The Cast of OTHER DESERT CITIES Reflects On Grief And Taking The Broadway Stage

The cast of Other Desert Cities sat down for an interview with CBS Mornings reflecting on their return or debut to Broadway, their personal experience with grief and their favorite parts of performing live. 

When Julia Louis-Dreyfus was asked about how she felt about making her Broadway debut she responded with "super relaxed...this is a cakewalk," as she looked around at her castmates and they shared a smile and laugh. 

The interview oscillates between the company members as they share their experience in preparing for their Broadway run.

Allison Janney acknowledged that preparing for another Broadway production comes with a few adjustments, particularly when it comes to her schedule.

“I go to bed at 9:00 p.m. In the theater, you are, you know, if we start at 8, I’m not out of there till 10:30 or 11. So, it’s a whole new schedule I got to get myself on to do Broadway. And it’s exhausting. Eight shows a week. And I’m not 38 anymore,” she said. “It’s going to be challenging. I’ll see. I hope it’s easier than I think it’s going to be.”

Joe Keery, who is making his Broadway debut, reflected on his personal connection to the material. “The thing I love about this play and what it does to me is it makes me question my own place in my own family,” he shared. Asked about stepping onto the Broadway stage for the first time, Keery chuckled and echoed Louis-Dreyfus’ sarcastic delivery, predicting that it would be “easy.”

Broadway veteran Lily Rabe expressed her enthusiasm for returning to the stage. “I love doing plays so much. It does feel like coming home. I can’t believe I get to be in this company and say these words,” she said. “It is such a privilege to get to say these words.”

Louis-Dreyfus, who experienced the devastation of the California fires, reflected on the importance of allowing space for grief. “If you’re lucky enough to live long enough, you’re gonna experience grief,” she shared. “The thing about grief is I think there’s resistance to it. When you get an urge to cry, you always feel like you have to push it back down. And I don’t know, maybe that’s just human behavior, but I think there’s something to be said for allowing it in.”

Asked about a memorable piece of parental advice, Ed Harris recalled an exchange with his father near the end of his life. “My dad was in the hospice bed in the living room where my folks were. And I had to go off and do something that I was concerned about or that was going to be kind of tricky,” he shared. “And he said, ‘Gird your loins.’ And I said, ‘All right, I get you.’”

Now running at Broadway's Hudson Theatre is Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Joe Keery, and Lily Rabe in the first Broadway revival of Jon Robin Baitz’s Tony Award-winning play Other Desert Cities, directed by Tony Award winner John Benjamin Hickey. Other Desert Cities will play a 16-week limited engagement through Sunday, January 17, 2027.