Marsha Mason and More Star in Pasadena Playhouse's AUNT STOSSIE'S COMING FOR FIVE DAYS, 1/8 & 9

The Pasadena Playhouse has announced the cast for the second presentation of its 2012 - 2013 HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse series, Aunt Stossie's Coming for Five Days. Written by Ellen Simon and directed by Dámaso Rodriguez (former Associate Artistic Director of The Pasadena Playhouse, Co-Founder of the Furious Theatre and incoming Artistic Director for the Artists Repertory Theatre in Portland), the staged reading will star Marsha Mason (The Goodbye Girl, "The Middle") in the title role, Mary Steenburgen ("30 Rock," "Bored to Death," The Proposal) and Kirsten Vangsness ("Criminal Minds") and will perform tonight, January 8 and 9, 2013, in the Carrie Hamilton Theatre at The Pasadena Playhouse.

"I love Ellen's heartfelt, refreshingly honest, and very funny new play, said director Dámaso Rodriguez. "I'm particularly happy to be returning to The Playhouse's HOTHOUSE development process, which I consider to be one of the best ways to nurture a new work for the theatre."

"I'm thrilled for this opportunity to be returning to HOTHOUSE, particularly with this exquisite cast and director," stated playwright Ellen Simon. "My previous experience at HOTHOUSE with my play, ASS, generated much enthusiasm and helped me deepen and refocus the script. Counting the days now until our presentation of Aunt Stossie's Coming for Five Days."

Aunt Stossie's Coming for Five Days is a comedic drama about what happens when the uninvited enters your life. Set in a Central California beach town, three generations of women and two surfer boys navigate the entanglements of sex, health and family after a tsunami warning sign goes up in their neighborhood.

The cast for Aunt Stossie's Coming for Five Days features:

• Marsha Mason as "Aunt Stossie"
• Mary Steenburgen as "Aunt Mead"
• Kirsten Vangsness as "Kelly"
• Liza de Weerd as "Jill"
• Beth Triffon as "Alice"
• Kim Dalton as "Bryanna"
• Grant Jordan as "Ryan"
• Lucas Durham as "Sean"
• Taylor Emerson (stage directions)

"Given the opportunity to direct Ellen's play ASS last season and assist Dámaso at The Playhouse numerous times, it's a personal pleasure and honor to have both of these phenomenal artists back in HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse," said Playhouse Artistic Associate and Outreach & Education Manager, Courtney Harper. "This 2012-13 season of HOTHOUSE has been exciting, as we've seen fantastic authors and actors returning to us after the work they started here has gone forward. Their work has had life on our mainstage, gone on to Tony-nominated Broadway productions, and on national tour. We are just as delighted about developing the work of emerging new authors. This season is a time for sustainable growth and we could not be more thrilled with the progress and continued development of this vital program."

Reservations for HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse staged readings may be made online at www.pasadenaplayhouse.org/outreach-and-education/hothouse.html or by calling The Pasadena Playhouse box office at 626-356-7529.

HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse cultivates writers, actors, and directors of all backgrounds through new play development. HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse leads the way in new play development by helping emerging and established playwrights take their stories from page to stage. Several of The Playhouse's most successful mainstage productions have emerged from the HOTHOUSE program, enjoying long production runs subsequent to Playhouse premieres, such as the following: Sleepless in Seattle - The Musical; One November Yankee; the Tony-nominated Sister Act - The Musical, and Looped. MFA students from nearby universities participate in this program through special sessions with the playwrights. HOTHOUSE at The Playhouse is made possible in part by the support of the Wells Fargo Theatrical Diversity Project.

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