"Law & Order," the police procedural that revolutionized the genre, is about to reach a major milestone – 500 episodes! The 12th episode of the current season, scheduled to air on NBC on May 9, will be the one that gets the series to this momentous number.

Although "Law & Order" began in 1990 and its first spinoff "SVU" didn't start until 1999, the latter reached this milestone first due to a decade-long (2011-2021) hiatus of the original series. Broadway Stages is proud to have played a part in making the 500th episode possible by providing our facilities and locations when the show returned for its long-anticipated 21st season in 2022.

Sam Waterston spent nearly 20 seasons portraying District Attorney Jack McCoy, and two years ago he sat down with Stephen Colbert to share his amazement at the show's new digs, stating: "The sets used to be in a studio on the west side of Manhattan. And now they're in a studio in Brooklyn. And they were all torn down and destroyed… But when we went back to work… the paint was still drying on the sets, but they were the exact same sets. It was like… time travel."

Nothing makes us happier than a job well done! We also provide space for the spinoff "Organized Crime" and are thrilled to be involved in such an iconic franchise. It often seems like pretty much every actor on the planet has appeared in the "Law & Order" franchise at some point in their careers. In honor of the 500th episode of the show that started it all, and its connection to Broadway Stages, we decided to take a two-part look at some of the stars of current Broadway Stages' productions who appeared on "Law & Order" over the years.

"The Gilded Age"

Let's start with HBO's "The Gilded Age," which films scenes at our facilities and stars two veteran actresses who both appeared in the first season of "Law & Order" more than three decades ago. Way before Christine Baranski donned a corset to portray the snooty Agnes van Rijn, she appeared on a two-part episode of "Law & Order" called "The Torrents of Greed," which aired in February of 1991. She returned in a different role in the season four episode "Nurture," which aired in May of 1994.

Her co-star Cynthia Nixon may have first caught audiences' attention on the immensely popular "Sex and the City," but nearly a decade before landing the role of Miranda, Nixon appeared in the second episode of "Law & Order" called "Subterranean Homeboy Blues." She played a woman who claimed self-defense after shooting two men on the subway. Today she portrays Ada Forte, younger sister to Baranski's Agnes van Rijn, on "The Gilded Age" and continues to play Miranda on the "Sex and the City" reboot "And Just Like That..."

Other stars of "The Gilded Age" who have appeared in the "Law & Order" universe include Audra McDonald, Morgan Spector, Jack Gilpin, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Celia Keenan-Bolger.

"FBI" and "FBI: Most Wanted"

Seeing as Dick Wolf's production company produces all of CBS's "FBI" shows, it is no surprise that the casts of "FBI" and "FBI: Most Wanted" include a lot of veterans of the "Law & Order" universe.

For more than two seasons, Dylan McDermott has starred on "FBI: Most Wanted" as Supervisory Special Agent Remy Scott. Before joining the series as one of the good guys, he portrayed mobster Richard Wheatley in the first two seasons of "Organized Crime" and appeared in a crossover episode of "SVU."

Since "FBI" launched in 2018, Jeremy Sisto has portrayed Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jubal Valentine. A decade earlier, he joined the main cast of "Law & Order" as NYPD Detective Cyrus Lupo during its 18th season. He continued in the role through season 20, after which the series went off the air for more than a decade. He did not return for the 21st season in 2022, as he was already committed to "FBI" by then. Sisto also appeared as an attorney in the 17th season finale before joining the main cast.

Sisto's "FBI" co-star Alana De La Garza has played Special Agent in Charge Isobel Castille since 2018. Before that, she portrayed Assistant District Attorney Connie Rubirosa in the last four seasons of the initial run of "Law & Order" (seasons 17 to 20). She also appeared as Rubirosa on the short-lived spinoff "Law & Order: LA" and in an episode of "SVU."

Yet another "FBI" regular appeared in several episodes of the initial run of "Law & Order." John Boyd who plays Special Agent Stuart Scola, guest-starred as different characters on episodes in the 15th and 17th seasons.

Other members of the "FBI" franchise who have appeared on "Law & Order" or its spinoffs include Missy Peregrym, Terry O'Quinn, and James Chen.

Check back next month to read about more stars of other shows filmed at our facilities who appeared on "Law & Order" over the years.