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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE, PLEASE

ADDITIONAL CASTING ANNOUNCED FOR
WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL’S
2012 SEASON

BECKY ANN BAKER, MARYLOUISE BURKE, TYNE DALY, 
BRANDON VICTOR DIXON, SUSIE ESSMAN, ALISON FRASER,
HEATHER LIND, AMY SPANGER, JEREMY STRONG, LILI TAYLOR
AND MORE JOIN SUMMER PRODUCTIONS

New York, NY (5/11/2012) – Williamstown Theatre Festival Artistic Director Jenny Gersten has announced additional casting for the 2012 Summer Season.  A host of Williamstown Theatre Fesival veterans and talented newcomers including Becky Ann Baker, Marylouise Burke, Tyne Daly, Brandon Victor Dixon, Alison Fraser, Heather Lind, Amy Spanger, Jeremy Strong, Lili Taylor and many more, will take the stage during the Festival’s 58th Season.

As previously announced, the complete 2012 Williamstown Theatre Festival season runs from June 26 – August 19, 2012 and includes Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest, a Preview Production of the new musical Far From Heaven, and a new translation of Ivan Turgenev’s A Month in the Country on the Main Stage, with Lucy Boyle’s The Blue Deep, Neil Simon’s Last of the Red Hot Lovers, Bernard Pomerance’s The Elephant Man, and Katori Hall’s WHADDABLOODCLOT!!! on the Nikos Stage.   The season will also include a special workshop production of David Byrne’s Here Lies Love, which will play at nearby MASS MoCa.

MAIN STAGE CASTING NEWS

The season’s first Main Stage production, the David Hyde Pierce-directed production of Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest (playing June 26 – July 14, 2012), will feature Drama Desk Award-winner Marylouise Burke (Fuddy Meers), Louis Cancelmi (former WTF Act I Member), Sean Cullen, Emmy® and Tony Award®-winner Tyne Daly (“Cagney and Lacey,” Gypsy), Glenn Fitzgerald, Paul McGrane, Amy Spanger and Henry Stram (WTF’s R Shomon).

The Preview Production of the new musical Far From Heaven (based on the 2002 movie), which plays the Main Stage from July 19 – 29, 2012, will feature a cast that includes JB Adams as ‘Morris Farnsworth’ (the same role he played in the film version), Nancy Anderson, Quincy Tyler Bernstine (WTF’s Tough Titty), Brandon Victor Dixon, Sarah Jane Everman, Alison Fraser, Chris Hoch, Mary Stout and Tony Yazbeck.  They join previously announced four-time Tony Award-nominee Kelli O’Hara (currently starring on Broadway in Nice Work If You Can Get It).

The final Main Stage show, a new translation of Ivan Turgenev’s A Month in the Country, will play from August 1 – 19, 2012 and will feature Louis Cancelmi, Jessica Collins, Sean Cullen, Kate Kearney-Patch, Paul McGrane, Jeremy Strong (former WTF Non-Equity Company) and Elisabeth Waterston (former WTF Non-Equity Company). 

NIKOS STAGE CASTING NEWS

The Nikos Stage season begins with the World Premiere production of Lucy Boyle’s play The Blue Deep (June 27 – July 8, 2012), directed by Bob Balaban with a cast that includes Emmy Award-winner Blythe Danner (Showtime’s “Huff”), as previously announced.  Danner will be joined by WTF veterans Becky Ann Baker (WTF’s Our Town), Jack Gilpin (WTF’s Design for Living), “Boardwalk Empire” regular Heather Lind (former WTF Non-Equity Company) and Finn Wittrock (Broadway's Death of a Salesman).

In Neil Simon’s The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (July 11 – 22, 2012), Jessica Stone directs a cast that includes Tony Award® Nominee Brooks Ashmanskas (Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me), Susie Essman (“Curb Your Enthusiasm”), and Screen Actors Guild Award-winner Lili Taylor (“Six Feet Under”), both returning to WTF after having performed there last summer (in She Stoops to Conquer and A Doll’s House, respectively).

The Nikos Stage season closes with the World Premiere production of Katori Hall’s WHADDABLOODCLOT, from August 8 – 19, 2012.  The cast of WHADDABLOODCLOT will include Tina Benko, Aaron Costa Ganis, Bryan Tyree Henry, Greta Lee, Andres Muner, and Kathy Searle.

