Marthe Keller To Star At ArcLight In 'Four Women' 6/10

MAGGIE MAES & KIMBERLY VAUGHN will present Four Women & a Waitress, at the ArcLight Theatre, June 10-22, 2008. The two plays, Rosemary with Ginger by Edward Allen Baker & The Stronger by August Strindberg, will be directed by KARL BURY & STEPHEN WADSWORTH, respectively.

The cast of this AEA Approved Showcase production are Marthe Keller (acclaimed European actor & director in her first Off-Broadway stage appearance),  ARIA ALPERT, STEPHANIE DEPALMA, FRANCESCA FARIDANY & Pamela Shaw. Set & Costume Designer is KATE MELVIN, Lighting Designer is JOYCE LIAO, Stage Manager is HONORA COUGHLIN, with Graphic Design by VAS.

Marthe Keller was born in Switzerland, studied at the Stanislavski School in Munich, then joined the prestigious Schiller theatre & played many leading parts: Shakespeare, Schiller, Goethe, Pinter. She made her debut with a supporting role in the British drama Funeral in Berlin (1976) & then moved to Paris to work with directors Philippe de Broca & Claude Lelouch. In the mid '70s, she went to Hollywood, appearing opposite Laurence Olivier & Dustin Hoffman in The Marathon Man (1976, garnering a Golden Globe nomination for " Best Supporting Actress"), followed by Bobby Deerfield, Black Sunday & in Billy Wilder's Fedora with William Holden (1978) & Dark Eyes, with Marcello Mastroianni. From 1980-2000 she worked in film, TV & theatre in France, Italy & Germany. In 2001, Keller appeared on Broadway in Judgment at Nuremberg as Mrs. Bertholt & was nominated for a Tony, Drama Desk & Outer Critics Circle Award as "Best Featured Actress." In addition to her work in film and theatre, Keller has developed a career in classical music as a speaker & opera director, performing the speaking role of Joan of Arc in the oratorio Jeanne d'Arc au Bûcher, with conductors such as Seiji Ozawa & Kurt Masur & recorded the role for Deutsche Grammophon with Ozawa. She has performed classical music melodramas for speaker and piano in recital.  Swiss composer Michael Jarrell wrote the melodrama Cassandre, for Keller, who gave the world premiere in 1994. In 2005 Keller won the "Best European Actress" award for TV, for "Par Amour" & in 2007, the "Best French Actrice" award for TV  for "The Link." She just finished a film with Gerard Depardieu in Paris & has 3 films soon to be released.

ARIA ALPERT appeared as Nora in Nora, Ingmar Bergman's adaptation of A Doll's House (Pico Playhouse, LA); Mary in Final Placement (Attic Theatre, LA); Stella in Gross Points starring opposite Alec Baldwin (Bay Street Theatre, Sag Harbor); Viola in Twelfth Night (Great Lakes Theatre Festival, Cleveland Ohio) & Unfinished Moon (American Theatre of Actors, NYC). Her film credits include playing Sigmund Freud's wife in Freud's Magic Powder,  Things Behind The Sun, Super Troopers, Sparkle & Charm, Everlast & Gamblin'. STEPHANIE DEPALMA recently returned from the UK where she performed Cloud Nine at the South London Theatre & completed her studies in film/BBC broadcasting at the Brighton Film School.  Other theatre credits include Freak Show (Hollywood Theatre, LA), When  Ya Comin' Back Red Ryder? (Actors' Loft, NY), Going Postal (NADA 45, NY)  & A Servant of Two Masters (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). FRANCESCA FARIDANY appeared on Broadway in The Homecoming. Regionally, she performed the title role in her adaptation of Arthur Schnitzler's Fräulein Else (Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, Berkeley Rep., La Jolla Playhouse, McCarter & Long Wharf Theatres) & at the Old Globe, Huntington, both Berkeley Rep, Seattle Rep, the McCarter & Bay Street. The Stronger marks Francesca's 10th production with director/husband Stephen Wadsworth. Other directors include Maria Aitken, Dan Sullivan, Mark Brokaw, Brian Kulick, Marco Barricelli, Julie Hébert, Mary Zimmerman,  Tony Taccone & the late Albert Takazauckas. Next, she will be revisiting Cassandra in Aeschylus' Agamemnon at the Getty Villa's new outdoor Greek Theater in LA, opposite Tyne Daly. Her film credits include Conceiving Ada, opposite Tilda Swinton. Pamela Shaw appeared in The Hostage (Meg, LATC), A Play on the Times (Public Theatre), Fingernails Blue as Flowers (American Place Theatre), Laughing Wild (SF, Mason Street Theatre), Lucky Stiff (Rita, Australia),  The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (White Witch, Australia), Prism View (New Dramatists), The Gig (Ricki) & Muriel Resnick's Let's Lunch (Sharon Stone). Her film credits include Splinterheads (Alicia Silverstone, Mark Webber, Shooting July 2008),  Driving Lessons (Hope Davis, Dermot Mulroney, 2008), BuzzKill (2007), Prey (Dir. George Miller 2007), Springtime in Autumn (Mario Van Peebles), Emma Blue (Emma, European Independent Film Festival 2008), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Mrs. Vane), The Man Who Sued God (Judy Davis, Billy Connolly), Perfume (Sundance 2001), See Jane Run (Doug Liman, Prod.), Cut (Molly Ringwald), Urbania (Sundance 2000) & In the Weeds (Eric Bogosian). 

