Tony winner Walter Bobbie (Chicago, Footloose) and stage and screen star Brooke Shields (Grease, Suddenly Susan) will star in benefit readings of the George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart comedy The Man Who Came to Dinner.
Directed by Marsha Mason, the readings will be held February 5 at the Bucks County Playhouse in New Hope, Pennsylvania, and in New York at the WP Theater February 10.
As previously announced, Bobbie and Shields will star as Sheridan Whiteside and Lorraine Sheldon, respectively. They will be joined by John Behlmann as Bert Jefferson, Jimmy Brewer as Richard Stanley, Jill Eikenberry as Harriet Stanley, John Glover as Beverly Carlton, Ruth Gottschall as Sarah, Tessa Grady as June Stanley, Larry Marshall as Dr. Bradley, Mason as Mrs. Dexter, Jill Paice as Maggie Cutler, Patricia Richardson as Mrs. Stanley, Lance Roberts as Professor Metz, Grant Shaud as Mr. Stanley, Jeffrey Schecter as Banjo, David Shih as John, and Prudence Wright Holmes as Miss Preen.
Additional roles will be played by Brad Forenza, Jeremiah Maestes, and Edward O'Blenis. Steve Sanpietro will read stage directions.
Casting is by Geoff Josselson and Katja Zarolinski of JZ Casting.
“One of the funniest plays ever written, I’m delighted to tackle this great play and work with Walter and Brooke on bringing it to life for these two presentations,” said director Mason in an earlier statement.
The Man Who Came to Dinner was presented at Bucks County Playhouse in a July 1941 production that featured the playwrights, Kaufman and Hart, along with Kitty Carlisle and Harpo Marx in his only speaking role on stage.
In the play, Mr. and Mrs. Ernest W. Stanley are thrilled when Sheridan Whiteside, the brilliant, beloved radio celebrity, accepts their invitation to dinner. When Whiteside slips on a piece of ice on their doorstep and is confined to their home for the better part of December, however, the Stanleys’ lives are turned upside down.
The 1939 play was most recently revived on Broadway in 2000 starring Nathan Lane, Harriet Harris, Jean Smart, and Julie Halston.
The Bucks County Playhouse is under the direction of Producing Director Alexander Fraser, Executive Producer Robyn Goodman, and Producer Josh Fiedler.
Tickets for the New Hope reading are sold out. General admission tickets for the WP Theater reading in New York are available for $25 and must be purchased in advance at BucksCountyPlayhouse.org.
