A RACE Exclusive

By Pearl Chen, Broadway.tv

David Mamet's Race has become a force on Broadway. After opening on Dec. 6, 2009 at the Ethel Barrymore Theater, the play has recouped its initial investment of $2.5 million. Broadway.tv caught an exclusive interview as stars David Alan Grier, Kerry Washington, and James Spader received caricature portraits at legendary Broadway restaurant Sardi's.

Fellow cast member Richard Thomas ("The Waltons") – whose portrait already graces these hallowed walls – says of the production, "It's been great. We've had a really wonderful time. As is the case with any really good play, the more you play it, the better it gets. We're having a lot of fun still."

Broadway Show: Race

The fact that the show has been such a financial success holds promise for future productions. "That makes me the most proud when a show can recoup – especially a straight play because it just encourages investors the next time around to take a chance on a play. And we need that," says Spader ("Boston Legal").

"I'm really happy for the investors," says Grier ("In Living Color"). "It's always kind of scary when you meet them. When you start a production, it's like, 'Hope you make your money," the actor adds with a laugh. Grier, who just earned a supporting-actor Tony nomination for playing, in Race, one of two lawyers defending a white man accused of raping a black woman, will be leaving the show on June 13 along with Washington and, on June 20, Spader. "We're almost at the end of our contracts," he says, though the show will be extended to Aug. 21 with a new cast.

In the meantime, the all-star ensemble will continue to enjoy their chemistry onstage and off. "I'm very lucky," says Washington ("Lakeview Terrace"). "I have three amazing costars, and I'm learning a lot working with them."

"The best thing of all is that they truly like one other," elaborates producer Jeffrey Richards. "They'll all congregate in Richard Thomas's dressing room before the curtain. Is that not true, Richard?" he says, turning to the actor nearby.

"Yes, it's true, my dressing room is 'the hang,'" Thomas reveals.

"And talking about hang, this is now the most hung show on Broadway," Richards shoots back.

Not missing a beat, Thomas wisecracks, "That's right, we're super hung, aren't we?"

Watch the entire video of Race, with cast and crew, and more right here on Broadway.tv.