Roundabout Theatre Company has just announced the complete cast and design team for the upcoming production of The Imaginary Invalid by Molière translated by Doug Skinner, adapted by Tony Award winner Bill Irwin (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) with direction by Tony Award nominee Brandon J. Dirden (Waiting for Godot) making his Broadway directorial debut.
The Imaginary Invalid will star previously announced Bill Irwin as “Argan.” He will be joined by Tony Award nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Smash, The Prom) as “Dr. Diafoirus/Purgon,” Tony Award nominee Dylan Baker (La Bête, The Audience) as “Beralde,” Golden Globe Award winner Rachel Bloom (“Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” Death, Let Me Do My Show) making her Broadway debut as “Toinette,” Hiram Delgado (Take Me Out, Much Ado About Nothing) as “Bonnefoy/Thomas/Fleurant,” Theatre World Award winner Crystal A. Dickinson (You Can’t Take It With You, Clybourne Park) as “Beline,” Daniel Croix Henderson (Much Ado About Nothing, Seven Guitars) making his Broadway debut as “Cleante,” and Ava Lalezarzadeh (English, “The Morning Show”) as “Angelique.”
The creative team for The Imaginary Invalid includes: Beowulf Boritt (Set Design), Karen Perry (Costume Design), Allen Lee Hughes (Lighting Design), John Gromada (Sound Design and Original Music), Nikiya Mathis (Hair and Wig Design), and Lorenzo Pisoni (Movement Direction). Casting is by Carrie Gardner, Stephen Kopel, and Jillian Cimini.
Tony Award®-winner Bill Irwin returns to Broadway (and to Molière) to head the cast of his razor-sharp new adaptation of The Imaginary Invalid, a comedy that proves hypochondria never goes out of style. Professional patient Argan indulges his every ailment, and schemes to marry off his daughter to a doctor to save on medical bills. But she has another life in mind. With a fearless ensemble directed by Broadway veteran Brandon J. Dirden, this fiercely funny production is about to prove that real life is what happens while you and your family are making other plans.
The Imaginary Invalid will begin preview performances on Friday, September 25, 2026, and open officially on Thursday, October 22, 2026, at the Todd Haimes Theatre (227 West 42nd Street) on Broadway. This is a limited engagement through Sunday, November 22, 2026.
Developed with the support of Celebration Barn, David Bruin, Artistic Director.
The Imaginary Invalid will play Tuesday through Saturday evenings at 8:00PM with Wednesday and Saturday matinees at 2:00PM and Sunday matinees at 3:00PM. Following opening night on October 22, Tuesday through Friday evening performances will be at 7:00PM. Please visit roundabouttheatre.org for the most up-to-date performance schedule.
BIOGRAPHIES:
Brooks Ashmanskas (Dr. Diafoirus/Purgon) Three-time Tony Award nominee Brooks Ashmanskas has appeared on Broadway in Smash (Drama Desk Award; Tony and Drama League nominations), Once Upon A Mattress; The Prom (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics and Drama League nominations); Sunday in the Park With George; Shuffle Along; Something Rotten; Bullets Over Broadway; Promises, Promises; Present Laughter; The Ritz; Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me (Tony, Drama Desk nominations); The Producers; Gypsy; Little Me, Dream; and How To Succeed… He has appeared in multiple Off-Broadway productions including four Encores! productions at City Center (Are You Now or Have You Ever Been, On A Clear Day…, Sunday in the Park…, Dear World and Pal Joey), Stephen Sondheim and John Weidman’s WiseGuys, Jonathan Marc Sherman’s Clive, Neil Simon’s London Suite, Jason Robert Brown’s Songs For A New World and New York City Opera’s Candide directed by Hal Prince, and has been seen in regional theaters across the country from Los Angeles to Boston, Atlanta to Washington D.C. Brooks can be seen as Stanley James in the Netflix series “UnCoupled” and heard as the voice of Gore Vidal in Ethan Hawke’s “The Last Movie Stars” on MAX. Other recent television appearances include “Elsbeth” (CBS), “Best Medicine” (FOX), “The Good Lord Bird” (Showtime), “Tales Of The City” (Netflix), “I Love You More” (Amazon) and as Judge Greg Brochard in both “The Good Wife” and “The Good Fight” (CBS). On film he was in Nora Ephron’s Julie and Julia, can be seen in Tim Federle’s Better Nate Than Ever, William Parker’s Atrabilous, and Richard LaGravanese’s A Family Affair. Mr. Ashmanskas earned a BA in Drama from Bennington College, and studied abroad at RADA in London, The Shakespeare Institute in Stratford upon Avon and The Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff.
