Shakespeare Salon Presents Making Shakespeare In The Park With Ferguson, Lind 5/24

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) will continue its popular Shakespeare Salon series on Monday, May 24 at 6 p.m. Shakespeare Initiative Director Barry Edelstein will moderate a discussion on "Making Shakespeare in the Park: Onstage and Backstage," featuring a cross-section of cast, crew and creative team members from this summer's repertory productions of The Winter's Tale and The Merchant of Venice at Shakespeare in the Park.

The discussion will include actors Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Clown in The Winter's Tale / Launcelot Gobbo in The Merchant of Venice) and Heather Lind (Perdita in The Winter's Tale / Jessica in The Merchant of Venice); the production stage manager of The Merchant of Venice, Stephen M. Kaus; The Public Theater's Director of Production, Ruth E. Sternberg; and the scenic designer for both repertory productions, Mark Wendland.

The event will be held at Chinatown Brasserie (380 Lafayette St). Admission is $25 which includes a complimentary glass of wine; the admission price is a full tax-deductible donation to the Shakespeare Initiative. Tickets may be reserved by calling (212) 539-8734 or emailing partners@publictheater.org. Space is limited and reservations are strongly encouraged.

"All of us at The Public are thrilled at the success of our new Shakespeare Salon. It's a pleasure to provide our audience with a glimpse into the process of how we do our work," said Barry Edelstein, Director of the Shakespeare Initiative and moderator of the Shakespeare Salon. "The next Salon gathers a panel representing all the individuals who make Shakespeare in the Park the New York City institution it is: actors, designers, stage managers, and producers. I work with these gifted people daily, and I can promise a fun and fascinating evening."

The Shakespeare Salon is an occasional series of conversations with the acclaimed artists whose charge is to interpret the works of Shakespeare on the stages of The Public Theater. Wide ranging, freewheeling, and fun, The Shakespeare Salon will provide The Public's audience with intimate behind-the-scenes access to the extraordinarily talented actors, directors, composers, designers, and other artists whose work makes The Public Theater the leading producer of Shakespeare in America.

The 2010 Shakespeare in the Park summer season will present two Shakespeare plays in repertory, giving audiences eight straight weeks of free Shakespeare. THE MERCHANT OF VENICE will be directed by Daniel Sullivan and THE WINTER'S TALE will be directed by Michael Greif. Previews for Shakespeare in the Park 2010 will begin on Wednesday, June 9 and run through Sunday, August 1.

BARRY EDELSTEIN is the Director of The Shakespeare Initiative. His directing credits include Public Theater productions of Julius Caesar, The Merchant of Venice, and WASP and Other Plays, and many productions of Shakespeare and others in New York City and around the country. He spent three seasons as dramaturg of Joseph Papp's Shakespeare Marathon and served as Artistic Director of Classic Stage Company from 1998 to 2003. He is the author of Thinking Shakespeare (2007) and Bardisms: Shakespeare for All Occasions (2009).

JESSE TYLER FERGUSON (Clown/Launcelot Gobbo) most recently appeared at The Public in The Shakespeare in the Park productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream (Drama League Nomination) and On the Town. On Broadway, he appeared in The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Drama Desk Award, Drama League Nomination). His off-Broadway credits include Most Fabulous Story Ever Told, Where Do We Live, Little Fish, Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Hair. He is currently on the hit television series "Modern Family". His other TV and film credits include "The Class," "Ugly Betty," Wonderful World, and Untraceable.

STEPHEN M. KAUS (Production Stage Manager/ Merchant of Venice). His credits at The Public include Twelfth Night (Delacorte) and Why Torture Is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them. On Broadway, he stage managed Present Laughter, Match, and Dracula: The Musical (sub). His off-Broadway credits include The Butter and Egg Man (Atlantic); The New Century, Observe the Sons of Ulster...(LCT); Streamers (Roundabout). His many regional credits including Huntington Theatre (three seasons as resident PSM), McCarter, Old Globe, and Williamstown Theater Festival (seven seasons). He is a graduate of Boston University, where he also taught stage management.

RUTH STERNBERG is in her sixth season as Director of Production and Facility Management for the Public Theater. For 10 seasons, Sternberg worked with Oskar Eustis at Trinity Repertory Company where she led the production department. She has worked on numerous Shakespeare productions as a stage manager, production manager and Director of Production with a variety of directors. Those productions include Romeo and Juliet (three times), Othello (twice), The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night (twice), Julius Caesar (twice), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Comedy of Errors, Macbeth (twice), As You Like It (twice), Richard III, Two Gentleman of Verona (once as Two Gents!), The Henriad (twice in various incarnations), and A Midsummer Night's Dream (four times).

HEATHER LIND (Perdita/Jessica) is making her Public Theater debut. She has appeared regionally at the Williamstown Theatre Festival (Fellowship Company, Free Theatre, Greylock Project), the Capital Repertory Theatre (Metamorphoses.) Her TV credits include "Guiding Light," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent." Her training includes a B.A. at Fordham University at Lincoln Center and an M.F.A. for NYU Graduate Acting Class of 2010.

MARK WENDLAND (Scenic Design). His Public Theater credits include the Shakespeare in the Park productions of Romeo and Juliet, Henry V, Cymbeline, and Timon of Athens and the downtown productions of Satellites, f-ing A, Pericles, and A Dybbuk. His Broadway designs include the current Next To Normal, Talk Radio, An Almost Holy Picture, Death of a Salesman. His Off-Broadway designs include Beauty of the Father, Iron (MTC); Hot 'n' Throbbing (Signature Theatre); Eight Days Backwards, Brutal Imagination (Vineyard Theatre).

THE PUBLIC THEATER (Oskar Eustis, Artistic Director; Andrew D. Hamingson, Executive Director) was founded by Joseph Papp in 1954 and is now one of the nation's preeminent cultural institutions, producing new plays, musicals, and productions of classics at its downtown headquarters and at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The Public's mandate to create a theater for all New Yorkers continues to this day onstage and through extensive outreach and education programs. Each year, over 250,000 people attend Public Theater-related productions and events at six downtown stages, including Joe's Pub, and Shakespeare in the Park. The Public has won 42 Tony Awards, 149 Obies, 40 Drama Desk Awards and four Pulitzer Prizes. The Public has brought 52 shows to Broadway, including Sticks and Bones; That Championship Season; A Chorus Line; The Pirates of Penzance; The Tempest; Bring In ‘Da Noise, Bring In ‘Da Funk; On the Town; The Ride Down Mt. Morgan; Topdog/Underdog; Elaine Stritch at Liberty; Take Me Out; Caroline, or Change; Well; Passing Strange; and, most recently, the current Tony Award-winning revival of Hair. www.publictheater.org.

TICKET INFORMATION

The Shakespeare Salon will be held at Chinatown Brasserie (380 Lafayette St). Admission is $25 which includes a complimentary glass of wine; the admission price is a fully tax-deductible donation to the Shakespeare Initiative.

Tickets may be reserved by calling (212) 539-8734 or emailing partners@publictheater.org. Space is limited and reservations are strongly encouraged.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.