Rudin Returns to Broadway With Roberts and Rudd in Two New Plays
Producer Scott Rudin is back on Broadway this season with two new productions: Downstate, Bruce Norris’s drama about four convicted sex offenders at the Booth Theatre (previews Oct. 17, opens Nov. 15) directed by Joe Mantello; and Small Mouth Sounds, a nearly wordless comedy starring Julia Roberts and Paul Rudd (with Martin Freeman, Greta Lee, Sarah Paulson, Isaac Powell) at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, beginning Feb. 18, 2027 with a March 18 opening. Rudin is producing both with Barry Diller, continuing his comeback after a 2021 departure amid bullying allegations; he has teased another Metcalf-starrer this season. A discount ticket deal links early Small Mouth Sounds sales to Downstate for the first buyers.
