Photo Flash: First Look at Westport Country Playhouse's THE UNDERSTUDY

Westport Country Playhouse will stage the recent Off-Broadway hit, "The Understudy," a backstage comedy about a Hollywood action star rehearsing for a role on Broadway amid tensions with his understudy. The cast includes Eric Bryant, Connecticut Critics Circle Award winner; Brett Dalton of ABC's "Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D."; and Andrea Syglowski, award-winning actress. Running August 14 through September 1, the comedy is written by Theresa Rebeck, creator of NBC's show business drama, "Smash," and directed by David Kennedy, Westport Country Playhouse associate artistic director.

"This is extremely smart and funny writing about the million minor humiliations that come with a life in the theater," said Kennedy. "What makes it special is Theresa [Rebeck]'s understanding of comedy. Her style makes the audience laugh heartily because of the underlying anxieties of the characters, not in spite of them."

Understudy" is set in a Broadway theater where Roxanne is the stage manager. Charged with running the understudy rehearsal for the production, she finds her professional and personal life colliding when Harry, a journeyman actor and her ex-fiancé, is cast as the understudy to Jake, a mid-tier action star yearning for legitimacy. The comedy is a humanistic look at people trying to do what they love in the face of obstacles.

Cast members are Eric Bryant as Harry (WCP's "Room Service," "The Invisible Hand," for which he won the 2017 Connecticut Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actor in a Play; Off-Broadway's "Angels in America"; TV's "The Blacklist"); Brett Dalton as Jake (ABC-TV series "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." as Grant Ward; video game "Until Dawn" as Mike Munroe); and Andrea Syglowski as Roxanne ("A Doll's House" - IRNE Award nomination for Best Actress; "Venus in Fur" - Elliot Norton Award and IRNE Award for Best Actress; recipient of Robin Williams Scholarship).

For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.westportplayhouse.org, or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529

Photo Credit: Carol Rosegg

Andrea Syglowski and Eric Bryant

Andrea Syglowski, Eric Bryant, and Brett Dalton

Andrea Syglowski, Eric Bryant, and Brett Dalton