Bartlett, Houdyshell & Lavin Cast in LCT's 'The New Century'

Lincoln Center Theater has announced initial casting for its upcoming production of The New Century, plays by Paul Rudnick, to be directed by Nicholas Martin. Performances begin Thursday, March 20, 2008 in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater.  Opening night is Monday, April 14, 2008.

The cast of five will include Peter Bartlett, Jayne Houdyshell and Linda Lavin.  The production will have sets by Allen Moyer, costumes by William Ivey Long, lighting by Kenneth Posner and original music and sound design by Mark Bennett.  Additional casting will be announced at a later date.

"The New Century is a series of four short plays, which feature everyone from a concerned Long Island mother of at least three gay children (to be played by Linda Lavin), to an accomplished Midwestern craftswoman (to be played by Jayne Houdyshell), to one of Mr. Rudnick's favorites, Mr. Charles, a flamboyant resident of Palm Beach (to be played by Peter Barlett).  Ultimately, all of these delicious and distraught people collide under surprising and comic circumstances, and we discover just where our new century might be heading," explain press notes.

Peter Bartlett was last seen at Lincoln Center Theater in The Frogs.  His Broadway credits include Never Gonna Dance, Voices in the Dark, Beauty and the Beast, In the Boom Boom Room and A Patriot for Me.  His many off-Broadway credits include the original productions of Paul Rudnick's The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Drama Desk nomination), Jeffrey and Mr. Charles, Currently of Palm Beach.

Jayne Houdyshell received a Tony nomination and won the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Theatre World Awards for her performance in Lisa Kron's play Well, both on Broadway and off.  Her other off Broadway credits include The Pain and The Itch and Much Ado About Nothing at the New York Shakespeare Festival. Houdyshell recently appeared in Wicked and is in rehearsals for the Manhattan Theatre Club's The Receptionist.

Linda Lavin starred in LCT's Broadway production of Wendy Wasserstein's The Sisters Rosensweig.  Her most recent Broadway credits include Hollywood Arms, The Tale of the Allergist's Wife, The Diary of Anne Frank, Gypsy and Broadway Bound (for which she won a Tony Award). Off-Broadway she won the Obie and Lucille Lortel Awards for her performance in Death Defying Acts.