Producer Scott Rudin Sets Broadway Return With Laurie Metcalf and Barry Diller After 4-Year Exile

Producer Scott Rudin has set his return to the Broadway scene with “Little Bear Ridge Road,” a new rendition of the play by writer Samuel D. Hunter that will star Laurie Metcalf, Micah Stock, John Drea and Meighan Gerachis.

Joe Mantello will direct the play after helming its premiere run at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago last year. That iteration also starred Metcalf, Stock, Drea and Gerachis. The show’s Broadway version will start its limited, 18-week run at the Booth Theatre with performances beginning Oct. 7 and its official opening night set for Oct. 30.

Best known for writing the original play and screenplay for Darren Aronofsky’s “The Whale,” Hunter is set to make his Broadway debut with the new Rudin-produced run of “Little Bear Ridge Road.” The play follows an estranged aunt and her nephew as they reunite in rural Idaho following the death of a patriarchal figure in their family.

Rudin is set to produce the Broadway show alongside IAC businessman Barry Diller. “Little Bear Ridge Road” marks a reunion between the two, who previously co-produced over 10 Broadway shows together, including renditions of “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “West Side Story,” “Carousel” and more. Diller’s IAC has also, notably, helped finance Rudin-produced films like “Uncut Gems,” “Lady Bird,” “Ex Machina,” “Eighth Grade,” “Inherent Vice” and “First Cow.”

Even more importantly, the play marks a return to Broadway for Rudin, who stepped away from the theatrical space after reports were published in 2021 about his abusive behavior behind the scenes.

Rudin, who won an Oscar in 2008 for producing the Best Picture-winning “No Country for Old Men,” announced his intention to return to Broadway in a March interview with The New York Times. He told the publication that he planned on staging four plays in the coming Broadway season, including a fall run of “Little Bear Ridge Road,” a fall run of playwright Bruce Norris’ “Cottonfield” and an Off Broadway production next winter of a new Wallace Shawn play directed by André Gregory titled “What We Did Before Our Moth Days.”

In the same interview, Rudin reflected on his behavior and his public downfall. “I was just too rough on people,” he admitted. “I have a lot more self-control than I had four years ago. I learned I don’t matter that much, and I think that’s very healthy.” When asked whether or not he planned to start producing movies again as well, Rudin said, “I want to do this first. I want to see what it feels like. I want, frankly, to make sure I’m still good at it, and I want to make sure that I’m not going to be killed by a sniper’s bullet on 45th Street.”

“I think one of the good things that happened with me being out for a few years is that it created room for other people, which I think is a great thing and a really healthy thing,” the producer added. “At the same time, there’s a corner of it that I enjoyed occupying, which is making good work with good friends and people that I trusted and wanted to be in a room with. So I’m going to do that.”

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