Not long after announcing her divorce from movie superstar Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes has relocated to New York City and plans to take the city by storm. The soon-to-be-single mother made the bombshell announcement in late June, setting tabloid printers aflame in the aftermath. Holmes, 33, made the drastic move to Manhattan with her 6-year-old daughter, Suri, and has since decided to return to the bright lights of Broadway.
Holmes’ last stint on Broadway was her debut in the 2008 revival of “All My Sons,” a remake of the classic 1947 production written by Arthur Miller in which she played a small role alongside greats like Dianne Wiest, John Lithgow, and Patrick Wilson. Holmes and “All My Sons” received mixed reviews back in 2008. The Associated Press stated that she “has a striking physical presence, although not much vocal variety,” while USA Today reported that “at best, she exhibits a girlish exuberance.” Criticism aside, Holmes nevertheless plans a triumphant return to Broadway in a few months.
Holmes is set to star in an upcoming production of playwright Theresa Rebeck’s “Dead Accounts.” The 5-character play is a contemporary dark comedy helmed by 3-time Tony Award winner Jack O’Brien, director of the blockbuster “Hairspray” and “The Coast of Utopia.” The play centers around the return of a prodigal son to his Cincinnati home, and tackles “timely issues of corporate greed [and] small town values” along with a breakdown of family bonds.
Holmes is set to play as Lorna, sister of the estranged son, a character who recently moved home to live with aging parents in an attempt to get her life back on track. Lorna’s brother, Jack, mysteriously returns home with a large sum of money, sans wife (who happens to be hated by the family.) According to producers, Jack’s surprise return to Cincinnati “throws his family into a frenzy, and his sister Lorna needs answers.”
In the past few years Holmes’ acting career has been rather sparse, with only a few minor roles on the big screen since starring opposite Christian Bale in 2005’s Batman Begins. She declined the co-starring role in The Dark Knight back in 2008, perhaps due to her Broadway activity at the time, but since her recent move she has made herself very busy in the Big Apple. She made a guest appearance on Project Runway: All Stars and she is also co-writing and co-producing an independent film entitled Molly. Her appearance in “Dead Accounts,” however, will mark her first major acting project since the split from Tom Cruise.
“Dead Accounts,” which had its premier last winter at the Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, is set to open on Broadway at the Music Box Theater sometime this fall. Performance dates and additional casting information for the other four characters have yet to be announced. Jeffrey Finn is producing the play for the upcoming season after recently working with Rebeck in the production of her “Seminar” last fall, a Pulitzer Prize finalist that starred Alan Rickman and Lily Rabe.
