Ed Asner And Nicole Parker Set For Reprise 'HOW TO SUCCEED' 5/11-23

Nicole Parker, best known for her work on Fox's sketch comedy show "MADtv" will play the role of Rosemary and Melissa Fahn, who starred on Broadway in "Wicked," will play the role of Hedy LaRue in Reprise Theatre Company's production of the Pulitzer Prize winning "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at UCLA's Freud Playhouse May 11 to 23 (Press Opening May 12).

Ed Asner, known the world over for his role as Lou Grant on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," will record The Voice of the Book, the off-stage narrator of "How To Succeed." Asner recently provided the voice of Carl Fredricksen in Pixar's award-winning animated film, "Up."

Joining the previously announced cast members Josh Grisetti, John O'Hurley, Simon Helberg, and Vicki Lewis will be Reprise veterans Ruth Williamson, Larry Raben and Michael Kostroff. Williamson, Raben and Kostroff recently starred in Reprise's critically acclaimed production of "A Funny Thing...."

Completing the cast will be Matt Bauer, E.E. Bell, Bradley Benjamin, Matt Crabtree, Melissa Lyons, Jeff Marlow, Elisa Nixon, Annie Ramsey, Justin Michael Wilcox and Ray Wills.

"How to Succeed" will be directed and choreographed by Marcia Milgrom Dodge, whose critically acclaimed production of "Ragtime" transferred from the Kennedy Center to Broadway last fall and won Helen Hayes Awards for Outstanding Musical Production and Best Direction. The musical director is Darryl Archibald. Reprise Theatre Company is headed by Artistic Director Jason Alexander and Producing Director Susan Dietz. "How to Succeed" features a book by Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock and Willie Gilbert, and music and lyrics by Frank Loesser. The show is based on the best selling "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" by Shepherd Mead.

Dietz said, "There is an exciting group of new, young performers like Nicole Parker, Melissa Fahn, Simon Hallberg and Josh Grisetti, who are coming together for this production at this exciting stage in their career - and to be able to match them with well known veterans like John O'Hurley and the wonderfully recognizable voice of Ed Asner exemplifies what Reprise Theatre Company is seeking to do."

Josh Grisetti will star as Finch. Grisetti won the 2009 Theatre World Award and was nominated for the Lortel, Drama League, Drama Desk, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for starring in the hit off-Broadway revival of "Enter Laughing" last year, and John O'Hurley, who recently played King Arthur in "Spamalot" in Los Angeles and Las Vegas, as J. B. Biggley. Simon Helberg, a regular on CBS' "The Big Bang Theory" plays Bud Frump. Reprise veteran Vicki Lewis, star of NBC's "Newsradio" and "Three Sisters" plays Smitty.

The cast features E.E. Bell, Michael Kostroff, Larry Raben, Ruth Williamson, and Ray Wills. The ensemble of "How To Succeed" features Matt Bauer, Bradley Benjamin, Matt Crabtree, Melissa Lyons, Jeff Marlow, Elisa Nixon, Annie Ramsey, and Michael Justin Wilcox.

"How to Succeed" will preview on Tuesday, May 11 and open on Wednesday, May 12, and continue through Sunday, May 23 at UCLA's Freud Playhouse. Single tickets are available for "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" at www.reprise.org or through the UCLA Central Ticket Office at 310/825-2101.

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