Stage and screen star Alfred Molina has been cast in the Center Theater Group production of Chekhov's poignant masterpiece The Cherry Orchard, which will run at the Mark Taper Forum from February 12th to March 19th, 2006 in a production directed by Sean Mathias.
Annette Bening has also been cast in the show, which tells of the attemps of an aristocratic family in pre-Revolution Russia to hold on to their precious cherry orchard, the scene of many fond memories. Molina most recently starred as Tevye in David Leveaux' currently-running revival of Fiddler on the Roof after making his Broadway debut in Art in 1998; he garnered Tony nominations for both performances. He is recognizable to movie-goers as Doc Oc in Spider-Man 2, and has also appeared on screen in Identity, Frida, Chocolat, Magnolia, Boogie Nights, Anna Karenina, Species, and many others. As You Like It (in which he plays Touchstone) and The Da Vinci Code are two of his upcoming films.Mathias' Broadway credits include the revivals of The Elephant Man and Strindberg's Dance of Death, as well as Marlene and Indiscretions (for which he received a Tony nomination). David Mamet's Romance (Sept. 29-Nov. 13) and Lewis and Clark Reach the Euphrates (Nov. 30-Jan. 22.) precede The Cherry Orchard in the Mark Taper Forum season line-up.