MOTHER COURAGE at Theatre West To Star Laura James, Tim Realbuto & Nigel Lythgoe

"Raging Bull" actress Laura James, "Bobcat Moretti" star Tim Realbuto and four-time Emmy Award winner Nigel Lythgoe will lead Bertolt Brecht's Mother Courage and Her Children at Theatre West in Hollywood this Thursday evening, April 23rd.

Directed by Louis Fantasia, the production will star Ms. James in the title role. The children of the title will be played by Xander Toti (Measure For Measure) as Eilif, David Baer (Waiting For Lefty) as Swiss Cheese, and Emily Fabretti (Day One) as Kattrin. They will be joined by Mr. Realbuto as Pieter Lamb (The Cook), David Shofner as The Chaplain, Maegan McConnell as Yvette, and Mr. Lythgoe as The Recruiting Officer/Colonel Poldy/Old Peasant.

Laura James is known for her work in "Raging Bull", "Losin' It" and "Lovesick" as well as stage roles in Mrs. Warren's Profession, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf, and Skin of Our Teeth. A Broadway World Award nominee for Lost in Yonkers, Mr. Realbuto is most known for his award winning and record breaking role in the hit independent film "Bobcat Moretti", in which he played the title role opposite Vivica A. Fox. Mr. Lythgoe is the four-time Emmy Award winning executive producer of "American Idol" as well as the popular judge and creator of the international hit "So You Think You Can Dance." He is also the honoree of a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He recently transitioned into acting and Mother Courage is one of his first on stage roles.

The rest of the cast includes Oscar Peredia, David Datz, Zoey Dillion-Levine, Judy Rosenfled, Caroline Quigley, Atoki Ileka, Cecil Jennings, Pablo Castel, Ernest McDaniel, Kathy Bell Denton, and Melodee Fernandez.

The play with music is being produced by Alexandria Sanders, with music direction by Victoria Lavan, lighting design by Sarah Acuna, and publicity by Philip Sokoloff. The cast will be accompanied on the piano by Andrew Karatay.

The play, which will be presented as a staged reading, is directed by Mr. Fantasia, who has produced and directed more than a hundred and fifty plays and operas worldwide. Director of the Shakespeare Globe Centre's Teaching Shakespeare Through Performance Institute from 1997 to 2002, and President of Deep Springs College (2007), Louis is currently Dean of Faculty and Chair of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the New York Film Academy's Los Angeles campus, and Director of Shakespeare at the Huntington, the teacher training institute of the Huntington Library, Art Galleries and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.

A recent production of the play in NYC starred Academy Award winners Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline as Mother Courage and Pieter Lamb, respectively.