Birthday Candles is a play by Noah Haidle. It was originally scheduled to open on April 2, 2020, but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.[1] It subsequently ran at the American Airlines Theatre from March 18 to May 29, 2022, starring Debra Messing as Ernestine Ashworth and directed by Messing's Tisch School of the Arts classmate Vivienne Benesch.[2][3]

In the play, Ashworth recreates the same birthday cake each year as she ages from 17 to 101 without any external signs of aging, and Messing is on stage for the entire show.[4][5] Birthday Candles was commissioned by Detroit Public Theatre in fall 2016, and Benesch oversaw a workshop during her tenure as artistic director of the Chautauqua Theater Company. Benesch directed a Chautauqua production in 2017 before it made its debut in Detroit in 2018.[2]

In November 2022, The play was translated into Hebrew and performed at the Cameri Theater in Tel Aviv, Israel.[6]

References

  1. ^ McHenry, Jackson (April 2, 2020). "Debra Messing Is Baking and Watching Love Is Blind in Quarantine". Vulture.
  2. ^ a b Banov, Jessica (November 5, 2019). "Debra Messing to star in Broadway play Birthday Candles". Raleigh News & Observer. Archived from the original on November 5, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  3. ^ "PlayMakers' Vivienne Benesch is Broadway bound, will direct Debra Messing in 'Birthday Candles'". UNC-Chapel Hill. July 2, 2019. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  4. ^ Simon, Samantha (April 14, 2020). "Debra Messing Aging Essay: Never Felt Good Enough, Sexy Enough in 30s". In Style. Retrieved December 22, 2021.
  5. ^ Young, Ryan (March 26, 2020). "Debra Messing's Broadway Return Celebrates the Power of Ritual—And Dessert". Town & Country.
  6. ^ Dekel, Ayelet (May 9, 2023). "Cameri Theatre: Birthday Candles | MidnightEast". Retrieved January 9, 2024.

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