original music & sound design), J. Jared Janas (hair and makeup design), Gigi Buffington (vocal coach), Caparelliotis Casting, Kelly Gillespie (casting), and Richard Hodge (production stage manager).
 
Winner of the 2022 Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle Awards for Best Play, Joshua Harmon’s Prayer for the French Republic bursts onto Broadway after MTC’s highly acclaimed extended, sold-out Off-Broadway run. In 1944, a Jewish couple in Paris desperately awaits news of their missing family. More than 70 years later, the couple’s great-grandchildren find themselves facing the same question as their ancestors: "Are we safe?" This celebrated work by the author of Bad Jews and Significant Other is about history, home and the effects of an ancient hatred. The New York Times calls it "thought-provoking, heart-wrenching and wickedly funny." Directing is David Cromer, a Tony Award® winner for The Band's Visit.
 
Prayer for the French Republic is made possible in part by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation. The mission of the Foundation is to award grants to support world-class performing arts projects in not-for-profit professional theaters throughout the United States.
 
Prayer for the French Republic was commissioned by MTC through the Bank of America New Play Program.
 
The 2022-23 season marked Lynne Meadow’s 50th Anniversary as Artistic Director of Manhattan Theatre Club. Meadow was joined in summer 2023 by Chris Jennings, MTC’s new Executive Director. MTC’s mission, which Meadow created in 1972 and has implemented over five decades of award-winning theatrical productions, is to develop and present new work in a dynamic, supportive environment; to identify and collaborate with the most promising new as well as seasoned, accomplished artists; and to produce a diverse repertoire of innovative, entertaining, and thought-provoking plays and musicals by American and international playwrights. Since 1989, MTC Education, which uses the power of live theatre and playwriting to awaken minds, ignite imaginations, open hearts, and change lives, has also been an important corollary to MTC’s work, reaching thousands of students and educators worldwide each season.
 
Since its beginnings on East 73rd Street in New York City, MTC has grown from a small off-off-Broadway Showcase Theatre into one of the country’s most prestigious and award-winning producing companies, creating over 600 world, American, New York and Broadway premieres. MTC productions have earned 7 Pulitzer Prizes, 28 Tony Awards, 50 Drama Desk Awards and 49 Obie Awards amongst many other honors. MTC has homes on Broadway at its Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and Off-Broadway at New York City Center (131 West 55th Street). MTC is an anti-racist organization that respects and honors all voices, and upholds the values of community and equity.

Betsy Aidem

(Marcelle). Prayer for the French Republic at MTC. Broadway: Leopoldstadt (Tony, Best Play), All The Way and Beautiful. Nikolai And The Others and Road at Lincoln Center Theater, The Metal Children and Mary Rose at Vineyard, Celebration at Atlantic, Crooked at WP, Final Follies at Primary Stages. Stone Cold Dead Serious at Edge, Doubt and Appropriate at Westport, Romeo and Juliet at Chicago Shakes, Circle Mirror Transformation at Huntington, All The Way at ART, Mama’s Boy at George Street. TV: “Inside Amy Schumer,” “SVU” (recurring), “Bull,” “Madame Secretary,” “The Americans,” “Orange Is The New Black,” etc. Film: Margaret, Irrational Man, A Vigilante, The Greatest Showman. Awards: Richard Seff 2022, Lucille Lortel nom., Outer Critics Circle nom., Irne nom., BWW Award, Drama Desk Ensemble, Obie Sustained Excellence of Performance. Directing: A Doll’s House Part 2 at George Street.