Dylan Baker (Beralde)’s feature film credits include Happiness (IFP Gotham Award, IFP West Independent Spirit Award nomination); Dream Scenario; Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile; Miss Sloane; Misogynists; Selma; Anchorman 2; Franny; The Humbling; 23 Blast (his directorial debut); Secretariat; Revolutionary Road; Hide and Seek; Spiderman II and III; Head of State; How to Deal; Road to Perdition; Changing Lanes; The Cell; Along Came a Spider; Random Hearts; Requiem for a Dream; Celebrity; Trick ‘R Treat; Simply Irresistible; Disclosure; Planes, Trains, and Automobiles; The Long Walk Home; Delirious; The Hunting Party; Across the Universe; Diminished Capacity; LaRoy, Texas; and most recently The Statement. Baker’s television credits include “Hunters,” “Inside Man,” “Homeland,” BBC’s “Little Women,” “Damages,” “Confirmation,” “The Americans,” “The Good Wife” (three Emmy Award nominations), “The Good Fight,” “I’m Dying Up Here,” “From the Earth to the Moon,” “Murder One,” “The Pitts,” “Feds,” “The Laramie Project,” “Kings,” “Political Animals,” “Ugly Betty,” “Burn Notice,” “The Gilded Age,” “Only Murders in the Building” and the recently completed “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” Broadway credits include La Bête (Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations), Eastern Standard (Theater World Award), Mauritius, November, The Audience, The Front Page and God of Carnage. He appeared Off-Broadway in Not About Heroes (Obie Award), Sea of Tranquility, Homebody/Kabul, Medea at BAM, Corruption and The Disappear.
Rachel Bloom (Toinette) co-created, executive produced, and starred in the CW musical dramedy “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend,” for which she won a Golden Globe, Emmy, and Critics’ Choice Award, among other accolades. In 2024, Bloom released her Netflix special Death, Let Me Do My Special, which was nominated for a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Comedy Special. Before that, her off-Broadway engagement of the same show (Death, Let Me Do My Show) received a Drama Desk Award nomination for lyrics and also toured to sold out audiences in London, Chicago, and Boston, among other cities. Her recent film credits include The Devil Wears Prada 2, Stop! That! Train!, and the upcoming Angry Birds Movie 3. Other acting credits include co-starring in Hulu’s critically acclaimed comedy series “Reboot,” recurring in season two of Max’s original series “Julia,” and voicing the role of “Barb” in Trolls World Tour. Her book, I Want to Be Where the Normal People Are, was released through Grand Central Publishing in 2020.
Hiram Delgado (Bonnefoy/Thomas/Fleurant) is an actor and writer from Carolina, Puerto Rico, based in New York City. His Broadway credits include the Tony Award-winning revival of Take Me Out at Second Stage/Schoenfeld Theatre. His Off-Broadway credits include Othello and A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Classical Theatre of Harlem, Much Ado About Nothing at The Public Theater, The Hours are Feminine at INTAR, Agnes at 59E59, and many others. Regionally, Hiram has performed in Murder On The Links and Two Sisters and a Piano at Two River Theater and The Model American at Williamstown Theatre Festival. His television and film credits include Colapso, Undercard, Homesick, New Amsterdam, Prodigal Son, Madam Secretary, and The Code. As a writer, Hiram develops original work for the stage and screen, drawing on navigating identity, culture, and life between worlds. Hiram is bilingual in English and Spanish and holds an MFA from NYU’s Graduate Acting Program. He is a proud member of Society Theatre Company.
