Jake Gyllenhaal to return to Broadway next year in revival of 'Burn This'

Another film star with a burgeoning theater resumé has signed on for Broadway's 2016-17 season.

Jake Gyllenhaal will appear next year in the first Broadway revival of Burn This, Lanford Wilson's celebrated 1987 play, set in downtown New York in the wake of a tragic accident that helps pull two struggling, alienated people together. The production, set to begin previews in February and open March 6, will mark the reopening of the Hudson Theatre on West 44th Street.

Featuring Gyllenhaal (who appeared on Broadway last year, in the play Constellations) as Pale, a character introduced by John Malkovich, the staging will be directed by Tony Award-winning Broadway veteran Michael Mayer (the original Spring Awakening, American Idiot, Hedwig and the Angry Inch). In a statement, Mayer said he was "honored to bring Lanford Wilson's gorgeous and timeless play back to Broadway," and praised Gyllenhaal, "whose stage work has been exhilarating and who is a dream choice for this role."

The production will follow Gyllenhaal's much-anticipated stint this October in concert performances of Stephen Sondheim's Sunday In the Park With George at New York City Center.