Matt Bomer, Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto Lead Cast of Broadway’s ‘Boys in the Band’

Matt Bomer will make his Broadway debut (following his one-night-only appearance in “8“) in “The Boys in the Band,” a new revival of the landmark 1968 drama to be directed by Joe Mantello with a cast that includes Jim Parsons, Zachary Quinto and Andrew Rannells.

Ryan Murphy, the TV megaproducer (“Glee,” “American Horror Story,” “American Crime Story: The People vs. O.J. Simpson”) who first got into the Broadway game with “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” starring Jessica Lange, will co-produce with David Stone, the Broadway regular behind “Wicked” and, most recently, “War Paint,” the musical starring Patti LuPone and Christine Ebersole that closes this week.

Robin de Jesus (“In the Heights”), Brian Hutchison (“Man and Boy”), Michael Benjamin Washington (“Mamma Mia!”) and Tuc Watkins (“Desperate Housewives”) round out the cast of Mart Crowley’s play, which is considered a theatrical turning point for its unflinching depiction of gay men in pre-Stonewall New York. The title’s 1968 Off Broadway premiere was a sensation, running for more than 1,000 performances.

Bomer (“White Collar,” “The Last Tycoon”), who appeared in Murphy’s movie version of “The Normal Heart” as well as “American Horror Story,” will play Donald, one of the characters who attends the play’s volatile birthday-party gathering. Parsons (“The Big Bang Theory”) returns to Broadway following runs in “An Act of God,” “Harvey” and “The Normal Heart,” while Quinto (who plays Harold, the birthday boy) is back after “The Glass Menagerie.” Rannells, who starred in Murphy’s “The New Normal” after his Broadway breakout in “The Book of Mormon,” appeared in last season’s revival of “Falsettos.” One more role, the hustler Cowboy, remains to be cast.

The new production of “Boys in the Band,” timed to the play’s 50th anniversary, will be the second landmark of gay drama to hit Broadway in 2018. The National’s Theater’s revival of “Angels in America,” starring Nathan Lane and Andrew Garfield, starts an 18-week run at the Neil Simon Theater in February. (Mantello, the actor-turned-director who staged “Wicked” and will direct this season’s “Three Tall Women,” starred in the original Broadway production of “Angels.”)

“The Boys in the Band” is lined up for a limited 15-week run at the Booth Theater, where the show begins previews April 30 and runs through Aug. 12. The exact opening night — which will be late enough to make “Boys in the Band” one of the first openings of the 2018-19 Broadway season — is yet to be set. The limited run of Steve Martin play “Meteor Shower,” starring Amy Schumer, finishes up at the Booth Jan. 21.