Chicago Acting Couple Paula Scrofano and John Reeger to Star in THE GIN GAME at Drury Lane

Drury Lane Theatre continues its 2017-2018 season with the Pulitzer-winning play The Gin Game written by D.L. Coburn, featuring Jeff Award winners Paula Scrofano and John Reeger, and directed by Ross Lehman.

The Gin Game runs June 22 - August 13, 2017 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. The Press Opening is Thursday, June 29, 2017 at 8:00 p.m.

Winner of the 1978 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and nominated for four Tony Awards, The Gin Game symbolizes life in the form of a card game in a two-act, two-character play starring Chicago theater legends Paula Scrofano and John Reeger. In The Gin Game, Weller Martin and Fonsia Dorsey strike up an acquaintance and begin to play gin. As the game progresses, intimate secrets of their lives are revealed and they begin to search for each other's weaknesses in both the game and life itself.

With this production, married couple Paula Scrofano and John Reeger join an elite history of famous duos who have previously battled in The Gin Game, including original stars Jessica Tandy and Hume Cronyn (the 1977 Broadway production and 1981 TV movie), Mary Tyler Moore and Dick Van Dyke (the 2003 PBS television special), and Cicely Tyson and James Earl Jones (the 2015 Broadway Revival). Jeff Award winner Ross Lehman directs the renowned acting couple.

"We have wanted to produce The Gin Game for years, specifically with Paula Scrofano and John Reeger in the roles of Fonsia and Weller," says Kyle DeSantis, President of Drury Lane Productions. "This marks Drury Lane's twelfth collaboration with this legendary pair of Chicago actors, and we're so excited to welcome them back to our stage."

The creative team for The Gin Game includes Katherine Ross (scenic design), Mathieu H. Ray (costume design), Lindsey Lyddan (lighting design), Ray Nardelli (sound design), Mike Tutaj (projection design), Cassy Schillo (props design) and Claire Moores (wig and hair design). The production stage manager is Lucia Lombardi.

The Gin Game is recommended for ages 13 and up.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS:

Paula Scrofano (Fonsia Dorsey) and John Reeger (Weller Martin) received the 2015 Equity special Jeff Award for Career Achievement in "recognition of their theatrical contributions to the Chicago theatre scene over the past five decades." Paula and John met and married as students at Northwestern University's theatre school. The acting couple has appeared together in forty-eight Equity productions. Here at Drury Lane they were featured in eleven musicals (Guys and Dolls, My Fair Lady, Jesus Christ Superstar, Annie, On the Twentieth Century, Meet Me in St. Louis, King and I, A Christmas Carol, Once upon a Mattress, Curtains, Sound of Music). They also performed together at Court Theatre (The Seagull, Putting It Together, Hay Fever and James Joyce's The Dead), Steppenwolf (The Ballad of Little Jo), Marriott Theatre (Baby, Phantom, Sunset Blvd, Little Women, The Drowsy Chaperone, Mary Poppins), Theatre at the Center (Hello Dolly, A Christmas Memory), Paramount (My Fair Lady) , Chicago Shakespeare (Wizard of Oz), Apple Tree (Tale of the Allergist's Wife), Body Politic (Rough Crossing), Candlelight Playhouse (Fiddler on the Roof, Boy Meets Girl, A Funny Thing Happened..., Mame, and Saturday, Sunday, Monday), Pheasant Run (I Do! I Do!), and Fulton Theatre in Lancaster, PA (42nd Street, Les Miserables), among others.

Paula appeared last summer at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego as Mrs. Jennings in Sense and Sensibility, a role she first performed at Chicago Shakespeare Theater. She was previously seen at CST in A Comedy of Errors and Willie Wonka. She appeared as Abuela Claudia (In the Heights) at Paramount Theatre, Aunt Eller (Oklahoma!) at Lyric Opera of Chicago, and Mary Todd Lincoln (A Civil War Christmas) at Northlight. Here at Drury Lane she was Frau Blücher (Young Frankenstein), Julie (Showboat), Blanche (Broadway Bound) Mrs. Baskin (Big!), Gooch (Mame) and Mrs. Meers (Thoroughly Modern Millie). She was seen at Marriott Theatre as Mickey (My One and Only), Golde (Fiddler on the Roof), Signora Naccarelli (The Light in the Piazza), Jack's Mother (Into the Woods), the title role in Victor/Victoria, Ida (Honk); Meg (Damn Yankees), Gooch (Mame) and Eva Peron (Evita - Sarah Siddons Award). She appeared at Theatre at the Center as Mama Rose (Gypsy), Signora Fioria (Do I Hear a Waltz?), and as Muriel (Dirty Rotten Scoundrels). She portrayed Desirée (A Little Night Music) and Dot/Marie (Sunday in the Park with George - Sarah Siddons Award) at the Goodman Theatre. At Apple Tree Theatre she was seen in Necessary Targets and Denial, and at the Royal George Theatre she was featured in Lend Me a Tenor and Lost in Yonkers. In addition, she appeared in more than twenty shows at the Candlelight Playhouse. Paula is the 2014 recipient of the Guy Adkins Award for "Excellence in the Achievement of Musical Theatre in Chicago."

