Photo Flash: Cincinnati Shakespeare's WAITING FOR GODOT Opens Tonight

Cincinnati Shakespeare Company kicks off 2015 with this vaudevillian production of the classic "Waiting for Godot" by Samuel Beckett. This production is directed by Cincinnati Shakespeare's Producing Artistic Director, Brian Isaac Phillips and features Cincinnati Shakespeare's Resident Ensemble members Bruce Cromer, Jim Hopkins, Nicholas Rose and Brent Vimtrup, joined by young actor Jack Johnson. The design is generously sponsored by Graydon Head. BroadwayWorld has a first look at the stars onstage below!

"Waiting for Godot" is an absurdist play by Samuel Beckett, in which two loveably hapless vagrants, Gogo and Didi, grapple with the mysteries of the universe, trading barbs and banter as they await the arrival of the eternally truant Godot. Godot's absence, as well as numerous other aspects of the play, has led to many different interpretations and pop culture references since the play's 1953 premiere and it was voted "the most significant English language play of the 20th century". "Waiting for Godot" is Beckett's translation of his own original French version, "En attendant Godot", and is subtitled (in English only) "a tragicomedy in two acts". The original French text was composed between October 9, 1948 and January 29, 1949. The premiere was on January 5, 1953 in the The?a?tre de Babylone, Paris. "Waiting for Godot" is considered one of Beckett's most successful plays with two of the more notable recent revivals both occurring in 2009 -- one on London's West End with Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart and one on Broadway with Nathan Lane and Bill Irwin. "Waiting for Godot" was nominated for three Tony Awards in 2009 including Best Revival of a Play.

This production brings together two of Cincinnati's favorite actors Bruce Cromer and Nicholas Rose in the featured roles. Bruce Cromer, most recently seen on Cincinnati Shakespeare's stage in two sold-out smash hits as Claudius in "Hamlet" and Atticus Finch in "To Kill a Mockingbird", has also appeared on the stages of the Shakespeare Festival of New Jersey, Santa Fe Stages, Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, Clarence Brown Theatre, Milwaukee Repertory and Ensemble Theatre Cincinnati. Nicholas Rose, an audience favorite and founding company member of Cincinnati Shakespeare Company, continues his regular appearances on Cincinnati Shakespeare's stage already appearing in this season's "Complete Works of William Shakespeare", "The Great Gatsby" and "The Birds".

Performances of "Waiting for Godot" are scheduled from January 16- February 7, 2015 on Thursday, Friday & Saturday evenings at 7:30pm and Sundays at 2pm with an additional Saturday matinee on Feb. 7. Preview performances are on Wednesday Jan. 14 and Thursday Jan. 15 at 7:30pm and tickets are $21. The theater is located at 719 Race Street, downtown Cincinnati, two blocks west of the Aronoff Center. Single ticket prices range from $22-$32 on Thursdays and Sundays and from $26-$36 on Fridays and Saturdays. To purchase tickets or for more information, call the CSC Box Office at 513.381.BARD (2273) ext. 1, or go online at www.cincyshakes.com.

Photo Credit: Mikki Schaffner Photography