Show Finder

John Lithgow: Stories by Heart

First Preview: Dec 20, 2017
Opening Date: Dec 20, 2017
Closing Date: Mar 4, 2018
Running Time: 02:15
John Lithgow: Stories by Heart

Share on Social Media

Playing @
Todd Haimes Theatre
227 W 42nd St, New York, NY 10036
Virtuosity and imagination combine in one utterly unique event, as Tony and Emmy Award winner John Lithgow creates a singularly intimate evening.

With equal measures of humor and heart, he evokes memories of family, explores and expands the limits of the actor’s craft, and masterfully conjures a cast of indelible characters from classic short stories by Ring Lardner and P. G. Wodehouse.

Lithgow elevates the magic of storytelling to masterful new heights, with a performance The New York Times calls “a tour de force.”

directed by Daniel Sullivan 
BroadwayPlay - ComedyPlay - Drama
Show Notes: 1 Intermission
Age Guidance: 13
Audience Advisory: 7 PM Performance Week Jan 23 - 27 Jan 30 - Feb 3

Performance Schedule

TUESDAY thru SATURDAY @ 8 PM
WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY @ 2 PM
SUNDAY @ 3 PM


Written By
  • Adapted by John Lithgow

Director
  • Daniel Sullivan

TDF Tickets Offers:

Listed at

Never

Full-price tickets:

$29.00 - $129.00

Video

Reviews

  • .... give him one for spiritual effects, because “Stories by Heart” is delightful: illuminating the stories, uplifting us. I have to admit I didn’t expect to enjoy such an old-fashioned show; delight, illumination and uplift feel like debased currencies in 2018, purchasing nothing. 
  • It is hard to imagine who, aside from John Lithgow, could fashion a Broadway show from a pair of bedtime stories and not make everyone fall asleep. Yet there the actor is in Stories by Heart, alone on a stage whose simple wood furnishings and paneling evoke the absence of John Lee Beatty’s usual grand sets for the Roundabout Theatre Company, with nothing to keep us on the hook but Lithgow’s masterly cultivation, confidence and warmth—and a relic-like 1939 anthology called Tellers of Tales, edited by W. Somerset Maugham.
  • John Lithgow is the most personable of performers, and his chatty solo piece “John Lithgow: Stories by Heart” finds him in a mellow mood, sharing loving memories of his family and of the stories they used to read to one another. The two stories he tells in Roundabout Theater Company’s Broadway staging of the show — Ring Lardner’s “Haircut” and “Uncle Fred Flits By,” by P.G. Wodehouse – are charming examples of the ones that his dramatically disposed father recited to his audience of four spellbound children.
  • .... give him one for spiritual effects, because “Stories by Heart” is delightful: illuminating the stories, uplifting us. I have to admit I didn’t expect to enjoy such an old-fashioned show; delight, illumination and uplift feel like debased currencies in 2018, purchasing nothing. 

Accessibility

  • Wheelchair Info

    Designated, flexible wheelchair seating area behind the last row of the center orchestra and the last row of the mezzanine.
  • Entrance

    Primary entrance from street, through double doors into outer lobby with box office, through double doors into main lobby, through 2 sets of double doors (each 31") into orchestra.
  • Box Office

    227 West 42nd St between 7th and 8th Avenues
  • Restroom

    Accessible restrooms are located on the lobby level (Level 1) and in the Penthouse Lobby (Level 5).
  • Assisted Listening System

    Assisted listening devices available: infrared headsets free at coatcheck. A photo ID is required to check out a headset.
  • Elevator/Escalator

    Elevators are available to all levels of the theatre.
  • Folding Armrests

    Six (6) seats are available with folding armrests.
  • Water Fountain

    Several accessible water fountains are located throughout the theatre, all reachable by elevator.