HERE LIES LOVE CASTING NEWS

As previously announced, Williamstown Theatre Festival will present a workshop of Here Lies Love, a new theatrical event written by David Byrne with music by David Byrne and Fatboy Slim and directed by Alex Timbers.

The complete cast for Here Lies Love is: Renee Albulario, Carol Angeli, Joyelle Cabato, Joshua Dela Cruz, Debralee Daco, Evan D’Angeles. Jose Llana, Ruthie Ann Miles, Maria-Christina Oliveras, Conrad Ricamora, Janelle Velasquez, and Zach Villa.

Here Lies Love is a collaboration with WTF's artistic neighbor, the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) and The Public Theater in New York City.  The Public will present the World Premiere of Here Lies Love in the spring of 2013.  After a three week rehearsal residency at MASS MoCA, Here Lies Love will play five workshop performances over four days, from June 21-24, 2012, at the Hunter Center for the Performing Arts at MASS MoCA (87 Marshall Street, North Adams, MA).  Tickets are available through the MASS MoCA box office at www.massmoca.org or by calling (413)-662-2111.

***
 
Additional cast and creative team information for all productions will be announced at a later date.

TICKETS AND SCHEDULE
Advance ticket orders for the 2012 Williamstown Theatre Festival season may be placed through the Festival's website (www.wtfestival.org) or by mail order using the season brochure (call 413-597-3400 to join the mailing list).  Advance ticket orders will be processed in late May.  At that time, ticket orders from Festival donors will be given priority and will be filled by descending donor level.  All other advance ticket orders received by May 25, 2012 will be filled in order of date received.

The Festival's Nikos Stage is an intimate 173-seat venue that regularly sells out in advance from within the pool of Festival donors.

The Williamstown Theatre Festival Box Office will open on June 5th, 2012 at which point tickets may be purchased online, by phone at 413-597-3400, or in person at the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance Box Office at 1000 Main St (Route 2), Williamstown, MA 02167.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
Since 1955, the Williamstown Theatre Festival has brought America's finest actors, directors, designers, and playwrights to the Berkshires, engaging a loyal audience of both residents and summer visitors. Each WTF season is designed to present unique opportunities for artists and audience alike, revisiting classic plays with innovative productions, developing and nurturing bold new plays and musicals, and offering a rich array of accompanying cultural events including Free Theatre, Late-Night Cabarets, readings, workshops, and educational programs. While best known for our acclaimed productions, WTF is also home to one of the nation’s top training and professional development programs for new generations of aspiring theatre artists and administrators. Now under the leadership of Artistic Director Jenny Gersten, WTF was honored with the Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre in 2002 and the Commonwealth Award for Achievement in 2011.  The Festival takes place on the idyllic New England campus of Williams College.

WILLIAMSTOWN THEATRE FESTIVAL
2012 SEASON SUMMARY

MAIN STAGE:

The Importance of Being Earnest
By Oscar Wilde
Directed by David Hyde Pierce
June 26 – July 14, 2012

Far From Heaven
Book by Richard Greenberg
Music by Scott Frankel
Lyrics by Michael Korie
Directed by Michael Greif
July 19 – 29, 2012

A Month in the Country
By Ivan Turgenev
Translated by Richard Nelson, Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
Directed by Richard Nelson
August 1 – 19, 2012

NIKOS STAGE:

The Blue Deep
By Lucy Boyle
Directed by Bob Balaban
June 27 – July 8, 2012

Last of the Red Hot Lovers
By Neil Simon
Directed by Jessica Stone
July 11 – 22, 2012

The Elephant Man
By Bernard Pomerance
Directed by Scott Ellis
July 25 – August 5, 2012

WHADDABLOODCLOT!!!
By Katori Hall
Directed by May Adrales
August 8 – 19, 2012

ADDITIONAL PRODUCTIONS

THE HUNTER CENTER AT MASS MOCA
Here Lies Love
Written by David Byrne
Music by David Byrne & Fatboy Slim
Directed by Alex Timbers
June 21 – 24, 2012

FREE THEATRE
At Poker Flats
The Valley of Fear
By Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
Adapted by Steve Lawson
Directed by Lila Neugebauer
July 11 – 14, July 20 – 27, 2012