Danner, Groff Set For Westport Reading Of BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE 6/7

Forty seasons ago, Westport Country Playhouse staged "Butterflies Are Free" with Blythe Danner as the ingenious girl who falls in love with a blind boy, played by Keir Dullea. A success in Westport, the comedy transferred to Broadway, where it ran over three years, earning Danner a Tony Award. The play remains in The Playhouse's annals as one of some 36 productions that made the giant leap from Westport to Broadway.

The hit comedy and its original stars will return to The Playhouse for one night only when "Butterflies Are Free" is reprised as the 80th anniversary celebration Script in Hand on Monday, June 7, 7 p.m. Keir Dullea will host the evening; Blythe Danner ("Meet the Parents") will play the over-protective mother.

Jonathan Groff ("Glee," "Spring Awakening") will appear as the self-reliant sightless man; Betty Gilpin ("Ghost Town") is cast as the kooky free-spirit who tries to help him break from his mother's smothering influence; and Andrew Grusetskie (Westport Country Playhouse's "Around the World in 80 Days") will portray the playboy director who threatens their new-found love.

"This is a perfect way to celebrate The Playhouse's 80th season, with a revival of one of the plays that originated there and went on to Broadway," said Dullea.

Curated and produced by Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor, the Script in Hand Series brings together professional actors to read works by master playwrights. Tickets are $15, on sale beginning Thursday, May 13, 12 noon.

"So much of the theater is about connections," said Keefe. "When Mark Shanahan, one of our Playhouse regulars, mentioned that his friend Jonathan Groff would be in town in June, I thought it would be fun to do a reading of an important play in our history with such a hot young star. Given Blythe Danner's original connection to the piece, it was a short leap to thinking that she should be involved again. I've known Betty Gilpin, the daughter of Playhouse alumni Jack Gilpin and Ann McDonough, since she was born. I've watched her career blossom and thought she'd be perfect as the young girl.

"It all just came together, and seemed a wonderful way to celebrate our successes during this 80th anniversary season," Keefe added.

Blythe Danner's Broadway credits include a Tony Award for "Butterflies Are Free" and Tony Award nominations for "Betrayal," "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "Follies." Her films include "Alice," "The Great Santini," "Meet the Parents," "Meet the Fockers," "Mr. and Mrs. Bridge" and "Sylvia" with daughter Gwyneth Paltrow. She won two Emmy Awards for Showtime's "Huff."

Betty Gilpin's work off-Broadway includes the current play, "That Face" at Manhattan Theatre Club, "Good Boys and True" and "Boys Life." At Williamstown Theatre Festival she appeared in "What Is the Cause of Thunder?" Her films are "Death in Love," "The Northern Kingdom" and "Ghost Town." Television credits include "Past Life," "The Unusuals," "Possible Side Effects," "Fringe," "New Amsterdam, "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Medium."

Jonathan Groff's credits include Broadway's "Spring Awakening," for which he received a Tony Award nomination, and "In My Life." Off-Broadway he appeared in "Prayer for My Enemy," for which he earned an Obie Award. His films include Ang Lee's "Taking Woodstock," "Twelve Thirty" and Robert Redford's upcoming movie, "The Conspirator." Television appearances include "Glee" and "Pretty/Handsome."

Andrew Grusetskie appeared in "Around the World in 80 Days" at Westport Country Playhouse last season. He is a founding member of Split Knuckle Theatre and an associate artist with ACTIVE EYE. Regional work includes Olney Theatre, Connecticut Repertory Theatre, Northern Stage and McCarter Theatre. New York credits include Women's Project, Edge Theater Company and Stage 13.

Director is Mark Shanahan, who recently directed "The 39 Steps" at Alley Theatre. He has also directed for Penguin Rep and Actors Theatre Of Nantucket. He has made many appearances on the stage at Westport Country Playhouse, including "David Copperfield," "Sedition," "Tryst" and last season's "Around the World in 80 Days."
Playwright Leonard Gershe (1922 - 2002) wrote the book for the musical "Destry Rides Again" in 1959, and in 1969 the play, "Butterflies Are Free." He wrote the lyrics for the "Born in a Trunk" sequence from the Judy Garland musical "A Star Is Born," and a number of episodes of "The Lucy Show." His screen credits include "Funny Face" (1958 Academy Award nomination), "40 Carats" and "Butterflies Are Free."

Script in Hand Series curator Anne Keefe co-directed with JoAnne Woodward Westport Country Playhouse's production of "David Copperfield." She directed two Script in Hand readings earlier this season, "And Then There Were None" and "Harvey." She is a former Westport Country Playhouse artistic director and currently serves as artistic advisor.

The Script in Hand Series is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation and the Newman's Own Foundation.
About The Playhouse

Westport Country Playhouse, a not-for-profit theater, serves as a treasured home for the performing arts and is a cultural landmark for Connecticut. Under the artistic direction of Mark Lamos and management direction of Michael Ross, The Playhouse creates quality productions of new and classic plays that enlighten, enrich and engage a diverse community of theater lovers, artists and students. The Playhouse's rich history dates back to 1931, when New York theatre producer Lawrence Langner created a Broadway-quality stage within an 1830s tannery. The Playhouse quickly became an established stop on the New England "straw hat circuit" of summer stock theaters. Now celebrating its 80th season, Westport Country Playhouse has produced more than 700 plays, 36 of which later transferred to Broadway, most recently the world premiere of "Thurgood" and a revival of Thornton Wilder's "Our Town" with Paul Newman, and in earlier years "Come Back, Little Sheba" with Shirley Booth, "The Trip to Bountiful" with Lillian Gish, and "Butterflies Are Free" with Keir Dullea and Blythe Danner. For its artistic excellence, The Playhouse received a 2005 Governor's Arts Award and a 2000 "Connecticut Treasure" recognition. It was also designated as an Official Project of Save America's Treasures by the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is entered on the Connecticut State Register of Historic Places. Following a multi-million dollar renovation completed in 2005, The Playhouse transformed into a year-round, state-of-the-art producing theater, which has preserved its original charm and character. In addition to a full season of theatrical productions, The Playhouse serves as a community resource, presenting educational programming and workshops; a children's theater series; symposiums; music; films; and readings.

Westport Country Playhouse's five-play 2010 season: "She Loves Me," a romantic musical comedy, with book by Joe Masteroff, music by Jerry Bock and lyrics by Sheldon Harnick, directed by Mark Lamos, April 20 - May 15; "Dinner with Friends," a comic drama by Donald Margulies, directed by David Kennedy, Playhouse associate artistic director, June 1 through 19; "Happy Days" by Samuel Beckett, a play of luminous beauty and rare power, directed by Mark Lamos, July 6 through July 24; "I Do! I Do," an endearing musical, with book and lyrics are by Tom Jones and music by Harvey Schmidt, directed by Susan H. Schulman, August 10 through August 28; and "The Diary of Anne Frank," a timeless and powerful classic, by Frances Goodrich and Albert Hackett, adapted by Wendy Kesselman, directed by Gerald Freedman, September 28 through October 16.

For more information or ticket purchases, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets may be purchased online at www.westportplayhouse.org.

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