Wilcox, Rupert, Colella & More Join Paper Mill's THE FULL MONTY Cast

Paper Mill Playhouse (Mark S. Hoebee-Artistic Director, Mark W. Jones-Executive Director) is proud to announce casting for The Full Monty. Directed by Mark S. Hoebee and choreographed by Denis Jones, The Full Monty will run at the Millburn theatre from June 10 through July 12, 2009.

The Full Monty will play the following performance schedule: Wednesdays at 7:30PM, Thursdays at 2:00PM & 7:30PM, Fridays at 8:00PM, Saturdays at 2:00PM & 8:00PM and Sundays at 2:00PM & 7:30PM. Single tickets are now on sale and range in price from $25 to $92. Student rush tickets are $20 and are available the day of performance in person with current student ID. Tickets may be purchased by calling 973-376-4343, or at the Paper Mill Box Office at 22 Brookside Drive in Millburn, or online at www.papermill.org. Visa, MasterCard, Discover and American Express accepted. Groups of ten or more can receive up to a 35% discount on tickets and should call 973-379-3636 ext. 2438. Recommended for audiences ages 13 and up.

The Full Monty, based on the international hit film, is a grin and bare-it-all musical comedy that tells the story of a dispirited group of unemployed steel workers in Buffalo, New York, who are desperate to make some quick cash. Jerry, a divorced father behind in his child-support, convinces the gang to become male strippers at a local club. With an hilarious and insightful book by Terrence McNally and a swinging score by David Yazbek, The Full Monty will have you cheering for Jerry and his friends as they go all the way to conquer their fears and take charge of their lives.

Directed by Paper Mill's Artistic Director, Mark S. Hoebee, The Full Monty brings an all-star cast to the Paper Mill stage.

Elaine Stritch (Jeanette Burmeister) is the Tony® Award and Drama Desk Award winner for her one-woman show Elaine Stritch: At Liberty. She has received Tony® Award nominations for her performances in A Delicate Balance; Company; Sail Away; and Bus Stop. Elaine Stritch's Broadway credits include: Show Boat; Love Letters; Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?; Goldilocks; The Sin of Pat Muldoon; On Your Toes; Pal Joey; Call Me Madam; and Angel in the Wings. Ms. Stritch won Emmy Awards for 30 Rock; Elaine Stritch: At Liberty; Law & Order and was nominated for An Inconvenient Woman. Her television credits include: Paradise; Life's a Bitch; 3rd Rock from the Sun; EGG, the Arts Show; Oz; Soul Man; One Life to Live; Steel Magnolias; Two's Company; Dial M for Murder; Pollyanna; and The Growing Paynes. Ms. Stritch was in the films Monster-in-Law; Autumn in New York; Small Time Crooks; Krippendorf's Tribe; Cocoon: The Return; Pigeons; Too Many Thieves; Who Killed Teddy Bear; Kiss Her Goodbye; The Perfect Furlough; A Farewell to Arms; Three Violent People; and The Scarlet Hour. Ms. Stritch first appeared on the Paper Mill stage in 1982 in A Suite for Two Keys.

