In 2001 , McNally started what would become a 15-year developmental process towards Broadway with the musical '' The Visit '' , for which he wrote the book . The music is written by John Kander and the lyrics by Fred Ebb . Adapted from Friedrich Dürrenmatt ’s 1956 satire , '' The Visit '' is the story of a widow who has amassed enormous sums of wealth and returns to her hometown to seek revenge on the villagers who scorned her in her youth . The project originally starred Angela Lansbury who departed the process to care for her ailing husband . Chita Rivera became the new star and '' The Visit '' had its first production at The Goodman Theater in Chicago in 2001 . The September 11 attacks occurred just 10 days before the first preview , and the producers were n’t able to get many investors or critics from New York to fly to Chicago . In 2004 , Fred Ebb , the lyricist , died . Its next regional production occurred in 2008 at The Signature Theatre outside of Washington D.C . In 2014 , under the new direction of John Doyle and starring Chita Rivera and Roger Rees , '' The Visit '' had a new production at Williamstown Theatre and then eventually transferred to Broadway at The Lyceum Theatre in 2015 . The musical would go on to be nominated for 5 Tony nominations including for McNally 's book
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Terrence McNally