Two River Theater Hosts IN THIS HOUSE Reading Feat. O'Malley, Lanning, et al., 3/21

Two River Theater Company announces a one-night reading of In This House, an intimate chamber musical about two married couples at different stages of life and the chance encounter that brings them together, on Monday, March 21 at 7:30. Featured in the cast are stage and film veterans Jerry Lanning (PatRick Dennis in the original cast of Mame and 1776, among other Broadway credits) and Mary Beth Peil (currently starring on The Good Wife as Jackie Florrick, the Broadway revival of Sunday in the Park with George) as Henry and Luisa, and Brynn O'Malley (Nessarose in Wicked on Broadway, Esther in Meet Me in St. Louis at Paper Mill Playhouse) and Nicholas Rodriguez (Curley in Oklahoma! and Fabrizio in The Light in the Piazza, both at Arena Stage) as Annie and Johnny.

In This House is written by Grammy Award-winner Mike Reid (co-bookwriter and music), Sarah Schlesinger (co-bookwriter and lyrics), and Jonathan Bernstein (co-bookwriter), and directed by Obie Award-winning actor Michael Cumpsty. The music director for the reading is Patrick Vaccariello.

The invitation-only reading is part of new and expanded programming at Two River Theater under Artistic Director John Dias, including the formation of the theater's first literary department. Joining the theater this season as Associate Artist is director Leigh Silverman, who will work closely with Dias to support season planning and other initiatives. Highly regarded for her work on new plays, Silverman directed the world premieres of Lisa Kron's In the Wake and Well; she also directed the Broadway production of Well, for which Dias was one of the producers. Her upcoming projects include the world premieres of Go Back to Where You Are, written by and starring David Greenspan, at Playwrights Horizons, and David Henry Hwang's Chinglish for Chicago's Goodman Theatre.

"Two River Theater is dedicated to supporting bold and diverse theater artists, and to creating opportunities-including this reading of In This House-for those artists to be in dialogue with curious and passionate audiences," says Artistic Director John Dias. "The creators of this beautiful new musical share a sense of theatrical adventurousness and a commitment to storytelling that is personal and intimate. It's a joy to be able to support their work with such a great company for this reading, including our director and our cast of exceptional actors.

"Deep into my first year here," Dias continues, "I feel that Two River is poised to move into a new era of growth, and I'm also thrilled to be joined in this work by my longtime colleague Leigh Silverman in the newly created position of Associate Artist. Leigh has a wonderful ability to be a true collaborator to writers, and will contribute much to our ongoing efforts to develop and produce world premieres."
Since its founding in 1994, Two River Theater has focused primarily on classics and contemporary plays, producing four world premieres in its history. In 2005, Two River built a state-of-the-art, two-theater complex as its first permanent home. As the theater looks toward its 2011-2012 season, it is in the planning stages for a comprehensive artistic platform that will include season-long programming on both of its stages, as well as commissions, readings, and workshops to support artists in the development and production of new plays and musicals.

Two River's newly formed artistic staff includes Associate Artistic Director Stephanie Coen, who came to Two River earlier this season from ten seasons at Seattle's Intiman Theatre, where she worked as Director of Communications; and Jeremy Stoller, who is in his third season with Two River and was recently promoted to Literary Manager.

Two River Theater Company's season continues with George Bernard Shaw's Candida, directed by David Staller, running March 22-April 10.

For additional information, visit www.trtc.org.

 

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