‘Confederacy of Dunces’ sets Huntington Theatre record

Nick Offerman as Ignatius J. Reilly (left) and Phillip James Brannon as Burma Jones in the Huntington Theatre Company’s "A Confederacy of Dunces."T. Charles Erickson

The critics were somewhat half-hearted about the Huntington Theatre Company's production of "A Confederacy of Dunces," but the crowds were not. The show starring Nick Offerman of NBC's "Parks and Recreation" became the highest-grossing show in the company's 33-year history, earning more than $2.1 million during its 45-performance run that concluded Sunday. "A Confederacy of Dunces" overtook the sales record held by the Huntington's 2013 production of "A Jungle Book." The show, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by John Kennedy Toole, was adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher and directed by David Esbjornson. The production was presented in cooperation with a team of partners including Robert Guza, John Hardy, LSU Press, and Oscar-winning filmmaker Steven Soderbergh. In the show, Offerman played gaseous eccentric Ignatius J. Reilly, the Don Quixote of the French Quarter.