Kristine Nielsen to Star in Durang's Miss Witherspoon

By: Aug. 05, 2005
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Kristine Nielsen has been cast in the leading role of the new Christopher Durang comedy Miss Witherspoon, which will begin its run at the McCarter Theatre in Princeton, NJ on September 9th (to run through October 16th) before beginning performances at off-Broadway's Playwrights Horizon on November 11th and opening on December 1st.

Nielsen returns to the often wacky and absurdist turf of Durang (The Marriage of Bette and Boo, Baby with the Bathwater, Laughing Wild) after winning an Obie Award for playing the liquored-up Mrs. Siezmagraff in 1999's Betty's Summer Vacation, also at Playwrights Horizon; she had previously appeared in his Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge at the City Theatre in Pittsburgh. Lynda Gravátt, Mahira Kakkar, Jeremy Shamos and Colleen Werthmann will also be featured in the cast of the show, which will be directed by Emily Mann.

According to production notes, Miss Witherspoon is "a quirky black comedy about reincarnation, altering the course of world events…and Rex Harrison...In life, Veronica was a lapsed Catholic — so why is she spending eternity in Purgatory with a Hindu spirit guide who calls her Miss Witherspoon? And why is she continually being sent back to earth to live lives she doesn't particularly want to lead? Will she open herself up to enlightenment and learn her place in the world? God only knows — or someone like God, anyway."

Miss Witherspoon's design team comprises David Korins (sets), Jess Goldstein (costumes), Jeff Croiter (lighting) and Darron L. West (sound).

Nielsen's Broadway credits include A Streetcar Named Desire (the recent revival), The Green Bird, Jackie and The Iceman Cometh. She has appeared in almost two dozen plays off-Broadway--among them, Omnium Gatherum, The Underpants, Wonder of the World, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, As Bees in Honey Drown, Henry V and Measure for Measure.


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