Francis Benhamou

(Elodie) is thrilled to be making her Broadway debut after originating the role Off-Broadway. She won the Lucille Lortel and Drama Desk Awards for Best Featured Actress and was also nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award. Her Off-Broadway credits include: Selling Kabul (Pulitzer Prize Finalist); The Profane (Playwrights Horizons); the Obie award winning Invasion!; I Call My Brothers (The Play Co.); Motel Cherry (Clubbed Thumb/New Georges). Film/TV credits include Arranged, Neal Cassady, Breaking Upwards, Listen up Phillip, “Inside Amy Schumer,” “Daredevil,” “Life & Beth” and “Dear Edward." Francis is a graduate of the Maggie Flanigan Studio. @francisbenhamou

Ari Brand

(Lucien). NYC theater credits include: Prayer for the French Republic (MTC); My Name is Asher Lev (Off-Broadway); The Neil Simon Plays (Broadway); The Lucky One (Mint); Black Tie (Primary Stages); Romeo and Juliet (NYSF); Much Ado About Nothing (NYCT); Scenes From Childhood (written by Ari Brand, 14th St Y). Other theater: Bad Jews (Geffen Playhouse); Arabian Nights (Berkeley, KC Reps); Last Night of Ballyhoo (Bay Street); Diary of Anne Frank (Westport); Diner (DTC); My Name Is Asher Lev (Long Wharf). Upcoming TV/Film: Beautiful and Neat Room (feature). Past TV/Film: “Blue Bloods,” “FBI: International,” “Fosse/Verdon,” “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “The Other Two,” “FBI; White Collar,” To The Flame, Listen. B.A. Wesleyan University; BADA; LABA Fellow. For Savta.
 

Anthony Edwards

(Patrick) is probably best known as Dr. Mark Greene on the series “ER.” Edwards has received four Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series. Edwards has won three Screen Actors Guild Awards (Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series in 1996 and Best Ensemble Cast in 1998 and 1999). He won the Golden Globe Award in 1998. In the theater, Edwards was seen on Broadway in Children of a Lesser God, Month in the Country (Classic Stage Company), Shem Bitterman’s Frozen (WPA), Harvey (Williamstown Theatre Festival) and Joyce Carol Oates’s Black. Edwards has starred in more than twenty features, including his memorable turn as "Goose" in the blockbuster feature Top Gun. Other feature film credits include: Consumed, Experimenter, Big Sur, Motherhood with Uma Thurman, Flipped directed by Rob Reiner, and Zodiac directed by David Fincher. Thunderbirds, Forgotten, Playing by Heart, The Client, Miracle Mile, Mr. North, Hawks, Pet Semetary II, Delta Heat, Landslide, The Sure Thing, Gotcha, Revenge of the Nerds, Heart Like a Wheel, and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Edwards recently starred in both the Apple series We Crashed and the Netflix mini-series Inventing Anna, created by Shonda Rhimes. Other television credits include “Law and Order True Crimes: the Menendez Murders,” “Zero Hour,” “Girls,” “Blue Bloods,” “Billions,” “Northern Exposure” and “It Takes Two” as well as the telefilms In Cold Blood, El Diablo, Hometown Boy Makes Good, Going for the Gold: The Bill Johnson Story, High School USA and The Killing of Randy Webster. Edwards made his feature directing debut with My Dead Boyfriend in 2016. He also directed several episodes of “ER.” Edwards was an Executive Producer of the HBO biopic Temple Grandin, which won multiple Emmys and Golden Globes.
 

Ethan Haberfield

(Young Pierre). Ethan is excited to return to Broadway after making his debut at the age of 10 in Mary Poppins. Regional Theatre: Oliver (PapermMill Playhouse), Wrinkle in Time (Playmakers Repertory Company), To Kill a Mockingbird (Shakespeare Theatre of NJ) Film/TV: Saturday Night Live (NBC), We Have A Ghost (Netflix), The Other Two (HBO), Sinister (Blumhouse). Ethan grew up in NYC and attended High School at Professional Children’s School, then went on to get his BFA in Acting from The University of Michigan. Thank you, MTC, Kelly Gillespie and David Caparelliotis Casting, Stewart Talent & Bohemia Group. For my family, with love. @ethan.haberfield
 

