Rachel Bloom to Make Broadway Debut in ‘The Imaginary Invalid’

Rachel Bloom will make her Broadway debut in The Imaginary Invalid this fall.

The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star joins the previously announced Bill Irwin, who will take on the lead role of Argan and who adapted Moliere’s 17th-century comedy about hypochondria. The hypochondriac in question, Argan, comes up with a scheme to marry his daughter to a doctor to save on medical bills, but she fights back. 

Newly announced cast members include Dylan Baker (La Bête, The Good Wife), Brooks Ashmanskas (Smash, The Prom), Hiram Delgado (Take Me Out), Crystal A. Dickinson (You Can’t Take It With You), Daniel Croix Henderson (Seven Guitars) and Ava Lalezarzadeh (English).

The play will begin preview performances on Sept. 25, ahead of an Oct. 22, opening at the Todd Haimes Theatre. The limited engagement runs through Nov. 22. 

While this is the Broadway debut for Bloom, she has previously appeared on stage Off-Broadway with her one-woman show, Death, Let Me Do My Special, and is known for her musicalized numbers in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, a show which she co-created, wrote and starred in.

The play, which was translated by Doug Skinner, features direction by Brandon J. Dirden, who will be making his Broadway directorial debut after appearing in acting roles including the most recent revival of Waiting for Godot.

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).