John appeared at the Harvey Theatre (BAM) in New York as Cecil Lewis in the Goodman Theatre's production The Iceman Cometh, a role he had originally played at the Goodman in 2012. His other Goodman credits include Romeo and Juliet, Richard II, Cry the Beloved Country, The Good Person of Setsuan and three seasons in A Christmas Carol. He was seen in twenty-seven productions at Drury Lane, portraying Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock's Last Case) Capt. Hook (Peter Pan), John Barrymore (I Hate Hamlet) and Fagin (Oliver!). He appeared at Chicago Shakespeare Theater in The Winter's Tale, The Moliere Comedies, Gypsy, King John, Amadeus, Richard III and Henry IV Parts 1 & 2, which then toured to the RSC in Stratford, England. He was featured in thirty-three shows at Court Theatre including Gaev (The Cherry Orchard), Polonius (Hamlet), Malvolio (Twelfth Night), Pridament (The Illusion) and the title role in Woyzeck. He was Capt. Shotover (Heartbreak House) and Kaufmann (Bach at Leipzig) at Writers' Theatre,

and at Marriott he was Billy Flynn (Chicago), Judge Turpin (Sweeny Todd) and Mayor Shinn (The Music Man). He co-authored the musical The Christmas Schooner with Julie Shannon, which has received 150 productions nationally. The Man Who Murdered Sherlock Holmes, which he co-authored with Julie Shannon and Michael Mahler, premiered at The Mercury Theatre last year and received the 2016 Jeff Award for "New Work." He has received a "Principal Actor" Jeff Award, an After Dark Award and an Illinois Artist Fellowship.

The Box Office is located at 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace. Call 630.530.0111, TicketMaster at 800.745.3000 or visit DruryLaneTheatre.com for tickets and more information.

Following The Gin Game, Drury Lane Theatre's 2017/2018 season continues with the powerhouse musical tribute to the 1980s Rock of Ages. For the holiday season Drury Lane will stage beloved tap extravaganza 42nd Street and then close its 17/18 season with the iconic Tim Rice & Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. The 2017/2018 season runs through March 25, 2018 at Drury Lane Theatre, 100 Drury Lane in Oakbrook Terrace.

Subscriptions for the 2017/2018 Season are priced from $144.60 to $175.80. Subscribers receive special offers on dining, flexible ticket exchanges and early notification and priority seating for added events and concerts. For more information, visit DruryLaneTheatre.com.

The performance schedule for all productions is as follows: Wednesdays at 1:30 p.m., Thursdays at 1:30 p.m. and 8 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and 8:30 p.m., and Sundays at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Student group tickets start as low as $30 and Senior Citizens start at $40 for matinees. Dinner and show packages are also available. For individual ticket on-sale dates and ticket reservations, call the Drury Lane Theatre box office at 630.530.0111, TicketMaster at 800.745.3000 or visit DruryLaneTheatre.com.

Under the leadership of President Kyle DeSantis and Artistic Director William Osetek, Drury Lane Theatre is a major force in the Chicagoland theatre scene, presenting world-class productions in collaboration with some of the nation's leading actors, artists, writers and directors. Over the past 30 years, Drury Lane has staged more than 2,000 productions and has been nominated for more than 350 Joseph Jefferson Awards. Drury Lane is committed to breathing new life into beloved classics and introducing audiences to exciting new works.

Throughout its 30-year history, Drury Lane has employed more than 7,500 actors and 10,000 musicians, designers and crewmembers to entertain upwards of nine million audience members. Originally founded by Anthony DeSantis, Drury Lane Theatre remains a family-run organization known for producing breathtaking Broadway classics, top-rated musicals, bold new works, hilarious comedies and unforgettable concert events.