Casting For National Playwrights Conference Announced Prominent Stage, Screen Actors To Perform At O'neill

[Waterford] -Wendy C. Goldberg, Artistic Director of the Eugene O'Neill Theater Center's National Playwrights Conference (NPC) announced the actors cast in 2007 NPC projects. The actors include a mix of award-winning actors from stage and screen, seasoned O'Neill performers, and new talent.

The list includes 2007 Tony Award winner Julie White (Best Performance by a leading actress, The Little Dog Laughed); Peter Friedman, who received the Outer Critics Circle Award and Tony and Drama Desk Award nominations for his roles in Ragtime, The Heidi Chronicles and The Common Pursuit; Lenny von Dohlen, best known for the role of agoraphobic Harold Smith on Twin Peaks; Dramalogue and Los Angeles Critics Award winning Deirdre O'Connell; John Rothman, who appeared recently in the Broadway revival of Prelude To A Kiss and in films including Ghostbusters, Gettysburg and The Devil Wears Prada; Mike Doyle, who played forensics technician Ryan O'Halloran on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit; Amy Redford, acclaimed for her role in Daisy Foote's Bhutan at NYC's Cherry Lane Theatre; Kevin Geer, seen recently on Broadway in Twelve Angry Men, and a frequent O'Neill performer; Rebecca Brooksher , a 2007 Lucille Lortel Award nominee for her role in Dying City at Lincoln Center, her off-Broadway debut; Jeremy Bobb, who recently appeared in Garry Hynes's Tony nominated Broadway production of Brian Friel's Translations; Myra Lucretia Taylor, recently seen in A.R. Gurney's Crazy Mary at Playwrights Horizons; Jess Weixler, who won a jury acting prize for her starring role in the recent Sundance Film Festival favorite, Teeth; Thomas Sadoski, who made his Broadway debut in the 2004 production of Reckless; Jonathan Walker, who appeared on Broadway in 2004's Twentieth Century and After The Fall; John Jellison, who starred in Broadway's All Shook Up and Caroline, or Change; Colman Domingo, who recently appeared in Passing Strange at the Public Theater and has extensive San Francisco area credits, including the award-winning Blues For An Alabama Sky at Theaterworks California.

Ms. Goldberg said, "I'm delighted that we have such an exciting roster of performers Ð a great mix of award-winning actors, seasoned O'Neill performers and new talent -- to bring our writers' work to life at the O'Neill. The O'Neill, its artists and its audiences will truly benefit from the skills of these performers." Casting Director is Alan Filderman.

The casts for the NPC's projects are:

END DAYS by Deborah Zoe Laufer Directed by Rebecca Taichman
Performances: Thurs. July 5 at 8:00 pm; Sat., July 7 at 8:00 pm
CAST: *Peter Friedman, *Zoe Lister Jones, *Ryan King, *Caitlin O'Connell, David Ross

THE VELVET RUT by James Still
Directed by Lisa Peterson
Performances: Fri., July 6 at 8:00 pm; Sun., July 8 at 5:00 pm
CAST: *Clifton Guterman, *Lenny Von Dohlen

THE WOODPECKER by Samuel Brett Williams
Directed by Jesse Berger Performances: Weds., July 11 at 8:00 pm; Fri., July 13 at 8:00 pm
CAST: *Christian Conn, *Deirdre O'Connell

THE CROWD YOU'RE IN WITH by Rebecca Gilman Directed by Wendy C. Goldberg
Performances: Thurs., July 12 at 8:00 pm; Sat., July 14 at 5:00 pm
CAST: *Mike Doyle, *Ryan King, *Amy Redford, *John Rothman, *Makela Spielman, *Tom Story

GOOD BOYS AND TRUE by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Directed by Peter DuBois
Performances: Weds., July 18 at 8:00 pm; Fri., July 20 at 8:00 pm
CAST: *Rebecca Brooksher, Ravenna Fahey, *Kevin Geer, Billy Magnusson, *Peter Stadlen, *Julie White

THE BOOK CLUB PLAY by Karen Zacarias
Directed by Bruce Sevy
Performances: Thurs., July 19 at 8:00 pm; Sat., July 21 at 5:00 pm
CAST: *Cherise Booth, *Mike Doyle, *Amy Redford, *Makela Spielman, *Tom Story, *Jennifer Van Dyck

GUARDIANS* by Lucy Caldwell
Directed by Carey Perloff
Performances: Weds., July 25 at 8:00 pm; Fri., July 27 at 8:00 pm
CAST: *Jeremy Bobb, *Rebecca Brooksher

THE BALLAD OF EMMETT TILL** by Ifa Bayeza
Directed by Kate Whoriskey
Performances: Thurs., July 26 at 8:00 pm; Sat., July 28 at 5:00 pm
CAST: Nicoye Banks, *Cherise Booth, *Daniel Breaker, Alexis Brown, *Matt D'Amico, *Colman Domingo, *Nic Few, *John Jellison, *Warner Miller, *Tom Sadoski, *Myra Lucretia Taylor, *Jonathan Walker, *Jess Weixler, *John Wesley

*denotes a member of Actors' Equity Association

All schedules and artists subject to change. Please call the O'Neill Box Office at 860-443-1238 for times, prices and reservations. Outdoor performances will be moved indoors in the event of rain. The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center, founded in 1964, is the pre-eminent center for the development of new works and new voices for the American theater. It has been home to more than 1,000 new works for the stage and 2,500 emerging artists. Scores of projects developed at the O'Neill have gone on to full productions at other theaters around the world, including Broadway, off-Broadway and major regional theaters. The O'Neill is itself the winner of a special Tony Award, the National Opera Award, the Jujamcyn Award for Theater Excellence and the Arts and Business Council Encore Award. The O'Neill's programs include the National Playwrights Conference, National Music Theater Conference, Puppetry Conference, Cabaret Conference, National Critics Institute, and the National Theater Institute, which includes semester-long, fully accredited intensive theater-training programs and a six-week accredited summer program, Theatermakers. In addition, the O'Neill owns and operates the Monte Cristo Cottage, a National Historic Landmark and the childhood home of Nobel Prize-winning and four-time Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Eugene O'Neill. For more information regarding the Center, please visit the O'Neill website at www.TheONeill.org or call 860-443-5378.