Andrea Burns to Star in BORN YESTERDAY at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre

What would you do if the gorgeous blonde you discovered ended up being a lot smarter than you gave her credit for?

That's the hilarious question at hand in the brazen American screwball comedy Born Yesterday, onstage October 29 - November 12 at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre.

Kicking off the Theatre's 2017/18 season, the production will star Drama Desk Award winner Andréa Burns as ex-showgirl Billie Dawn, fresh off her recent Broadway performance as Gloria Fajardo in On Your Feet!, the musical based on the life and music of Emilio and Gloria Estefan. Broadway audiences also know her as Daniela, the saucy hairdresser from the original cast of Lin Manuel-Miranda's In The Heights, or from her other Broadway roles in The Nance, Beauty and the Beast, The Full Monty and The Ritz.

Written by visionary playwright Garson Kanin and known for popular 1950 and 1993 film adaptations by the same name, Born Yesterday is a 1946 Broadway hit that tells the story of Harry Brock, a hot-tempered and corrupt tycoon who is determined to make a name for himself in the power-driven city of Washington D.C. But when he realizes his ex-showgirl girlfriend Billie isn't quite cutting it in highbrow society, Harry schemes to transform blonde bombshell Billie into a cultured and classy woman - with a little help from friends in low places. In a deliriously funny turn of events, Harry discovers that he may have gotten more than he bargained for.

"The role of Billie Dawn requires an actor who can change from the naïve ex-showgirl that appears at the top of the play to a confident, inquisitive and more refined woman at the end. This Pygmalion-like transformation is in the capable hands of Broadway veteran Andréa Burns," said the Theatre's producing director and chief executive Andrew Kato. "Ms. Burns and the actors who play the colorful cast of characters that inhabit her Washington D.C. hotel suite are under the direction of Peter Flynn, who has helmed previous productions at the Maltz Jupiter Theatre including Kiss Me, Kate, Other Desert Cities, Sleuth and the Carbonell Award-winning Man of La Mancha."

In addition to directing at regional theatres such as the Guthrie Theater and Chicago Shakespeare Theater, Flynn's directorial credits include the off-Broadway hit musical Curvy Widow currently running at the Westside Theater, and Ragtime at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D.C. where he is also an Associate Artist. He is also known for staging a number of star-studded New York concerts, including the Actors' Fund concerts of the 75th Anniversary of Thornton Wilder's Our Town with Adriane Lenox, B.D. Wong and S. Epatha Merkerson; On the Twentieth Century, starring Douglas Sills, Marin Mazzie and Joanne Worley; Chess, starring Josh Groban; and Funny Girl, starring Whoopi Goldberg and Andrea Martin.

"Born Yesterday is an audacious social satire about a woman waking up to her own power," Flynn said. "This play is for anyone who has ever dreamed of leveling the playing field and outwitting those who've held them back - laughing all the way."

With a cast of 12, the play also stars Dominic Comperatore as Harry, known for his roles in the Tony Award®-winning revival of A View From the Bridge, the critically acclaimed off Broadway revival of Lost in Yonkers, Sir Peter Hall's production of Romeo and Juliet at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and Steven Soderbergh's WWII drama The Good German opposite George Clooney.

Broadway's Darian Dauchan will portray the play's other leading man: journalist Paul Verrall, hired by Brock to educate Billie. In addition to numerous TV and film credits, Dauchan has appeared both on Broadway in On the Twentieth Century and off-Broadway with the Jean Cocteau Repertory and Classical Theatre of Harlem.

Born Yesterday will showcase the work of several designers beloved for their work at the Theatre: award-winning scenic designer Anne Mundell (Disgraced, The Audience, Frost/Nixon, Glengarry Glen Ross and Other Desert Cities), lighting designer Cory Pattak (Me and My Girl, The Audience and Other Desert Cities) and Carbonell Award-winning resident sound designer Marty Mets, now in his seventh season with the Theatre.

The production will feature costumes by famed costume designer Franne Lee, who earned Tony Awards® for costume and set design for Hal Prince's productions of Candide and Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street and an Emmy Award for production/costume design during the first five years of Saturday Night Live (including the looks for such beloved characters as the Bees, Coneheads, Blues Brothers and more), in addition to numerous other Broadway, TV and film credits.

Born Yesterday is sponsored by Suzanne Niedland in loving memory of Art and Meg Niedland. Single tickets start at $58. For tickets and showtimes, call (561) 575-2223 or visit www.jupitertheatre.org. For more information on bringing your group to the Theatre, contact community relationships ambassador Cheryl McDermott at (561) 972-6117.

The not-for-profit Maltz Jupiter Theatre has become one of Florida's preeminent professional theatres, committed to production and education through its collaborations with local and national artists. Currently the state's largest award-winning regional theatre, the Theatre draws 100,000 people annually, serves a subscription base of more than 8,000 and has world-class classroom facilities in support of its Goldner Conservatory of Performing Arts, which serves hundreds of youth and adults. The Theatre is a member of the prestigious League of Resident Theatres and has earned numerous Carbonell Awards, South Florida's highest honor for artistic excellence, including the prestigious Bill Von Maurer Award for Theatrical Excellence. For more information about the Theatre's upcoming shows and Conservatory, visit www.jupitertheatre.org or call the box office at (561) 575-2223.

Photo Credit: Zak Bennett