Wayne Wilcox (Jerry Lukowski) returns to Paper Mill after performing earlier in the season as ‘John Worthing' in The Importance of Being Earnest with Lynn Redgrave. He performed on Broadway in Coram Boy and Off-Broadway in The Rich Boyfriend; Suddenly Last Summer; Great American Trailer Park Musical; and A Man of No Importance. Mr. Wilcox has been in the films Interview and Rent and on television in Law & Order and Gilmore Girls. Joe Coots (Dave Bukatinsky) was in the national tour of The Full Monty. Mr. Coots' regional credits include: Crazy for You; Annie Get Your Gun; Jesus Christ Superstar; Dames at Sea; Seven Brides for Seven Brothers; and Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Michael Rupert (Harold Nichols) won the Tony® Award and Drama Desk Award for Sweet Charity. Mr. Rupert received Tony® Award nominations for Falsettos and The Happy Time. Additional Broadway credits include: Legally Blonde; Ragtime; City of Angels; Shakespeare's Cabaret; and Pippin. His Off-Broadway credits include: Putting it Together and March of the Falsettos. He's appeared on television in Law & Order; Legally Blonde: The Musical; Cheers; Noah's Ark; Alice; The Partridge Family; The Waltons; and My Three Sons. Milton Craig Nealy (Noah "Horse" T. Simmons) performed on Broadway in Caroline or Change; Once on this Island; Five Guys Named Moe; Miss Saigon; and Dreamgirls. Mr. Nealy was in the National Tour of The Full Monty and the Second National Tour of Dreamgirls. He appeared on television in NYPD Blue. Jenn Colella (Georgie Bukatinsky) performed on Broadway in High Fidelity and Urban Cowboy. She performed regionally in: Sideshow; Peter Pan; Annie Get Your Gun; The Times They Are A Changin'; Ring of Fire; and Great American Trailer Park Musical. Ms. Colella received an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Leading Actress in a Musical for Urban Cowboy. Michele Ragusa (Vicki Nichols) performed at Paper Mill Playhouse in Kiss Me Kate and She Loves Me. Ms. Ragusa received Lortel and Drama League Award nominations for Christopher Durang's Adrift in Macao at Primary Stages. She has performed on Broadway in Urinetown; Ragtime; A Class Act; Titanic; and Cyrano. Her regional credits include: Nunsense; Bad Dates; Noises Off; Me and My Girl; Lend Me A Tenor; Guys and Dolls; My Fair Lady; Phantom; Carousel; and South Pacific. She was in the national tours of Fiddler and West Side Story. Kelly Sullivan (Pam Lukowski) returns to Paper Mill after playing ‘Shelby' in Steel Magnolias. She was in the Broadway productions of Young Frankenstein; Contact; and Bells Are Ringing. Ms. Sullivan's film credits include: Love Online; The Producers: The Movie; and Rumors. Jason Babinsky (Ethan Girard) appeared in Paper Mill's production of Seven Brides for Seven Brothers and Carnival!. His theater credits include: She Loves Me; Chicago; Hello, Dolly!; Beauty and the Beast; Fiddler on the Roof; West Side Story; Miss Saigon; Guys and Dolls; Oklahoma!. Mr. Babinsky won the Kevin Klein Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Play for BOMB-itty of Errors. Allen E. Read (Malcolm MacGregor) is making his Paper Mill Playhouse debut. His theater credits include: Joe!: The Musical; Notes to MariAnne; Mask; Richard II; The Full Monty; The Sea; The Black Dahlia; Comedy of Errors; The Black Monk; The Two Gentlemen of Verona; Songs for a New World; and The Cockfighter.

Additional casting includes: Xander Chauncey, Jacqueline Colmer, Rheaume Crenshaw, Holly Davis, Mark Fisher, Jerome Lucas Harmann, Susan J. Jacks, Alex Maizus, Brian Ray Norris, Rob Richardson, Luke Marcus Rosen, Timothy Smith, Catherine Lena Stephani, and Corey James Wright.

The Full Monty will be directed by Paper Mill Playhouse's Artistic Director Mark S. Hoebee, who earlier this season directed the critically acclaimed production of Disney High School Musical. He also directed the Paper Mill productions of Meet Me in St. Louis; Dreamgirls; The Will Rogers Follies; Victor/Victoria; The King and I; Miss Saigon; Grease; Harold and Maude: The Musical with Estelle Parsons; Hello Dolly! starring Tovah Feldshuh; and Romance/Romance. Mr. Hoebee directed the Actor's Fund Benefit Concert of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas at the August Wilson Theatre which starred Terrence Mann, Emily Skinner, and Jennifer Hudson. His Broadway performance credits include: Victor/Victoria; Beauty and the Beast; Nick & Nora; and Jerome Robbins' Broadway. He served as an Adjunct Professor in the Dance and Theatre Department at Northwestern University and currently sits on the Board of the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

Choreographer Denis Jones returns to Paper Mill Playhouse where he last choreographed Disney High School Musical. Mr. Jones also choreographed Paper Mill's production of Meet Me in St. Louis. He served as Dance Coach/Associate Choreographer on the MTV reality series ‘Legally Blonde The Musical: The Search for Elle Woods'. Mr. Jones choreographed the Broadway concerts of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas; A Wonderful Life; On the Twentieth Century; and Legends starring Joan Collins and Linda Evans. He was the Director of Broadway Bares from 2005 to 2007. Mr. Jones was the Associate Choreographer to Jerry Mitchell for Broadway's Legally Blonde and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. His Broadway performance credits include: Grease; Chicago; Little Me; The Full Monty; and Never Gonna Dance.

The Music Director for The Full Monty is Tom Helm. Original scenic design by John Arnone with additional design and coordination by Rob Bissinger. Original costume design is by Robert Morgan with additional design and coordination by Randall Klein. The Hair and Wig Designer is Gerard Kelly. Lighting design is by Charlie Morrison. Sound design is by Paper Mill's resident sound designer Randy Hansen. Casting is by Alison Franck. The Production Stage Manager is Jess W. Speaker, III.

Paper Mill Playhouse, a not-for-profit arts organization, is one of the country's leading regional theatres. Paper Mill Playhouse programs are made possible, in part, by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, A Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts, and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. Additional major support is provided by generous contributions from numerous corporations, foundations, and individuals. Paper Mill Playhouse is a member of Theatre Communications Group, the National Alliance for Musical Theatre, the Council of Stock Theatres, and the New Jersey Theatre Alliance.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.