Robert Sean Leonard goes from 'House' to 'Pygmalion' at Old Globe

Robert Sean Leonard goes from ‘House’ to ‘Pygmalion’ at Old Globe

By David Ng

Nov. 8, 2012 12:38 PM PT

With his eight-season residency at Fox’s “House M.D.” now complete, Robert Sean Leonard is heading back to the theater in a new production of George Bernard Shaw’s “Pygmalion” at the Old Globe in San Diego. Leonard will play the role of Henry Higgins in the play, which is scheduled to open Jan. 17.

“Pygmalion” will be directed by Nicholas Martin and is set to run through Feb. 17. The rest of the cast hasn’t been announced.

Leonard previously appeared at the Globe nearly 20 years ago in a 1993 production of Shakespeare’s “King Lear,” starring Hal Holbrook.

Former Times theater critic Sylvie Drake wrote in her review of the production that Leonard’s performance as the young Edgar was “thrilling in its virtuosity.”

The Old Globe’s revival of “Pygmalion” will mark the 100th anniversary of the play, which had its premiere in 1913 in Vienna.

On Broadway, Leonard has appeared in Tom Stoppard’s “The Invention of Love” and “Arcadia”; Richard Greenberg’s “The Violet Hour”; and the acclaimed 2003 revival of Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Day’s Journey Into Night.” Last year, he starred in a Broadway production of “Born Yesterday,” with Nina Arianda and Jim Belushi.

Leonard won the Tony Award for featured actor in a play for “The Invention of Love” in 2001.

The actor played Dr. James Wilson opposite Hugh Laurie on the long-running drama “House.” Leonard’s big screen credits include “Dead Poets Society,” “Mr. and Mrs. Bridge” and “Swing Kids.”

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