Joe Dowling Holds Conversation with David Hyde Pierce at Guthrie Theatre, 2/17

The Guthrie Theater today announced that Emmy and Tony Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce will appear for an In Conversation with Joe Dowling on Sunday, March 13, at 7:00 p.m. on the Wurtele Thrust Stage at the Guthrie. Tickets range in price from $25 to $50 and go on sale to the public on February 17 through the Guthrie Theater Box Office at 612.377.2224, toll-free 877.44.STAGE, and online at www.guthrietheater.org.
 
Perhaps best known for his role as Niles in the long-running hit sitcom "Frasier," Pierce was a member of the Guthrie Theater Acting Company from 1983 to 1986, appearing in The Seagull, Tartuffe, Cyrano de Bergerac, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Candida and Execution of Justice.
 
Pierce made his professional and Broadway debut in 1982 as the waiter in Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy.  He went on to create roles in the off-Broadway productions of Mark O'Donnell's That's it Folks!, Richard Greenberg's The Author's Voice and The  Maderati, Harry Kondoleon's Zero Positive and Jules Feiffer's Elliot Loves before returning to Broadway in Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles. In 2005 he originated the role of Sir Robin in the Broadway production of Monty Python's Spamalot, written by Eric Idle, with music by Idle and John Du Prez.  For his performance, Pierce was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actor in a Musical.
 
In 2007 he won the Tony Award and earned another Drama Desk Award nomination for his role as Lieutenant Frank Cioffi in the musical comedy Curtains, before going on to appear in the Manhattan Theatre Club revival of the 1930s comedy Accent on Youth and, most recently, in the acclaimed London and Broadway production of David Hirson's La Bête with Mark Rylance, Joanna Lumley and Guthrie Theater company member Sally Wingert, directed by Matthew Warchus.
 
Pierce's film credits include Bright Lights, Big City, Crossing Delancey, Little Man Tate, Sleepless in Seattle, Wolf, Nixon, Isn't She Great, Wet, Hot, American Summer, Full Frontal, Down With Love, A Bug's Life, Osmosis Jones, Treasure Planet, and the Sundance Film Festival Selection The Perfect Host, which will be released by Magnolia Pictures in 2011.
 
His television credits include a short but happy stint on Norman Lear's political satire "The Powers That Be," and a long but happy stint on "Frasier," for which he earned four Emmy Awards and the American Comedy, Television Critics, Viewers for Quality Television and Screen Actors Guild Awards.  He most recently joined the New York Philharmonic and an array of Broadway stars including Bernadette Peters, Mandy Patinkin and Patti LuPone, as host of "Sondheim! The Birthday Concert," which premiered as part of PBS' Great Performances series.
 
Pierce has been an Alzheimer's Association National Board Member since 1999. As a board member and national spokesperson, he works with the Association in its mission to eliminate Alzheimer's disease through the advancement of research; to provide and enhance care and support for all affected; and to reduce the risk of dementia through the promotion of brain health.  In 2010 he was awarded the Tony Awards' Isabelle Stevenson Award for his work with the Association.
 
The GUTHRIE THEATER (Joe Dowling, Director) was founded by Sir Tyrone Guthrie in 1963 and is an American center for theater performance, production, education and professional training. The Tony Award-winning Guthrie Theater is dedicated to producing the great works of dramatic literature, developing the work of contemporary playwrights and cultivating the next generation of theater artists. With annual attendance of nearly 500,000 people, the Guthrie Theater presents a mix of classic plays and contemporary work on its three stages. Under the artistic leadership of Joe Dowling since 1995, the Guthrie continues to set a national standard for excellence in theatrical production and performance. In 2006, the Guthrie opened its new home on the banks of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. Designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Jean Nouvel, the Guthrie Theater houses three state-of-the-art stages, production facilities, classrooms and dramatic public lobbies. www.guthrietheater.org
 

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