McKean, Pantoliano, Chalke, Hoffman Cast for Williamstown Shows

Roger Rees, in his inaugural season as the artistic director of the Williamstown Theatre Festival, has announced full casting for the featured shows. Michael McKean, Joe Pantoliano, Sarah Chalke and Gaby Hoffman will be some of the stars taking part in the prestigious Williamstown, MA festival.

McKean (B'way: Hairspray; Film: This is Spinal Tap, A Mighty Wind, and TV's "Laverne and Shirley") joins Tom Stoppard's On The Razzle as Zangler, while Pantoliano ("The Sopranos"), Chalke (Modern Orthodox, "Scrubs" and "Roseanne") and Michael Chernus (Adam Rapp Festival, Rattlestick) make up the cast for the new Etan Frankel play, Create Fate. In addition, Hoffman (200 Cigarettes, Now and Then, and Sleepless in Seattle), Patch Darragh (B'way: Our Town), Tim Hopper (B'way: Present Laughter), and Betsy Aidem (Nine Months, "Law & Order") comprise the cast of The Sugar Syndrome, by Lucy Prebble.

In addition to the new leadership of Rees (Nicholas Nickelby, Indiscretions, A Man of No Importance), the season also marks the much-anticipated debut of WTF's new performance venue in the '62 Center for Theatre and Dance at Williams College. The Festival's Main Stage is now housed in a new 511-seat tiered auditorium while the renovated Adams Memorial Theatre is the new home of the Nikos Stage, WTF's second performance space which is dedicated to new plays.

The Main Stage productions comprise the following plays:

Lady Windemere's Fan by Oscar Wilde, directed by Moisés Kaufman (July 6 – 17).

"Determined not to trust her husband when circumstances suggest he's been unfaithful, the effortlessly desirable Lady Margaret Windermere – modern, independent and deliciously free of self-doubt – resolves to leave him flat. But the true nature of her husband's relationship with the "other woman" is very different from what young Margaret assumes it to be. The play is Oscar Wilde's first comedy and, more than a century later, a provocative season-opener for WTF's 2005 season in the hands of cutting-edge director Moisés Kaufman."

Top Girls  by Caryl Churchill, directed by Jo Bonney (July 20 – 31).

"What kind of a victory is women's progress in the workplace? Or is it a victory at all? At a dinner party celebrating Marlene's promotion, five women, superstars of the golden ages of history, literature and art, weigh in on the personal sacrifices a woman makes to achieve success. More potent now than ever, Top Girls is the play that established Caryl Churchill as one of the late 20th century's truly important – and prescient – playwrights."

On the Razzle by Tom Stoppard, directed by David Jones (August 3 – 14).

"While their boss is away, two store clerks have madcap adventures filled with mistaken identities, malapropisms and Tom Stoppard's trademark wordplay. Freely adapted from Austrian playwright Johann Nestroy's 19th Century farce, Einen Jux will er sich machen (which also inspired Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker), On the Razzle is high-octane non-stop fun."

Bus Stop by William Inge, directed by Will Frears (August 17 – 28).

"Cherie's a hard-up nightclub singer. Bo's a good ol' cowboy. And when a snowstorm leaves their bus stranded somewhere between Kansas City and Topeka, they spend the night discovering truths and uncovering lies. This romantic finale to our Main Stage season is a mid-twentieth century classic from William Inge, the author of Come Back, Little Sheba and Picnic."

The following shows will be performed on the Nikos Stage:

Create Fate by Etan Frankel, directed by Christopher Ashley (July 13 – 24).

"Love can be a brutal game. When the deck is stacked against him, Nathan does the only thing he can to get the love of his life to notice him: he calls in the professionals. When is true love a product of fate, and when is it just a set of well-choreographed accidents?"

The Sugar Syndrome by Lucy Prebble, directed by Maria Mileaf (July 27 – August 7).

"Seventeen-year-old Dani surfs internet chat rooms searching for someone who is honest and direct. What she finds is a man twice her age who thinks she is an eleven year-old boy. With richly textured writing and humor, it's Lucy Prebble's play that's honest and direct. And fierce. And devastatingly, disarmingly, disturbingly funny. The Sugar Syndrome contains adult subject matter and is intended for mature audiences."

Tough Titty by Oni Faida Lampley, directed by Charles Randolph-Wright (August 10 – 21).

"Diagnosed with breast cancer, trying to stay married, raise two small sons and endure poisonous treatments, Angela confronts her childhood ideas about God and goodness, and wrestles with the haunting question, "What did I do wrong?" Funny, poignant – and tough."

Ticket prices for Main Stage productions range from $20 to $52, depending on the performance date, time and seating location. Main Stage performance times are Tuesday through Friday evenings at 8 p.m., Saturday evenings at 8:30 p.m. Matinees are Thursdays at 3 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. The Main Stage is handicapped accessible, and is equipped with assistive listening devices for the hard of hearing <>  Ticket prices for Nikos Stage productions are $33 or $35, depending on performance date. Tickets are still readily available due to the improvement on seating capacity. Nikos Stage performance times are Tuesday through Friday evenings at 8 p.m., Saturday evenings at 8:30 p.m. Matinees are Thursdays at 3 p.m., Saturdays at 4 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. The Nikos Stage is also handicapped accessible, and is equipped with assistive listening devices for the hard of hearing.

Tickets are on sale online at the Festival's official website ( WTFestival.org) and at the Box Office for in person sales as well as by calling 413-597-3400.