Stop the presses!

The classic comedy The Front Page hits Broadway once again in 2016, boasting an incredible cast of theatre and movie royalty. Directed by three time Tony winner Jack O'Brien (Hairspray, Henry IV), this revival is headlined by Broadway darling and two-time Tony winner Nathan Lane (The Producers), last seen on The Great White Way in the similarly starry It's Only a Play. Joining him in the cast are screen legend John Goodman (10 Cloverfield Lane), John Slattery (Mad Men) and Tony winners Jefferson Mays (A Gent's Guide to Love & Murder) and Rosemary Harris (The Lion in Winter).

The Story So Far

First produced in 1928, The Front Page set the template for all wisecracking, rapid-fire comedies that followed. Written by former Chicago reporters Ben Hecht and Charles MacArthur, this witty escapade follows a court reporter who must ask the assistance of his tyrannical editor when he stumbles upon the story of a lifetime. A big hit in its day, it has been been adapted for the silver screen multiples times, most famously as His Girl Friday, with Gregory Peck and Rosalind Russell.

What is The Front Page About?

Star reporter Hildy Johnson is done with the newspaper business. A respectable advertising job awaits, and so he stops by the Chicago Courts press room one last time to say goodbye to his fellow reporters, who are whiling away the time before they see cop killer Earl Williams hanged.

Suddenly news breaks that the killer has escaped jail, and the hoard of journalists stampede out of the courts on the trail of condemned man. Only Hildy is left, and is shocked to see the Earl climbing through the press room window. Earl pleeds innocence to the charges, and realising that he may be onto the story of a lifetime, Hildy reluctantly picks up the phone to his hard-boiled editor Walter Burns to inform him that he's back on the job.