From stand-up comedy to a standing ovation, Amy Schumer is gearing up to make her debut on Broadway in legendary comedian and banjo player Steve Martin's new play, Meteor Shower.
Schumer, who recently authored The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo, will star alongside Tony Award-winning actress Laura Benanti (Gypsy, The Detour), Keegan-Michael Key (Key & Peele, Friends From College), and Alan Tudyk (American Dad, Moana) in the comedy, which The New York Times reports focuses on couples "who get together for 'an evening of stargazing and sparring' in an Ojai, California backyard in 1993."
In an interview with the Times, Martin said that he couldn't be more thrilled to be bringing his show – which previously ran in San Diego and in New Haven – to New York.
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"I've been working on this for over 20 years — I wrote it in the '90s, when it is set, but I didn't finish it," he told the Times. "I got distracted, and then it came back to me a couple of years ago."
Martin also told the Times that he was inspired to approach Schumer for one of the lead roles since she had previously been in his play Picasso at the Lapin Agile and he was impressed by her performance. But instead of contacting her through an agent, he simply walked up to her at a party and asked her to read the script. The rest, as they say, is history.
Schumer, too, is excited about her Broadway breakout and tweeted about it earlier on Monday.
.@stevemartintogo wrote a hilarious play @MeteorShowerBwy & I get to do it w/ @KeeganMKey @LauraBenanti @AlanTudyk ? https://t.co/i7ur9G7OnK pic.twitter.com/oJWoD0rald
— Amy Schumer (@amyschumer) August 7, 2017
"@SteveMartinToGo wrote a hilarious play @MeteorShowerBwy & I get to do it w/ @KeeganMKey @LauraBenanti @AlanTudyk," she tweeted along with a photo of herself on a couch with Martin and two of his banjos.
The Times notes that Meteor Shower will begin previews on Nov. 1, and it'll open on Nov. 29 at The Booth Theater.