Crystal A. Dickinson (Beline). Broadway: the Tony Award-winning play Clybourne Park and Tony nominated play You Can’t Take It With You. Recent Off-Broadway credits include: Blood Quilt at Lincoln Center, The White Chip at MCC, Covenant at Roundabout, Lessons In Survival: 1971 at The Vineyard Theater, Cullud Wattah at The Public Theater. Regional work includes: most recently, Purpose at La Jolla Playhouse and Wine in the Wilderness at Two River Theater. She has also performed at Signature Theater, Playwrights Horizons and The Atlantic. Film & TV credits: recurring roles on “The CHI” and “For Life.” A Theater World Award recipient and four-time AUDELCO nominee. Serves on the board of Two River Theater in Redbank, NJ and the artistic board at Symphony Space in New York City. Has taught at Spelman College, Princeton, Pace University and both her alma maters, Seton Hall University & The University of Illinois @ Champaign-Urbana.
Daniel Croix Henderson (Cleante) is an actor working across film, television, and theatre making his Broadway debut in The Imaginary Invalid. On television, he’s known for “Manhunt” (Apple TV+), “Love, Victor” (Hulu), and “The Oval” (BET). On stage, he has worked with Broadway directors including Knud Adams in the world premiere of Jiehae Park’s the aves and Kenny Leon in Much Ado About Nothing at The Public Theater, a New York Times Critic’s Pick. As a filmmaker, he wrote and directed the Oscar-qualified short film Huli, which screened at more than fifteen festivals across the US and abroad, including the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival and Kino Babylon in Berlin. He produced Don’t Tell Mama (dir. Chloe Leigh King), which premiered at the 2026 Sundance Film Festival, and co-wrote and directed Oasis, programmed at Lincoln Center’s DIFF, supported by the NAACP Cinematic Shorts Program and Adobe. Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Daniel is a graduate of the SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Theatre Arts and Film, where he earned his BFA in Acting. He lives in LA and frequently works in Honolulu and NYC.
Bill Irwin (Argan; Adaptation). Original member: San Francisco’s Pickle Family Circus, and Kraken, directed by Herbert Blau. Original works include Fool Moon, Largely New York, The Harlequin Studies, Mr. Fox: A Rumination, The Happiness Lecture, Old Hats, The Regard of Flight and On Beckett. Theatre: Eureka Day/Broadway, Endgame (IRT & ACT), Iceman Cometh/Broadway, Show Boat (SF Opera), Roundabout Theatre’s revival of Waiting for Godot (2009 Drama Desk Nomination), Broadway/West End revival of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf (2005 Tony Award, Helen Hayes Award), The Goat or Who is Sylvia, Bye Bye Birdie, King Lear, Accidental Death of An Anarchist, 5-6-7-8 Dance! Waiting For Godot (Lincoln Center and Seattle Repertory Theatre), Scapin, The Tempest, Garden of Earthly Delights, Texts for Nothing, A Flea In Her Ear, 2003/2004 Signature Theatre Playwright in Residence, The Seagull, A Man’s A Man, 3 Cuckolds. Television: “PBS Great Performances: Bill Irwin Clown Prince,” “Third Rock from the Sun,” “Northern Exposure,” “Sesame Street,” “Elmo’s World,” “The Regard of Flight” (PBS), 1996 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony, “The Cosby Show,” “The Laramie Project,” “Subway Stories,” “Bette Midler’s Mondo Beyondo,” “Law and Order: SVU,” “Life on Mars,” “A Gifted Man,” “CSI,” “The Good Wife,” “Lights Out,” “Monday Mornings,” “Blue Bloods,” “Elementary,” “Quarry,” “Legion,” “This is Us,” “The Dropout,” “The Beast in Me.” Film: Rustin, Spoiler Alert, HBO’s Confirmation, Rachel Getting Married, Bastards, Interstellar, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Higher Ground, Igby Goes Down, Lady in the Water, Dark Matter, Raving, Across The Universe, Popeye, Eight Men Out, Silent Tongue, Illuminata, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, My Blue Heaven, A New Life, Scenes from a Mall, Stepping Out and Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey. Awards: National Endowment for the Arts Choreographer’s Fellowship, Guggenheim and Fulbright Fellowships, MacArthur Fellowship.
Ava Lalezarzadeh (Angelique) returns to Roundabout Theatre Company after making her Broadway debut in English (five Tony Award nominations, including Best Play), recipient of a Clive Barnes Award. Off-Broadway: English (Atlantic Theater Company and Roundabout Theatre Company), recipient of an Obie Award Special Citation. Television: series regular on “Before” (Apple TV+) opposite Billy Crystal, “The Morning Show” (Apple TV+), “New Amsterdam” (NBC), “Big Mouth” (Netflix), and “Wild Life” (HBO). Lalezarzadeh writes, executive produces, and stars in the Oscar-qualified short film In the Garden of Tulips, a coming-of-age portrait inspired by true events. A feature adaptation is in development. Upcoming projects include two feature films and a Netflix animated series. Training: B.A., UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television.
