Scott Ellis (Entertaining Mr. Sloane, The Little Dog Laughed) stages the classic Reginald Rose jury-room drama as the first touring production for the Roundabout Theatre Company.
The current lineup (subject to change) includes:
Wendt — known to television audiences for his six-time Emmy Award-nominated turn as Norm Peterson from "Cheers" — will tackle Juror #1 opposite Thomas as Juror #8. Chicago's Second City veteran has appeared on stage in Art (on Broadway and in London) as well as A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and ABC's television musical "Bye Bye Birdie." The design team — from the original Broadway production — includes Allen Moyer (sets), Michael Krass (costumes), Paul Palazzo (lights) and Brian Ronan (sound).
The Broadway run of Twelve Angry Men — a revival, though the first time the work has been staged on Broadway — began previews Oct. 1, 2004 and opened Oct. 28 at the American Airlines Theatre for a scheduled engagement through Dec. 19. The popular show, however, extended its run seven times before finally closing May 15, 2005.
Roundabout previously announced that Bill Kenwright (recently represented on Broadway by The Glass Menagerie and Primo) will also team to present a production in London's West End in Fall 2006.
Set in a jury room,Twelve Angry Men tells the story of a murder trial in which a youth is alleged to have killed his father. The case seems like an open-and-shut situation as eleven of the unnamed jurors believe the defendant to be guilty. Juror #8, however, is not so certain, stirring up the room and setting off a number of arguments.
Twelve Angry Men proved the most popular Roundabout staging at the American Airlines Theatre since the company's reopening of the venue in 2000. The Rose drama outran the longest running production in the space by almost triple the performances: the 2001 revival of Clare Boothe Luce's The Women — starring Kristen Johnston, Cynthia Nixon and Jennifer Tilly played 77 show over 13 weeks. Twelve Angry Men will have played 229 performances in 32 weeks. (The former Selwyn Theatre was home to the long-running Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman 1927 comedy The Royal Family which played 345 performances.)
For more information and to buy tickets, visit www.12angrymentour.com.
