Video: How Jesse Tyler Ferguson Is Preparing to Play Truman Capote in TRU
Previews for the immersive production begin Friday, March 6, with an opening set for Thursday, March 19.
As previously reported, Jesse Tyler Ferguson is starring as Truman Capote in the first New York revival of Jay Presson Allen’s play Tru. On Monday, the Tony Award winner visited Good Morning America to speak about the production, also sharing insights about how he has found his own version of Capote among all of the other portrayals.
"Philip Seymour Hoffman is, for me, the ideal Truman Capote," explained Ferguson. "But he also got to do it in little chunks. He took breaks every ten minutes to rest the voice. I have to do this straight for 90 minutes, so that's a really interesting challenge with the voice."
To prepare, Ferguson has listened to archival recordings of Capote himself, and also watched portrayals from other actors, whom he praised. "At the end of the day, it's about my version of him and also letting myself shine through," he said, noting that he can bring his own life experience to the role as a gay man. Watch the full interview, where he also previews the upcoming London production of Jesus Christ Superstar this summer.
Tru, starring Tony Award winner & five-time Emmy-nominee Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Truman Capote, was just extended to May 3, 2026. Tony, Emmy, and Olivier Award winner Rob Ashford directs this first New York revival of Jay Presson Allen’s play at House of the Redeemer, a historic Upper East Side mansion first owned by a great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt. Previews for this tour-de-force performance, which also features two-time Tony nominee Charlotte d’Amboise, begin Friday, March 6, with an opening set for Thursday, March 19.
It's December 1975 and Truman Capote is alone in his New York apartment, reeling from a crisis that cost him the elite social circle he adored. Drawn entirely from Capote’s own words, this funny and heartbreaking one-man play is an unflinching portrait of an artist at his breaking point, confronting the consequences of his most scandalous work. Performed in House of the Redeemer’s hyper-intimate Library, this strictly limited engagement offers a rare, immersive theatrical experience brought vividly to life by one of today’s most celebrated actors for an audience of only 99 patrons nightly.
The creative team for the revival includes Mike Harrison (scenic decor and properties), Emily Schmit (lighting design), Christopher Darbassie (sound design), Kate Wilson (dialect coach), Stephen Sposito (associate director), and Eloia Peterson (production stage manager). Hudson Theatrical Associates serves as production supervisor with Jonathan Whitton & Christophe Desorbay of Seaview as General Manager.
The one-man play originally premiered on Broadway in 1989, with Robert Morse as Capote, who went on to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show. He reprised his role in the 1992 American Playhouse presentation of Tru, winning the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie.