Brandon J. Dirden (Director) appeared on Broadway in Jamie Lloyd’s production of Waiting for Godot; the Tony Award winning production of Take Me Out; Skeleton Crew, for which he received Drama Desk and Outer Critics Awards nominations; as Martin Luther King, Jr. opposite Bryan Cranston in the Tony Award-winning production of All the Way; and as Booster in the Tony Award winning revival of August Wilson’s Jitney. Other Broadway credits include Clybourne Park, Enron, and Prelude to a Kiss. Off-Broadway, he appeared as Boy Willie in The Piano Lesson, for which he won Obie, Theatre World and AUDELCO awards; The First Breeze of Summer and Day of Absence all at Signature Theatre; the world premiere of Detroit ’67 at the Public and Classical Theatre of Harlem; Peter and the Starcatcher at New York Theatre Workshop; and as ‘Brutus’ in TFANA’s production of Julius Caesar. On screen he has appeared in “The Good Wife,” “For Life,” “Evil,” “The Big C,” “Public Morals,” “Manifest,” “The Get Down,” “The Accidental Wolf,” “Blue Bloods,” “The Quad,” the miniseries “Mrs. America,” four seasons of “The Americans” as Agent Dennis Aderholt, and in Katori Hall’s series “P-Valley.” Brandon has directed numerous plays including the revival of Steve Carter’s Eden at Yale Rep and most recently Arthur Miller’s The Price at Two River Theater. Brandon is an Associate Arts Professor at Tisch Grad Acting at NYU, a volunteer at the 52nd Street Project and a proud member of Actors’ Equity Association, SAG-AFTRA and Stage Directors and Choreographers Society. B.A. in Mathematics from Morehouse College. M.F.A. in Acting from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Beowulf Boritt (Set Design). 35 Broadway designs include the Tony Award winning sets for New York, New York and Act One, the Tony nominated sets for The Scottsboro Boys, POTUS, Therese Raquin, and Flying Over Sunset. Also on Broadway, Come From Away, …Spelling Bee, Rock Of Ages, Smash, Left On Tenth, Our Town, The Piano Lesson (’22), Ohio State Murders, The Old Man and the Pool, Freestyle Love Supreme, Be More Chill, The New One, Bernhardt/Hamlet, Harmony, Meteor Shower, A Bronx Tale, Prince Of Broadway, Hand To God, Sondheim On Sondheim, LoveMusik, Chaplin, On The Town (’14), Sunday In the Park… (’17), Bronx Bombers, Grace, and The Two And Only. 100 Off-Broadway shows include Shakespeare in the Park (Hamlet, Much Ado, Merry Wives, Coriolanus), The Last Five Years, The Connector, Fiddler On The Roof (in Yiddish), Sleepwalk With Me, and Miss Julie. He has designed for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and designed around the world in England, Russia, China, Australia, and Japan. He received a 2007 OBIE Award for sustained excellence. Author: Transforming Space Over Time, about Broadway set design. Founder of Tony and Obie-winning The 1/52 Project which has awarded over $500,000 in grants to early career designers from historically excluded groups.
Allen Lee Hughes (Lighting Design). Broadway: The Balusters, Our Town, Home, Topdog/Underdog, Ohio State Murders, A Soldier’s Play, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, Clybourne Park, Having Our Say, Mule Bone, Once on This Island, K2, Strange Interlude and others. His work has been seen at major theaters including A.C.T., McCarter, Seattle Rep, Goodman Theatre, Guthrie Theatre, Mark Taper Forum, Roundabout Theatre and Playwright’s Horizons. Honors: Four Tony nominations, an Outer Critics Circle Award, USITT Distinguished Achievement, Hewes Award, Merritt Award for Excellence in Design and Collaboration and two Helen Hayes awards. He teaches at NYU and The Fellows Program at Arena Stage bears his name.
