Luke Evans Trades Broadway Fishnets for ITV Thriller The Party
Luke Evans has finished a five-month run as Frank-N-Furter in the Broadway revival of The Rocky Horror Show, and he is now in ITV's new drama The Party. The Variety report published on 23 October 2026 covers both moves.
The Broadway production began previews on 26 March 2026 and opened on 23 April at Studio 54, directed by Sam Pinkleton. Evans, Andrew Durand and Stephanie Hsu left the cast on 23 August, as Broadway Direct announced in July. Evans was nominated for a Tony Award for the role. The Tony is the top American prize for theatre.
The Party is a five-part series, meaning a drama told across five episodes. It adapts Elizabeth Day's 2017 psychological thriller novel of the same name. Evans plays Martin Gilmour, a journalist, and Tom Cullen co-stars. Sarah Solemani wrote the television adaptation and plays Lucy, Martin's wife.
Evans did more than star in it. He helped produce it, and he first read Day's novel during the Covid lockdowns. He was, in the words of the Variety report, instrumental in getting it to the screen. The series makes two changes from the book. In the TV version Lucy is pregnant, and Martin is serving time in detention.
The show is now on ITVX, ITV's streaming service. ITV Studios handles its sales to other broadcasters around the world, a process known in the industry as global sales. BBC News reported that the series was filmed 25 minutes from Evans's childhood home, and that members of his family appear in a cameo in the final episode.
For fans of the book, there is more to read. Day has returned to the same characters in a second novel, One of Us.
Evans is also tied to a much bigger franchise. He played Bard the Bowman in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit films, and he starred opposite Emma Watson in the live-action Beauty and the Beast. Andy Serkis is directing the upcoming feature The Hunt for Gollum, which is set in the same world as The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.
Evans has now worked across stage, streaming and cinema in a single year. The Broadway run has ended, and the TV drama is the next step.
