Cast Announced for Tony Kushner Celebration at the Guthrie Theater

Guthrie Director Joe Dowling today announced casting for the three productions slated to headline the theater's Tony Kushner Celebration. A company of more than 25 Minneapolis and New York actors will come together at the Guthrie from April through June to participate in a one-of-a-kind celebration the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright's work. More information on the Kushner Celebration can be found at www.CelebrateKushner.com.

Caroline, or Change, the first of the three productions, begins performances April 18 on the Wurtele Thrust Stage under the direction of Marcela Lorca, and will feature Greta Oglesby as Caroline Thibodeaux. Oglesby, recipient of both the Jefferson Award and the Black Theater Alliance awards for Best Actress, originated the role of Aunt Ester in the world premiere of August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean at the Goodman Theatre and has appeared at theaters around the country, including Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf, Dreamstreet Theatre, Huntington Theatre and Penumbra Theatre. She spent two seasons with the Oregon Shakespeare Festival and last appeared at the Guthrie in its acclaimed production of Crowns. The cast also includes Michelle Barber, Jamecia Bennett, Felicia R. Boswell, Aimee K. Bryant, Nikki Renee Daniels, Lynnea Doublette, Bradley Greenwald, Kenny Morris, T. Mychael Rambo, Julie Reiber, Peter Thomson, Aurelia Williams and Regina Marie Williams. Children in the cast include Noah Coon, Jake Ingbar, Julius Andrews IV, Zadir King, Versell Ford IV and Jackson M. Hurst.

Tony and Drama Desk nominated director Michael Greif (Broadway: Rent, Grey Gardens) helms the world premiere production of The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures. Beginning previews May 9 and opening May 15 on the McGuire Proscenium Stage, the Guthrie-commissioned play will feature Kathleen Chalfant, Tony Award nominee for her role in the original production of Angels in America and winner of the Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Obie, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, Los Angeles Ovation awards for Wit; Linda Emond, whose work as "The Homebody" in Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul spanned five years and three productions and was recognized with an Obie Award, the Lucille Lortel Award, and nominations for the Drama Desk, LA Drama Critics and LA Ovation Awards; Stephen Spinella, Tony Award winner for Angels in America and most recently on Broadway in Spring Awakening; and Ron Menzel, whose work at the Guthrie includes A View from the Bridge, Jane Eyre, The Merchant of Venice, Pericles and Edgardo Mine, among others.

tinyKUSHNER, a collection of Kushner's short plays under the direction of Berkeley Rep Artistic Director Tony Taccone, will feature a cast of four Guthrie favorites - J.C. Cutler (Major Barbara), Kate Eifrig (9 Parts of Desire), Jim Lichtscheidl (The Two Gentlemen of Verona) and Valeri Mudek (A Midsummer Night's Dream) - performing multiple roles. The short plays begin May 16 in the Dowling Studio, and include Geraldine of Albania Meets Lucia Pamela on the Moon, Terminating or Sonnet LXXV or "Lass Meine Schmerzen Nicht Verloren Sein" or Ambivalence (which premiered at the Guthrie Lab as part of The Acting Company's 1998 national tour of Love's Fire), East Coast Ode to Howard Jarvis, Dr. Arnold A. Hutschneker in Paradise, and Only We Who Guard the Mystery Shall Be Unhappy.

In addition to the three plays, the Celebration includes opportunities to hear directly from Tony Kushner, as well as from New York Times op-ed columnist Frank Rich and Lambda Legal executive director Kevin M. Cathcart.

Tickets for all three productions and the speaker series are now on sale through the Guthrie Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE and online at www.guthrietheater.org.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.

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