Lithgow set for Broadway return

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NEW YORK, July 26 (UPI) -- John Lithgow has signed on to star in the world premiere production of David Auburn's play "The Columnist," the Broadway show's producers said.

The Manhattan Theatre Club's limited engagement of the play is to begin previews April 3, with opening night planned for April 25 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre, it was announced Tuesday.

Lithgow has received two Tony Awards -- for the 2002 musical "The Sweet Smell of Success," in which he played another notable columnist J.J. Hunsecker -- and in 1973 for his Broadway debut in "The Changing Room."

He also has earned five Emmy Awards, the most recent of which was for his work in Showtime's "Dexter." He has appeared in more than 30 motion pictures and received two Oscar nominations for "The World According to Garp" and "Terms of Endearment," as well.

"Columnists are kings in mid-century America and Joseph Alsop [played by Lithgow] wears the crown," said a synopsis of "The Columnist." "Joe is beloved, feared and courted in equal measure by the Washington political world at whose center he sits. But as the '60s dawn and America undergoes dizzying change, the intense political drama Joe is embroiled in becomes deeply personal as well."