Hamptons Broadway News: Alec Baldwin, Nora Ephron, Tom Hanks

With just one month to go before previews begin, Shia LaBeouf bailed on Alec Baldwin and his other castmates in the Broadway production of Orphans. The young actor cited “creative differences,” according to BroadwayWorld.com, though he did not specify with whom.

Making his Broadway debut, versatile character actor Ben Foster (Six Feet Under, The Messenger, 3:10 to Yuma) has replaced LaBeouf in the role of “Treat.”

Orphans is the story of two orphaned brothers who live in their decrepit North Philadelphia row house. They survive by petty thievery and a steady diet of tuna fish and daytime television until the violent older brother decides to kidnap Harold (Baldwin), a notorious Chicago gangster. Harold soon becomes the force that will forever change their lives.

Lyle Kessler‘s Orphans, directed by Daniel Sullivan, begins previews on March 19 at the Schoenfeld Theatre, 236 West 45th Street. Opening night is still scheduled for April 7.

Visit orphansonbroadway.com for tickets, schedule and more.

In other theater news, tickets are on sale for Lucky Guy, written by late Hamptons author and three-time Academy Award nominee Nora Ephron, and starring Hamptons visitor Tom Hanks in his Broadway debut.

Before she died of leukemia at age 71 last June, Ephron enlisted her friend to play Pulitzer Prize-winning New York City tabloid columnist Mike McAlary in the biopic. Hanks initially turned down the role, according to The New York Times, but the two-time Oscar-winning actor later reconsidered, noting that he was drawn to “McAlary‘s swagger.”

This new play—Ephron‘s last—chronicles the scandal- and graffiti-ridden New York of the 1980s, as told through the story of the charismatic and controversial McAlary, who won the Pulitzer shortly before his untimely death on Christmas Day, 1998.

Lucky Guy, directed by Tony Award-winner George C. Wolfe, opens for previews March 1 at Broadway‘s Broadhurst Theatre, 235 West 44th Street. The limited-engagement production opens officially on April 1.

Visit luckyguyplay.com for tickets and schedule information.

Watch Tom Hanks‘ interview with Patrick Healy of The New York Times below.