Richard Masur

(Pierre) A sampling of his 51 year career: Over 60 feature films, including The Thing, Heartburn, Risky Business, Heaven’s Gate, My Girl, License to Drive, Another Year Together, Before, During and After and Hudson.  TV series (partial) – Kaleidoscope, Bull, The Equalizer, Transparent, Girls, Younger, The Good Wife, Orange Is the New Black, Red Oaks, One Day at a Time and Rhoda. Over 40 TV movies including Fallen Angel, Adam, The Burning Bed (Emmy Nomination), Stephen King’s It, Hiroshima, 61*, And The Band Played On.  Broadway: Lucky Guy, Democracy, and The Changing Room; Off-Broadway (partial):  Two Jews, Talking; Relevance; The Net Will Appear; Fetch Clay, Make Man; Sarah, Sarah; The Ruby Sunrise.  His directorial debut, Love Struck, was nominated for a live-action short subject Academy Award. He is a former National President, VP and Board Member of Screen Actors Guild & National Board Member of SAG-AFTRA.
Nael Nacer (Charles) is thrilled to be making his Broadway and MTC debut. NYC credits: The Orchard (Baryshnikov Arts Center/Arlekin Players). Regional credits: Prayer for the French Republic; A Doll’s House; Bedroom Farce; Come Back, Little Sheba; Awake and Sing!; The Seagull; Our Town (The Huntington); Angels in America (Bedlam/CST); Macbeth, The Tempest (Commonwealth Shakespeare Company); The Merchant of Venice (Actors' Shakespeare Project); People, Places & Things, Small Mouth Sounds (SpeakEasy Stage); The Ding Dongs, Tiny Beautiful Things, True West, The Flick (Gloucester Stage); The Return (Israeli Stage); Mr. Burns, a Post-Electric Play, Intimate Apparel (Lyric Stage); The Kite Runner, A Number, Lungs, Pattern of Life (New Repertory Theatre); Rhinoceros, Windowmen (Boston Playwrights’ Theatre). Awards: Elliot Norton, IRNE. Nael is a resident acting company member of Actors’ Shakespeare Project, as well as a monologue coach with My College Audition. @naelnacer

Daniel Oreskes

(Adolphe). Broadway credits include the Tony-winning Oslo at Lincoln Center as well as West Side Story, Billy Elliot, The Miracle Worker, Aida, Cymbeline, Electra, and The Song of Jacob Zulu. Off-Broadway: Seagull/Woodstock; Russian Transport (New Group); Taylor Mac’s HIR (Playwrights Horizons); Jesse Eisenberg’s The Revisionist (Rattlestick); Twenty-Seventh Man (Public); Doug Wright’s Quills (NYTW); and John Patrick Shanley’s Cellini (Second Stage) as well as his Missing Marisa (Primary Stages). Film and television: The Thomas Crown Affair, Devils Advocate, Abe, and the upcoming A Real Pain (written and directed by Jesse Eisenberg). For two seasons, he played the role of Superfan Marv on the hit show “Only Murders in the Building” and has had recurring roles on “Law And Order: Organized Crime,” “The Sopranos,” “Ray Donovan,” “Show Me A Hero” as well as guest starring appearances on “Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” “And Just Like That,” “The Deuce,” “Blue Bloods,” and others.
 

MOLLY RANSON

(Molly) most recently starred in the Broadway revival of Neil Simon’s Plaza Suite, opposite Matthew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker. Prior to, she starred in Manhattan Theatre Club’s Prayer for the French Republic, written by Joshua Harmon and directed by David Cromer. She was also featured in the MTC’s production of Linda, Larry David’s Broadway comedy Fish in the Dark, and was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award for her critically acclaimed performance in Roundabout Theater Company’s Bad Jews. Scott Brown of New York Magazine called her “pitch-perfect and marvelously restrained.” Charles Isherwood of The New York Times also praised her performance: “Melody [is] played with terrific delicacy and good humor by Ms. Ranson.” Molly starred in the title role in MCC’s musical adaptation of the cult film, Carrie, and can also be heard on the production’s cast album. Molly has also appeared on Broadway in Jerusalem, opposite Mark Rylance, and in Tracy Letts’ Tony-winning play August: Osage County, which she also performed on the West End and in Australia. Her on-screen credits include: “New Amsterdam,” “Horace & Pete,” and the feature film Love on the Run. Molly is a graduate of LaGuardia Arts High School, where she was the recipient of a Drama Desk Scholarship Award.

