Broadway Two-Timers: Actors Who Open Two Shows in One Season

Landing one Broadway show is a milestone in any actor’s career, but two shows in one season is the dream.

Bobby Cannavale will star in not one but two Broadway productions next season. He’ll start the season off alongside Al Pacino in the revival of David Mamet’s “Glengarry Glen Ross.” Then he’ll finish the season, leading Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Clifford Odets  “The Big Knife.”

However, Cannavale is not the only actor to play a Broadway double-header. Here’s a look at other actors who have opened two shows in one season.


Jeremy Jordan

Jeremy Jordan had a busy 2011-2012 season, originating the roles of Clyde Parker in “Bonnie & Clyde” and Jack Kelly in “Newsies.” Jordan played Jack when the show was at Paper Mill Playhouse in the fall and wasn’t originally going to be available for the Broadway run, due to his contract with “Bonnie & Clyde.” However, when the show closed, Jordan rejoined the newsboy gang!


Cynthia Nixon

The star earned a Tony nomination for “Wit” last season, but she made theater history when she appeared in two plays in the same season simultaneously. While she was a freshman at Barnard College, Nixon played Donna in “Hurlyburly” and Debbie in “The Real Thing.” The theaters were nearby and her roles were small enough that she could go back and forth.


Jessica Hecht

Jessica Hecht only has one show to worry about this year, as she’s starring alongside Jim Parsons in the Broadway revival of “Harvey,” but she’s done double duty in the past. When the revival “Brighton Beach Memoirs” shuttered too quickly in 2009, Hecht went on to appear in the revival of “A View From the Bridge,” earning a Tony nomination for her work.


Kate Burton

The talented Kate Burton spent the 2001-2002 season starring in two Broadway revivals. Not only did she play Pinhead and Mrs. Kendal in “The Elephant Man,” but she also played the title role in “Hedda Gabler.”


Bernadette Peters

Bernadette Peters won the Isabelle Stevenson Award at the Tony Awards this year, and despite her storied career as an actor, she’s only been in two shows in one season once. Peters appeared in “Johnny-No Trump” and played Josie Cohan in “George M!” during the 1967-1968 season. She was also a standby in “The Girl in the Freudian Slip,” giving her three Broadway credits during that season.