Actress Lily Rabe is heading back to Broadway this fall in a new revival of Jon Robin Baitz’s 2011 play “Other Desert Cities,” opening Oct. 18 at the Hudson Theatre after previews begin Sept. 29.
Rabe, 44, plays Brooke, a writer whose memoir exposes long-hidden secrets within a wealthy, politically conservative family, the Wyeths of Palm Springs, California. She stars opposite Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Ed Harris, who play her parents, along with Allison Janney as her aunt and Joe Keery as her brother. The production is directed by John Benjamin Hickey.
The cast held its first read-through on Aug. 25. Rabe said the ensemble bonded quickly. “I’m in love with all of them,” she said. She has worked with Harris before, including on the 2023 film “Downtown Owl,” which Rabe co-directed and in which the two also acted, but this marks her first stage collaboration with Louis-Dreyfus, Janney and Keery.
Rabe and Louis-Dreyfus previously shared a stage in June, presenting the Best Play award together at the Tony Awards. “I’ll watch her in anything. I wish she were our president,” Rabe said, referencing Louis-Dreyfus’ Emmy-winning role in “Veep.” “Although I’m glad she’s not, because I wouldn’t be able to do this play with her.”
The revival caps a busy stretch for Rabe. On Aug. 23 she finished a run opposite Raúl Esparza in “The Winter’s Tale,” her fifth production with the Public Theater’s free Shakespeare in the Park series at the Delacorte Theater. It marked her first turn at the Delacorte in 11 years; her last Broadway role, in “Seminar,” closed 14 years ago.
Rabe is the daughter of the late Oscar-nominated actress Jill Clayburgh, who died in November 2010, and 86-year-old Tony-winning playwright David Rabe. She was born in New York City and later lived in Westchester and Connecticut before returning full time to Manhattan after 12 years of splitting time with or living in Los Angeles.
She now lives in the city with her longtime partner, actor Hamish Linklater, and their four children, ages 4, 6, 9 and 19 — the eldest from Linklater’s previous relationship. The couple met in 2006 through Clayburgh, who acted alongside Linklater in an off-Broadway play that year. They grew close in 2010, when Rabe was cast as Portia opposite Al Pacino in “The Merchant of Venice,” with Linklater playing her love interest; the production, directed by Daniel Sullivan, ran in Central Park before transferring to Broadway and earned Rabe a Tony nomination for Best Actress.
Rabe’s other screen credits include multiple roles across Ryan Murphy’s “American Horror Story” anthology series, alongside Jessica Lange and Kathy Bates, and the upcoming comedy-drama “Capsized” with Rhys Ifans.
Of “Other Desert Cities,” Rabe said the play’s exploration of family secrets resonated with her. “Often the greatest mysteries of our life are from what’s closest to us — and that’s our families,” she said. “I find that to be a harrowing idea. And compelling. And exhilarating.”
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