Michael Patrick Thornton Joins WAITING FOR GODOT on Broadway
Waiting For Godot will play Broadway’s Hudson Theatre beginning Saturday, September 13.
By: Stephi Wild Apr. 24, 2025
Michael Patrick Thornton will return to Broadway this fall as ‘Lucky’ in Jamie Lloyd’s new production of Samuel Beckett’s Waiting for Godot starring Keanu Reeves as ‘Estragon’ and Alex Winter as ‘Vladimir.’
Waiting For Godot will play Broadway’s Hudson Theatre with preview performances beginning Saturday, September 13 for a Sunday, September 28 opening night. This strictly limited engagement will play through Sunday, January 4, 2026 only. Tickets are now on sale.
Thornton previously collaborated with Lloyd in the 2023 Tony Award-nominated revival of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House starring Jessica Chastain where he played ‘Dr. Rank,’ receiving the Callaway Award for his performance. A leading actor in Chicago’s theater scene, he won a Jeff Award for his solo performance in The Good Thief and received a nomination for Suicide, Incorporated. On television, he is well known for his recurring role as ‘Dr. Fife’ in “Private Practice” as well as “Madam Secretary” and “The Good Doctor.”
Beckett’s masterpiece, Waiting For Godot, is acknowledged as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century. Originally premiering in 1953 in French with a subsequent English-language production premiering in 1955 in London, it has become a cultural touchstone having been translated into dozens of languages and has inspired artists in the worlds of film, television, dance, opera, visual arts, fashion, and even video games. London’s National Theatre surveyed over 800 leaders of the theater world and Waiting For Godot topped the list as the most significant play of the last 100 years. In 2009, Ben Brantley, writing for the New York Times, said of Godot, “this greatest of 20th century plays, is also entertainment of a high order.”
Complete casting and design team for Waiting For Godot will be announced soon.
About Michael Patrick Thornton
Thornton is an actor, improviser, writer, director, and co-founder of Chicago’s acclaimed The Gift Theatre. He recently starred alongside Jessica Chastain in the Broadway revival of A Doll’s House, directed by Jamie Lloyd and adapted by Amy Herzog, for which Michael's performance as ‘Dr. Rank’ earned him the 2023 Actors’ Equity Foundation Joe A. Callaway Award for best performance in a classical play in New York. Currently, Thornton stars in Obliteration, written by frequent collaborator Andrew Hinderaker and featuring Cyd Blakewell, now running at Chicago’s Revival Theater after a sold-out run at Steppenwolf. Thornton made his Broadway debut in Macbeth with Daniel Craig and Ruth Negga, directed by Sam Gold. On screen, he has acted opposite Jessica Chastain, J.K. Simmons, Hilary Swank, Alicia Vikander, Jude Law, and Demián Bichir. Notable recent credits include The Savant, Black Rabbit, “NCIS,” “Away,” “The Good Doctor,” “61st Street,” and “Let The Right One In.” For two seasons, Thornton starred on “Private Practice” opposite Audra McDonald. As a playwright and director, he has developed original works for stage and radio, as well as directed numerous world and national premieres, most notably David Rabe’s Good For Otto. His long-running improv show You & Me debuted at Second City, has enjoyed residencies at iO and Steppenwolf, and recently celebrated its 10th anniversary by making its New York debut at Lincoln Center. Thornton is the author of two novels: A Low Hum, and Janitor. Michael uses a wheelchair because walking is dumb.
