Sarah Paulson & Fran Weissler to be Honored at MCC Theater's 2015 MISCAST Gala

MCC THEATER has announced that this year's Miscast gala, an annual highlight of the New York theater season, will honor two bold and fearless women: Emmy & Golden Globe nominated stage and screen actress Sarah Paulson and Tony Award-winning producer Fran Weissler. Miscast 2015 will be held Monday, March 30, 2015 at The Hammerstein Ballroom (311 West 34th Street).

In a statement, Bernard Telsey, MCC Theater's Co-Artistic Director, said: "Honoring Sarah and Fran together is going to double our fun at Miscast. They're both incredibly talented, passionate and very funny women. Plus, they don't play it safe, which is something we value at MCC. We're eager to pay tribute to that quality in both of them next March."

Paulson is perhaps best-known for her work on "American Horror Story," HBO's Game Change, and last year's Oscar winner for Best Picture, 12 Years a Slave. Amongst her many NYC stage appearances on and off Broadway, Paulson starred in MCC's Still Life and Colder Than Here and in Roundabout Theatre Company's Talley's Folly. Weissler has produced some of Broadway's biggest hits including the long-running revival of Chicago, the current revival of Pippin, and Falsettos, amongst many others.

MCC Theater's annual Miscast gala is one of the most exciting and unique theater events in town. Broadway's hottest stars perform songs from roles in which they would never be cast. An all-star lineup of performers will be announced at a later date.

Sarah Paulson has built an impressive list of credits in film, television and on stage. Her most recent film performances include her critically acclaimed portrayal of Mistress Epps in last year's Academy Award Best Picture winner, 12 Years a Slave; the Sundance Film Festival sensation Martha Marcy May Marlene; and the independent feature, Mud in which she received the Robert Altman Award alongside her cast at the 2014 Film Independent Spirit Awards. Paulson will next star in Todd Haynes' Carol opposite Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara based on the Patricia Highsmith novel, The Price of Salt. On television, Paulson has appeared in the first three seasons of Ryan Murphy's critically acclaimed anthology series "American Horror Story" on FX, for which she has received two Emmy nominations. She will soon star in the fourth season, "American Horror Story: Freak Show" as Bette and Dot Tattler, conjoined twins, who are part of a 1950s Freak Show in Jupiter, Florida. Her other memorable television work includes her Emmy and Golden Globe nominated performance in HBO's Game Change as well as her Golden Globe nominated role on Aaron Sorkin's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip." On stage, Paulson has appeared on Broadway in Collected Stories opposite Linda Lavin, and as Laura Wingfield in a revival of The Glass Menagerie opposite frequent co-star Jessica Lange. In 2013, she appeared Off-Broadway in a critically-acclaimed production of Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly. For MCC Theater, she starred in Still Life and Colder Than Here.

Fran Weissler, along with her husband and business partner, Barry, is the recipient of seven Tony Awards: Othello, their Broadway debut, starring James Earl Jones and Christopher Plummer; Fiddler on the Roof; Gypsy with Tyne Daly; Annie Get Your Gun with Bernadette Peters and Reba McEntire; the worldwide hit, Chicago; the 2010 revival of La Cage Aux Folles with Kelsey Grammer; and the 2013 revival of Pippin. Other notable Broadway credits include Cabaret with Joel Grey, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Kathleen Turner, Zorba with Anthony Quinn, My One & Only with Tommy Tune, My Fair Lady with Richard Chamberlain, William Finn's Falsettos, Grease with Megan Mullally, Seussical with Rosie O'Donnell, Wonderful Town with Brooke Shields, Sweet Charity with Christina Applegate, the West End premiere of Neil Labute's Fat Pig and Kander and Ebb's The Scottsboro Boys directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman. Multiple projects in development include The Heart of Robin Hood, The Band Wagon, Finding Neverland, and Waitress.

Proceeds from Miscast 2015 will, as always, support MCC Theater's mission to develop and produce exciting work Off-Broadway, as well as its Youth Company and partnerships with New York City public high schools, and MCC's literary development work with emerging playwrights.

Tickets and tables will be on sale on November 1, 2014. For ticket and table purchasing options, visit www.mcctheater.org/galamiscast_tickets.html. To purchase gala tickets, please contact Alyssa Simmons at (212) 727-7722, ext. 232 or via email at asimmons@mcctheater.org. Mezzanine level show-only tickets available for purchase beginning on January 27th via OvationTix.

Photo by Walter McBride