Casting is set for this summer's Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival, which will kick off its 2019 programming June 9 with Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing, followed by Cymbeline, an adaptation of Cyrano, and HVSF's first-ever musical, Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine’s award-winning Into the Woods.
Read: HUDSON VALLEY SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL TO STAGE FIRST MUSICAL IN 2019: INTO THE WOODS
The cast of Much Ado About Nothing, directed by May Adrales, will feature Charlie Semine as Benedick and Tina Chilip as Beatrice, as well as Kendall Cafaro, Kayla Coleman, Jon Cook, Brandon Dial, Michael Early, Jose Gamo, Stephen Paul Johnson, Sean McNall, Kurt Rhoads, Timiki Salinas, Stephen Michael Spencer, Alexandra Templer, and Ryan Washington. Performances will continue through August 31.
Beginning June 11 will be Shakespeare's Cymbeline, directed by Artistic Director Davis McCallum with choreography by Tracy Bersley. Running in repertory with Much Ado, the production will feature the same cast. Performances will continue through July 27.
Next up, HVSF will present Cyrano, an adaptation of Edmond Rostand’s Cyrano de Bergerac written by Jason O’Connell and Brenda Withers. Meredith McDonough will direct O’Connell in the title role and Britney Simpson as Roxane. George Merrick, Luis Quintero, and Nance Williamson complete the company. Performances will run June 27–August 30.
Concluding the summer programming will be Into the Woods, the Tony-winning musical that weaves fairytale characters and its own dark magic, directed by Jenn Thompson. The cast will be made up of Cafaro as Rapunzel; Coleman as Little Red; Cook; Laura Darrell as Cinderella/Granny; Dial as Jack; Rhett Guter as Prince/Wolf; George Merrick as Baker; O’Connell as Narrator/Mysterious Man; Quintero as Rapunzel’s Prince; Leenya Rideout as the Witch; Salinas; Simpson as Baker’s Wife; Washington as Steward; and Williamson as Jack’s Mother/Stepmother.
Into the Woods will run August 1–September 8.
The season will also feature free matinees and touring performances of HVSF’s remounted spring 2019 regional school tour of Julius Caesar.
For more information visit HVShakespeare.org.
