Interview: Matthew Lombardo and Beth Leavel Tell the Tale of WHEN PLAYWRIGHTS KILL

After the headline-making 2019 run of his “Tea at Five,” which starred Faye Dunaway, playwright Matthew Lombardo returns to Boston’s Huntington Theatre April 3–18 with his latest effort, “When Playwrights Kill,” a behind-the scenes comedy about an up-and-coming playwright whose Broadway dreams are dashed when his female lead, a famously difficult diva, derails his play’s out-of-town tryout in Boston.

Inspired by the Dunaway dust-up that scuttled that pre-Broadway run,  the world-premiere production of “When Playwrights Kill” will star Tony Award winners Beth Leavel (“The Drowsy Chaperone”) as the diva, Brooke Remington; Matt Doyle (“Company”) as Jack Hawkins, the playwright; and Marissa Jaret Winokur (“Hairspray”) as stage manager Liz Jennings. Also in the cast are Tony Award nominee Kevin Chamberlin (“The Addams Family”) as director Oliver Kendall Walker, Adam Heller as producer Henry Carlton, and Tomás Matos as Remington’s prompter.

The new offering is part roman à clef and part return to the scene of the crime for Lombardo, whose 2002 off-Broadway hit, “Tea at Five” – which played a December 2004 tour stop at Boston’s Shubert Theatre with original star Kate Mulgrew – came to the Huntington Theatre in the summer of 2019 with film legend Faye Dunaway playing Katharine Hepburn. The production was supposed to go to Broadway, but when Dunaway allegedly slapped a backstage crew member, the iconic actress was shown the door, taking her planned comeback and the production with her.

On Zoom recently from his home in New York, Lombardo – whose earlier plays include “Conversations with My Mother,” “High,” and “Looped” – said that “When Playwrights Kill” did not come directly from his experience with Dunaway.

“Faye and I got along very, very well. We had one knockout, drag-out fight, but after that, we really enjoyed each other, and we had a good working relationship,” he says. “It was just that the personality and her behavior got in the way. I understand an actress can be a diva, but when that behavior becomes abusive, you must draw the line.

“That whole experience, which ultimately inspired this play, was intense, surreal. It was overwhelming, really, but – with some distance – I started to realize that it was also incredibly funny,” says the playwright.

“This play is about archetypes, not individuals. The diva in the story represents a certain theatrical mythology, just as the playwright represents a kind of familiar insecurity, so it’s not a reenactment,” says Lombardo. “It’s a backstage comedy inspired by the emotional chaos of trying to get a show to Broadway, similar to what we were trying to do in Boston in 2019.”

While the 2019 production of “Tea at Five” may have been steeped in trouble, the writer didn’t hesitate to praise its star.

“Faye Dunaway is unquestionably one of the greatest actresses of her generation, and that’s never been in dispute for me. This play isn’t about her talent. It’s about the comedy that can arise when extraordinary artists and institutions collide under pressure. She’s a larger-than-life personality, and when you place a force like that into the fragile ecosystem of a developing production, things can get kind of combustible, which they did,” says Lombardo. “I just want to go on record to say I have a great affection and deep respect for Faye, as a person, and for her amazing career.”

Also by Zoom recently, from New York’s New 42 rehearsal studios, Leavel – seen on Broadway last season in “Stephen Sondheim’s Old Friends” – says that while she’s not playing Dunaway, her character has similarities to the Academy Award winner known to some as “the dreaded Dunaway,” a nickname given her by her “Chinatown” co-star, Jack Nicholson.

“Brooke is a Hollywood star whose movie career has kind of disappeared, so she is trying to make a comeback on stage. And because ‘When Playwrights Kill’ is a farce, I hope the audience will find Brooke’s troubles both ridiculous and hilarious,” says Leavel.  “She has a little trouble remembering her lines, a little trouble with the blocking, and sometimes just a little trouble being on stage again. So she’s a little frustrating, and she’s a bit of a diva, but she’s a delightful diva.”

Leavel – married to co-star Adam Heller – has been delighting Broadway audiences since making her debut in the original production of “42nd Street” and later in shows including “Crazy for You,” “Showboat,” and “Mamma Mia!” In recent years, Leavel has played Broadway diva Dee Dee Allen in “The Prom” and fashion maven Miranda Priestley in the Chicago world premiere of the musical version of “The Devil Wears Prada.”

“Apparently, I’ve become the go-to narcissistic bitch, and I’m liking it. The roles are great,” says Leavel. “Characters like Dee Dee, Miranda, and Brooke are often the funniest and best parts. And they usually get the 11 o’clock numbers, and this is no exception. Brooke is a handful, but I think she’s going to be such a delight to watch for audiences, and to listen to, too. She is the comic relief of the show.”

Lombardo acknowledges having a kind of epiphany not long after deciding to write “When Playwrights Kill.”

“I don’t think it had anything to do with Faye. I think, as I started to move away from that experience, I saw the absurdity of what life is to create theater. So when I decided to write this play, I had one rule: if I wasn’t laughing at it, then I had no business writing about it. Theater people are often funniest when they’re under the most pressure. Once I started laughing about the experience, that’s when the play really took off.

“The story is emotionally true but factually transformed. The comedy gave me a certain perspective, and it allowed me to look at that madness with affection not only for what we were creating with the revised ‘Tea at Five’ but also for Faye, because theater always borrows from real life. That’s how it stays alive.”