This is KARL BURY's NYC directing debut. As an actor, he appeared on Broadway in Match, directed by Nicholas Martin (Plymouth Theatre).  His regional theatre credits include Awake and Sing! (Pittsburgh Public Theatre & The Odyssey Theatre in LA), The Rose Tattoo (Hudson Theatre, LA) How to Go Out on a Date in Queens, directed by Larry Moss,  as well as many productions with the award winning Circle X Theatre Company. His TV work includes Showtime's "Brotherhood", "The Sopranos," "Judging Amy" & "The Practice." Karl is a long time student of Larry Moss. He is currently writing the play Some Day. STEPHEN WADSWORTH  has directed plays by Aeschylus, Shakespeare, Molière, Marivaux, Goldoni, Shaw & Wilde. His famous stagings of operas by Handel, Gluck, Mozart & Wagner, have established him as a master of the classic repertoire. This season he directed the world premiere of Anna Deavere Smith's Let Me Down Easy at the Long Wharf & a new production of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride at the Metropolitan Opera. Upcoming are Aeschylus' Agamemnon at the Getty Villa in Los Angeles & Wagner's Ring cycle for Seattle Opera. He is the James S. Marcus Faculty Fellow at the Juilliard School, Master Teacher at the Metropolitan Opera Lindemann Young Artists Development Program, a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres & a Harman/Eisner Artist in Residence at the Aspen Institute. His translations of Marivaux are published by Smith & Kraus as Marivaux: Three Plays.

MAGGIE MAES is a Founding Member & Artistic Director of ActorsLoftTheatreCo. & under that banner, has executive produced & directed Five Women Wearing The Same Dress by Alan Ball, When You Comin' Back Red Ryder? by  Mark  Medoff,  Italian American Reconciliation, by John Patrick Shanley &  Sylvia by A.R.Gurney, in New York;  Savage in Limbo by John Patrick Shanley, in Tampa, FL & the World Premiere of Heartworm, by Nanci Hightower, in Charlotte, NC (slated for Off-Broadway in 2010). She also created The Actors' Loft, which sponsors casting workshops & showcases. She has served on the Board of Directors of TRU (Theatre Resources Unlimited), a non profit organization whose mission is to foster new producers. As the primary Operating Partner of Maude Kaplan Management (MKM) Maggie represents clients working in every aspect of the entertainment business: on Broadway in Lion King, Hairspray & Phantom of the Opera; on National Tours in Mamma Mia, Hairspray &, 42nd Street; &  Off- Broadway in God's Ear, Seussical, The Musical & Hostage Song. Her clients have also appeared on TV & film. KIMBERLY VAUGHN is a producer, director, teacher & performer. She was an Associate Producer of the Tony nominated musical Marlene starring Sian Phillips & co-produced Swinging on a Star, Tony nominated for Best Musical. Other projects include Hauptman at the Cherry Lane Theatre, starring Tony Award winner Denis O'Hare & The Cover of Life directed by Pete Masterson, (The Best Little Whore House in Texas) at the American Place Theatre. Directorial credits include Edward J. Moore's Drama Desk Award winning play The Sea Horse at The New Theatre of Harvard Square in Cambridge & the world premiere of Ronald Paolillo's The Lost Boy, which she also co-produced regionally at The Helen Hayes Theatre in Nyack, NY & at The Queens Theatre in the Park. She has served on the faculty of the renowned Circle in the Square Theatre School & as an adjunct Professor at Pace University. Kimberly starred on Broadway as Constance Wilde in the musical Dear Oscar & in star packages including The Member of the Wedding with Ethel Waters, Harvey with Shirley Booth & Tom Poston & Applause with Dorothy Collins.

 

DATES: June 10 - 22 – Preview: Tues, 6/10 Opens: Wed. 6/11

 Tues – Sat @ 7:30pm, Sat & Sun @ 5pm             

THEATRE: ArcLight Theatre ~ 152 West 71st Street

TICKETS: $18

RESERVATIONS: SmartTix (212)868-4444 or www.SmartTix.com

Test and expand your Broadway knowledge with our new game - The Broadway Match-Up! How well do you know your Broadway casting trivia?	Play the Daily Game, explore current shows, and delve into past decades like the 2000s, 80s, and the Golden Age. Challenge your friends and see where you rank!
How well do you know your Tony Awards history? Take our never-ending quiz of nominations and winner history and challenge your friends.	Can you beat your friends? Play today’s daily Broadway word game, featuring a new theatrically inspired word or phrase every day!