Bradley Whitford, Robin Givens to Lead Pasadena Playhouse's BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY & ART

The Pasadena Playhouse announced that Bradley Whitford is set to play the role of "Marc" in ART and Robin Givens is to play the role of "Angel" in BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY at The Pasadena Playhouse. BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY, by Pearl Cleage, will be directed by Artistic Director Sheldon Epps and performs November 1 - 27, with the official press opening on November 6, 2011. ART, by Yasmina Reza, will be directed by David Lee and performs January 24 - February 19, with the official press opening on January 29, 2012.

"I am tremendously excited (and may I add, quite proud) that these two wonderful actors are going to grace our stage," stated Artistic Director Sheldon Epps. "Our theatre has been blessed with many great performances over the years, and we now have the promise of that tradition continuing with this exciting casting news. I look forward to the theatrical fireworks that these two fine performers will ignite in two very different, but equally brilliant plays that well deserve new life in vitally fresh productions on the stage of The Playhouse."

"I'm thrilled to welcome Bradley to the cast of ART," stated director David Lee. "I first became aware of his formidable talents as a serious actor as so many others did on "The West Wing." Only later did I discover that he also knows his way around comedy in Boeing Boeing on Broadway. That's a director's dream."

"I had the good fortune to meet and work with Robin last year," Epps added. "I know that she will bring emotional weight, vibrancy, and great variety to the role of Angel...Not to mention her tremendous beauty! It will be incredibly valuable to have those qualities at the center of what I expect to be the wonderful ensemble that we are now putting together for the production."

Whitford is best known for his roles as Deputy White house Chief of Staff Josh Lyman on the NBC television drama "The West Wing" (three-time Emmy Award nominee "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series 2001-2003, winning the award in 2001; three-time Golden Globe Award nominee for "Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role"), as Danny Tripp on "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," as Dan Stark in the Fox police buddy-comedy "The Good Guys," as Red John in the hit CBS series "The Mentalist," a guest appearance on the USA Network series "In Plain Sight" and the CBS series "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and as Eric Gordon in the film Billy Madison. He also recently starred in the Broadway production of Boeing Boeing from April - September, 2008.

Givens landed her breakthrough role as Darlene Merriman on the ABC series "Head of the Class" (1986-1991). During that time she also appeared alongside Oprah Winfrey in the miniseries "The Women of Brewster Place" (1989), followed by the Eddie Murphy film Boomerang in 1992. She was listed among Empire Magazine's "100 Sexiest Stars in Film History" in 1995. More recently Givens has worked with Tyler Perry on his feature film The Family That Preys (1998) and the TBS series "Tyler Perry's House of Payne," as well as a recurring role on USA Network's "Burn Notice." On stage she has performed in the Off-Broadway production of The Vagina Monologues (2006), as Roxie Hart in the Broadway production of Chicago (2006), the touring production of Men, Money & Golddiggers and the 2009 play A Mother's Prayer with Johnny Gill, Shirley Murdock and Jermaine Crawford. In 2007 she published a memoir entitled Grace Will Lead Me Home.

BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY unfolds in the summer of 1930 in Harlem, NY, just as the harsh realities of the Great Depression have devastated an ebullient decade of the Harlem renaissance. Disease and poverty have overshadowed the creative euphoria that permeated and fueled a surge of African American artists, writers and luminaries. BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY introduces a rich cast of characters, scrambling to survive and make some sense of their overlapping personalities, politics and love lives: Angel (played by Givens) is a struggling blues singer and nightclub performer who cannot find a job. Her friend Guy, a costume designer, is also out of work but dreams of being hired to design dresses for the famous African-American singer and dancer Josephine Baker. Their neighbor Delia, a social worker, is trying to organize a family planning clinic in Harlem. Their friend Sam, a doctor, works long hours delivering babies at the Harlem Hospital. And Leland, having recently moved to New York from Tuskegee sees in Angel a memory of lost love and a reminder of those "Alabama skies where the stars are so thick it's bright as day."

ART is the acclaimed international hit from white-hot playwright Yasmina Reza (God of Carnage). Serge, Marc (played by Whitford) and Yvan are the best of friends. But when Serge spends a fortune on a controversial painting, all three experience the dire consequences of adhering to one's taste in art. This production will be directed by nine-time Emmy Award-winner David Lee, who has helmed many previous Pasadena Playhouse successes including Can Can, Light Up The Sky and Camelot.

The full cast and additional creative team of BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY and ART will be announced at a later date. Single ticket sales for BLUES FOR AN ALABAMA SKY go on sale Monday, September 19, 2011 and for ART on Tuesday, November 1, 2011.

For more information on The Pasadena Playhouse and its 2011 - 2012 season, visit www.PasadenaPlayhouse.org.

 

 

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