Troubled Broderick play pushes back its opening

[October 31, 2009]  NEW YORK (AP) -- Look for "The Starry Messenger" to arrive off-Broadway later than originally planned.

The new play starring Matthew Broderick has pushed back its opening by a week after a problem-plagued first preview that included its star needing a prompter in the front row to assist him with his lines.

Messages posted on various theater Web sites said the actor called out nearly a dozen times for lines during the Monday performance of the three-hour play written and directed by Kenneth Lonergan.

New Group artistic director Scott Elliott says "The Starry Messenger" will now open Nov. 23.

The play about an astronomy teacher's affair with a younger woman had been scheduled to open Nov. 16 at the small Acorn Theatre on 42nd Street.

[Associated Press]

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