Tony-Winner Laura Benanti Talks Matthew Perry and NBC's ‘Go On’

Laura Benanti is much more than a Broadway star. The actor, who also starred in last season’s short-lived “The Playboy Club,” will be coming to a television near you again next season. She’ll star alongside Matthew Perry (“Friends”) in “Go On,” a new sitcom NBC recently picked up for the Fall season.

Benanti will play a group therapy leader in the comedy and Perry will star as a sportscaster who’s forced to go to the “Transitions” group sessions after suffering a loss.

Her character has “the deep, dark secret that she doesn’t have any skills,” Benanti told Back Stage at the Opening Act gala on Monday night. “She’s like, ‘I’m gonna do a support group ‘cause I wanna help people!’ But she doesn’t have a degree and didn’t go to college. She means well and she’s deeply spiritual in a new-agey way.”

Dark Toy, Todd Holland and Karey Burke’s company, are producing the series.

“I’m really excited about it,” Benanti says. “I think it’s really funny and smart, and I think Matthew Perry’s brilliant. Scott Silveri, the writer, is fantastic. Todd Holland is the director, and he’s great. It’s a whole incredible cast. Julie White, my Broadway pal is in it, so I’m really excited.”

Other cast members include Suzy Nakamura (“The West Wing”), Allison Miller (“Terra Nova”) and Khary Payton (“G.I. Joe: Renegades”).