Scott Elliott (Hurlyburly, The Women) will direct the Roundabout Theatre Company commission which will begin performances March 24, 2006 and open April 20 at Studio 54.
"Saturday Night Live" alum Gasteyer will join Alan Cumming, Edie Falco, Nellie McKay and Jim Dale in the cast. The actress has previously performed on Broadway as Columbia in The Rocky Horror Show and Off-Broadway in Roulette, Kimberly Akimbo and The Vagina Monologues Other credits include Fanny Brice in Funny Girl (Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera), New York City Opera's production of Cinderella and the Showtime adaptation of the musical "Reefer Madness."
Shawn (Aunt Dan and Lemon) translates and adapts the original German book and lyrics of Bertolt Brecht and Kurt Weill's classic musical Die Dreigroschenoper. Set in London in the 1800s, the The Threepenny Opera concerns a notorious bandit who marries a girl, much to the chagrin of her father. The peeved patriarch does everything in his power to imprison his son-in-law in this political and social satire.
Tony Award winner Cumming (Cabaret, Design for Living) will reprise the role of Macheath — which he played in a recent workshop that also starred Falco ('night, Mother, "The Sopranos"), who will play the prostitute Jenny. Songstress McKay plays the young bride Polly. Dale (Barnum, Joe Egg) will take on the role of Mr. Peachum opposite Gasteyer as Mrs. Peachum. More casting is to be announced.
The design team for The Threepenny Opera features Derek McLane (sets), Isaac Mizrahi (costumes) and Jason Lyons (lights). Kevin Stites serves as the music director. Fashion personality Mizrahi previously collaborated with director Elliott on the Roundabout's revival of The Women for his Broadway debut. He will again join the stage director for his upcoming Broadway revival of Barefoot in the Park.
Roundabout announced the work in June 2003 for the 2004-2005 season, but later bumped it from the lineup. The Brecht-Weill work was last revived for the Broadway stage in 1989 as 3 Penny Opera starring former "The Police" frontman Sting.
Actor-playwright Shawn starred in the recent Elliott-directed revival of Hurylyburly and is known for his turns in the films "My Dinner With Andre," "The Princess Bride" and as the voice of Rex in the "Toy Story" movies.
As a playwright, Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon was revived by The New Group in 2003. His other works include Marie and Bruce — a screen adaptation of which starring Matthew Broderick played the Sundance Film Festival — and The Designated Mourner, which was staged in New York in 2000 with Shawn and Larry Pine in a cast directed by Andre Gregory.
Founding Artistic Director of Off-Broadway's The New Group, Elliott directed Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon for the company as well as the 2001 Broadway revival of The Women for Roundabout. Other credits include Three Sisters, Present Laughter, Kiki & Herb: A Coup de Theatre, The Women of Lockerbie, Comedians and Smelling a Rat. A one-time performer, he appeared on Broadway in Les Miserables and Ain't Broadway Grand.
Tickets go on sale in January 2006 through Roundabout Ticket Services at (212) 719-1300. For more information, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.
