HBO has set the premiere date for its quarantine comedy “Coastal Elites,” which stars Bette Midler, Kailtyn Dever, Dan Levy, Sarah Paulson and Issa Rae.
From playwright and screenwriter Paul Rudnick and directed by Jay Roach, the 1-hour, 30-minute social-distancing satire, which “tells contemporary stories of characters breaking down and breaking through as they grapple with politics, culture, and the pandemic,” will debut Saturday, Sept. 12 at 8 p.m.
Per HBO, “‘Coastal Elites’ spotlights five distinct and impassioned points-of-view across the United States. When the shutdown forces these characters to cope in isolation, they react with frustration, hilarity and introspection.”
Here are the character descriptions for Midler, Dever, Levy, Paulson and Rae’s roles:
Miriam Nessler (Bette Midler) is a long-time teacher in the New York City public school system, who loves her students, the New York Times and the theater, and who finds herself in police custody.
Sharynn Tarrows (Kaitlyn Dever) is a young nurse from Wyoming who flies to New York to volunteer at a hospital at the height of the area’s COVID-19 crisis.
Mark Hesterman (Dan Levy) is a young actor in West Hollywood videoconferencing with his therapist at a moment of peak career and personal stress.
Clarissa Montgomery (Sarah Paulson) is a YouTube personality filming episode 28 of her Mindful Meditations, hoping to soothe, inspire and heal her followers.
Callie Josephson (Issa Rae) is a well-connected philanthropist whose prep school network leads her to the highest levels of government.
According to HBO, “Coastal Elites” was originally conceived for the Public Theater in New York, but transformed from a stage play to an on-screen special at the start of the pandemic and “evolved in real time,” filming earlier this summer under quarantine guidelines.
The special presentation “explores our current world of deeply divided politics and the universal pursuit of human connection.”
“Coastal Elites” was written by Rudnick and directed by Roach. Executive producers include Rudnick, Roach, Jeffrey Seller, Flody Suarez, Scott Chaloff and Michelle Graham.