TDF Social Feed

tdfnyc2 days ago
A starry lineup of new productions is arriving onstage this month! From Sam Rockwell and Alfred Molina in A View from the Bridge to a revival of Spring Awakening, the...
tdfnyc3 days ago
The holiday season is officially underway at TDF! Yesterday, we welcomed hundreds of families to a special Autism Friendly Performance in partnership with the Christmas Spectacular Starring the Radio City...
TDF
TDF3 days ago
TDF
TDF
TDF3 days ago

We’re incredibly proud to share that TDF’s very own Vicki Bello, Manager of Community and Veterans Programs, has been named an Honorary Marshal of the New York City Veterans Day...

tdfnyc3 days ago
We’re incredibly proud to share that TDF’s very own Vicki Bello, Manager of Community and Veterans Programs, has been named an Honorary Marshal of the New York City Veterans Day...
TDF
TDF5 days ago

Lesley Manville and Aidan Turner in National Theatre's Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Reeve Carney at The Green Room 42, Priyanka Shetty of Philadelphia's Azuka Theatre with an urgent political work and...

tdfnyc6 days ago
Ahead of @wantedmusical’s opening night this Sunday, Deziré Tibbs spoke with creators Angelica Chéri and Ross Baum about bringing a little-known family story to the Broadway stage. Inspired by...
tdfnyc1 week ago
Thank you to everyone who joined us for a wonderful afternoon at our Autism Friendly Performance of Maybe Happy Ending! 🤖💜 Photos by @rebeccajmichelson
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
“Odets to me, along with Miller, is American Shakespeare.” – @stevepasquale, director of Waiting for Lefty at @classicstage. Tap the link in bio to out why he and...
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago

“We are asking the same questions Odets was asking then, that’s why we are having this moment” - Steven Pasquale, director of Waiting for Lefty at Classic Stage Company. Find...

tdfnyc2 weeks ago
An unforgettable morning honoring the people making the performing arts more accessible to all! At this year’s TDF Broadway Breakfast, we celebrated 15 years of Autism Friendly Performances and recognized...
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
Thank you to everyone who joined us for our annual Broadway Breakfast! We loved celebrating the Broadway community and 15 seasons of TDF’s Autism Friendly Performances. ✨
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago
This past Sunday was our Autism Friendly Performance of Maybe Happy Ending! Our thanks to the amazing Maybe Happy Ending team, our incredible volunteers and of course the fantastic audience!
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
We are pleased to share the final four shows of our 15th season of Autism Friendly Performances (AFP)! Early next year, we’ll present the first-ever AFP of The Book of...
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
We’re so excited about our annual Broadway Breakfast tomorrow morning at the @rainbowroomnyc! This edition celebrates 15 years of TDF Autism Friendly Performances. Tony winner Laura Benanti returns to...
TDF
TDF
TDF2 weeks ago

Celebrating 30 years of Rent with Broadway Cares! We hit the red carpet to ask some of tonight’s concert stars what would make the cut in a 2026 version of...

tdfnyc2 weeks ago
Celebrating 30 years of Rent with @broadwaycares! We hit the red carpet to ask some of tonight’s concert stars what would make the cut in a 2026 version of...
tdfnyc2 weeks ago
In honor of @broadwaycares’ Rent 30th Anniversary Concert tonight, we’re throwing it back to when Anthony Rapp visited the TDF Costume Collection booth at BroadwayCon! #rent #anthonyrapp #broadway
TDF
TDF3 weeks ago
The Rent, the 30th Anniversary Concert benefitting Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS streams live on Monday, National Theatre offers The Audience with Helen Mirren and War Horse, plus more.
TDF
TDF
TDF3 weeks ago

A night at Carnegie Hall, made possible with a TDF ticket! We love seeing our Members experience special performances like A Celebration of Rodgers and Hart for a lot less...

TDF
TDF3 weeks ago

Things are getting spooky on NYC stages this season! 👻 TDF Stages spoke with the playwrights behind Paranormal Activity, A Ghost in Your Ear and 2:22 - A Ghost Story...

TDF
TDF4 weeks ago

We’re thrilled to share that TDF has been nominated for three Anthem Awards recognizing our Autism Friendly Performances video campaigns in the Belonging & Inclusion category! These Awards are the...

TDF
TDF1 month ago
Suffs Musical on Great Performances l PBS, The King Born a Woman from Red Bull Theater, National Theatre's Yerma and more are available to stream this weekend.
TDF
TDF1 month ago

Three new Off-Broadway plays, ANON, Degenerates and Fish, explore online extremism, conspiracy, and isolation. These world premieres ask unsettling questions about what happens when the line between online and real...