Karen Perry (Costume Design) is honored to be here at the Roundabout Theatre with Bill Irwin & Brandon Dirden on this fun and exciting production. Karen has over 40+ years of design experience in film, TV, and theatre across the country. This season, Karen is also designing Lincoln Center Theater’s Seven Guitars by August Wilson, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson. Karen’s works include drama and comedies and lots of new works like: John Grisham’s A Time To Kill, Tarell McCraney’s Brother/Sister Trilogy, Walter Mosely’s Fall of Heaven, Regina Taylor’s Trinity River Trilogy, Daniel Beaty’s Resurrection, Ken Ludwig’s Death on the Nile, John Spellos’s Rosie Is Red, Everyone Else Is Blue, just to name a few, in addition to many classic plays: Wine in the Wilderness, Trouble In Mind, Third, Guadalupe in the Guest Room, Your Blues Ain’t Sweet Like Mine, My Lord What a Night, Kunene & the King, STEW, Clyde’s (*Peter Norton Award winner), Intimate Apparel, A Raisin In the Sun, A Lion in Winter, Wild with Happy, School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play, and 9 of the 10 August Wilson Century Plays. Karen’s costume design of original and classic musicals includes: Destiny of Desire: A Telenovela, Personality, The Lloyd Price Musical, Love in Hate Nation, Oo-Bla-Dee, Fun Home, Crowns, Cabin in the Sky, Oklahoma, HAIR, Dreamgirls, and Bring in da Noise, Bring in da Funk. Her considerable contributions to TV and film design works include collaborations with writers and directors Julie Dash, Joe Sargent, Sydney Poitier, Forest Whittaker, Spike Lee, John Sayles, Jason Alexander, William Greaves, and the late great Gregory Hines, to name a few. Her awards and accolades include an Emmy nomination, Peter Norton Award, Cable Ace Award, Lucille Lortel Award, NAACP Award, Craig Noel Award, BTAA Awards, CDG Award, Irma P Hall Award, 9 Audelco Awards, Lifetime Achievement Award in Costume Design for American & Black Theatre Film & Television, CDG, and NBTF.
John Gromada (Sound Design and Original Music). NY: 40+ Broadway productions as composer and/or sound designer, including Fallen Angels, Birthday Candles, All My Sons, Torch Song, The Elephant Man with Bradley Cooper, Trip to Bountiful with Cicely Tyson (Tony nomination), The Best Man (Drama Desk Award), Clybourne Park, Rabbit Hole, Prelude to a Kiss, Proof, Twelve Angry Men, A Few Good Men. Off-Bway credits include Lowcountry, Brooklyn Laundry, A Sherlock Carol, The Cake, Old Hats, Orphans’ Home Cycle (Drama Desk Award, Henry Hewes Award), Shipwrecked! (Lucille Lortel Award), The Skriker (Drama Desk Award), Machinal (OBIE). At the Delacorte he’s scored productions of Measure for Measure, Julius Caesar, Henry V, and Tartfuffe. Regional: hundreds of productions at major regional theatres and abroad, recently Somewhere and The Mousetrap at the Guthrie, and The DaVinci Code at the Alley. Touring: Fellowship for the Performing Arts’ Screwtape Letters, CS Lewis Onstage, The Great Divorce and more. Film and television credits include scores for Chazz Palminteri’s A Bronx Tale, and the Emmy nominated Trip to Bountiful. Radio dramas include The White Heron Radio Ghost Light Series, A Christmas Carol, A Ghost Story of Christmas for Ford’s Theatre, WAMU and PRX, and several dramas for Audible.com. Other awards and honors include an NEA Opera/Music Theatre Fellowship, Connecticut Critics Circle Awards, Eddy Awards, and grants from the NJ State Council on the Arts and Meet the Composer. Proud member of United Scenic Artists Local 829 and ASCAP. johngromada.net
Nikiya Mathis (Hair and Wig Design), multi-hyphenate, made history as the first wig designer honored with a Tony Award for Jaja’s African Hair Braiding. As an actress, she has recurred on TV shows including “Snowfall” and “Power Book III: Raising Kanan.” Select Broadway wig design credits: Cats: The Jellicle Ball, Jaja’s African Hair Braiding, Purpose, Home, Once Upon a One More Time, Topdog/Underdog, The Heart of Rock and Roll. Upcoming: Warriors. Follow @nikiyamathis @our_black_tresses