Nancy Robinette

(Irma) has worked in the DC area most of her career, as an early company member of Woolly Mammoth, and as an Associate Artist at Arena Stage and at Shakespeare Theatre, where she also teaches. Recent performances include Carrie in Ford’s Theatre’s The Trip to Bountiful, and Nan in Jennifer Who Is Leaving at Round House. She has worked regionally at the Papermill Playhouse, The Everyman Theatre, the McCarter Theatre, Actor’s Theatre of Louisville, The Old Globe, Gulfshore Playhouse, Williamstown Theatre Festival, and in New York at Manhattan Theatre Club, New York Theatre Workshop, the Roundabout, and in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime on Broadway. Film and TV credits include Serial Mom, The Three Christs, Soldier Jack, Homicide, “Louie,” and “Up Here!” She received the Helen Hayes lifetime tribute in 2019.
 

Aria Shahghasemi

(Daniel) is best known as “Landon Kirby” in four seasons of the CW series “Legacies.” He made his debut as the character recurring on “The Originals.” Most recently, he joined the cast of the limited series “Penguin” on HBO Max. The oldest of two children born to Iranian immigrants in suburban Minneapolis, Aria Shahghasemi studied at the BFA theater program at Southern Oregon University in Ashland, home of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Aria then transferred to the celebrated Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. Shortly after graduating, Aria booked episodes of “Unforgettable,” “Law and Order SVU,” and “Instinct,” and an Off-Broadway play called Connected at 59E59. He has also appeared as “Laertes” in Hamlet and the independent feature No Alternative, before beginning as a CW series regular later that year.

Joshua Harmon

(Playwright) Harmon's plays include Bad Jews, Significant Other, Admissions, Skintight, and Prayer for the French Republic. Musicals: The Bedwetter. His plays have been produced on Broadway and the West End; off-Broadway at Roundabout Theatre Company, Lincoln Center Theater, Manhattan Theatre Club and Atlantic Theater Company; across the country at Geffen Playhouse, Speakeasy, Studio Theatre, Theater Wit, About Face, Actor's Express, and The Magic, among others; and internationally in a dozen countries. He is a two-time MacDowell fellow and an Associate Artist at Roundabout. Graduate of Juilliard.

David Cromer

(Director) is a director and actor originally from Chicago, currently based in New York. As a director, his New York credits include A Case for the Existence of God (Signature), The Sound Inside (Broadway); The Band’s Visit (Atlantic Theater Company, Broadway & National Tour); the Broadway revivals of Brighton Beach Memoirs and The House of Blue Leaves; The Treasurer (Playwrights Horizons); Man from Nebraska (Second Stage Theater); The Effect, Orson’s Shadow, and Tribes (Barrow Street Theatre); Women or Nothing (Atlantic Theater Company); Really Really (MCC Theater); When the Rain Stops Falling and Nikolai and the Others (Lincoln Center Theater); and Adding Machine (Minetta Lane Theatre). Other directing credits include BUG (Steppenwolf Theatre Company) Next to Normal (Writers Theatre); Come Back, Little Sheba (Huntington Theatre Company); The Sound Inside (Williamstown Theatre Festival); and Our Town in London, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston and Kansas City. As an actor, he recently appeared on Broadway as Howard Fine in the 2018 production of The Waverly Gallery. Prior to that, he appeared on Broadway as Karl Lindner in the 2014 revival of A Raisin in the Sun, and Off-Broadway as the Stage Manager in Our Town, which he also directed, at the Barrow Street Theatre. He appeared in the HBO series “The Newsroom,” the Showtime series “Billions,” and in the motion picture The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected). Cromer has received a Tony Award, Drama Desk Award, three Obie Awards, three Lucille Lortel Awards, a Joe A. Callaway Award, four Jeff Awards, and in 2010 was made a MacArthur Foundation Fellow.