Tony Winner Buckley Subs For Carter In Provincetown's 'SUMMER HOTEL' Reading 9/25

Tony Award Winner Betty Buckley will be stepping in for Dixie Carter, Emmy-award nominated actress, Broadway and cabaret luminary, who was slated to star as Zelda Fitzgerald in a concert reading of Tennessee Williams' "Ghosts from a Summer Hotel" at this year's Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival.

"I have been eagerly anticipating the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival and the role of Zelda in ‘Ghosts for a Summer Hotel'," said Ms. Carter. "I had surgery in May, from which I fully expected to be completely recovered by now, and have been joyfully looking forward to this thrilling event honoring our greatest American playwright. However, an unexpected complication has delayed mending time. I am heartbroken and hope the Festival will give me a rain check."

Ms. Buckley has been a presence in the American theater since 1969, when she debuted on Broadway as Martha Jefferson in 1776. Since then, Ms. Buckley has starred in numerous films including last year's M. Night Shyamalan's The Happening, Carrie, Tender Mercies, and on television in "Eight is Enough" and the HBO Series "Oz." A quintessential leading lady of the American Musical Theater, Ms. Buckley has made an indelible mark in award-winning roles including Grizabella in "Cats," and with other diverse and magical performances in "The Mystery of Edwin Drood," "Sunset Boulevard," and "Triumph of Love" (for which she received her second Tony Nomination.) For Hartford Stage, Ms. Buckley played the part of Marguerite Gautier in Tennessee Williams' "Camino Real." She is also renowned for her many years of concert and cabaret performances which have garnered rave reviews and numerous awards.

While in Provincetown for the Festival, Ms. Buckley will also be performing in concert at The Crown and Anchor on Sunday evening, September 27 at 8pm with her longtime collaborator Kenny Werner with whom she has recorded 10 CD's. Tickets for "An Evening With Betty Buckley and Kenny Werner" are available at www.onlyatthecrown.com.

"I'm so thrilled to be joining the Festival and participating in this wonderful piece and delighted to be performing once again in P-Town with Kenny Werner," said Ms. Buckley.

"Ghosts from a Summer Hotel" is an adaptation of Williams' final Broadway play, "Clothes for a Summer Hotel." This one-night-only event will take place on Friday, September 25th at 8:00 pm in the Paramount Room at the Crown and Anchor in Provincetown, MA.

Joining Ms. Buckley for this special event will be Jeff Zinn, playing F. Scott Fitzgerald. Mr. Zinn is the artistic director of Wellfleet Harbor Actors Theater, in Wellfleet, MA.

Williams' last play on Broadway, "Clothes for a Summer Hotel," reflects poetically on the lives of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald. The original Broadway production of "Clothes for a Summer Hotel" boasted a musical score by Michael Valenti. The composer attended and accompanied rehearsals for the Broadway production. For this special occasion in Provincetown, Mr. Valenti will perform live. Certain scenes will be underscored, as they were in the Broadway rehearsals and performances.

For tickets to the one-night-only concert reading, visit: www.twptown.org/ghosts-from-a-summer-hotel or call 866.789.TENN (8366).

For more information, including new details on Festival performances and events as they become available, visit www.twptown.org.