Dixie Carter ("Designing Women," Master Class) was originally announced to star in the one-night-only presentation of the work, an adaptation of Williams' final Broadway play Clothes for a Summer Hotel.
"I have been eagerly anticipating the Provincetown Tennessee Williams Theater Festival and the role of Zelda in Ghosts from a Summer Hotel," Carter said in a statement. "I had surgery in May, from which I fully expected to be completely recovered by now, and have been joyfully looking forward to this thrilling event honoring our greatest American playwright. However, an unexpected complication has delayed mending time. I am heartbroken and hope the Festival will give me a rain check."
In addition to her performance in the Williams play, Buckley and musical collaborator Kenny Werner will offer a concert at the Crown and Anchor Sept. 27 at 8 PM.
"I'm so thrilled to be joining the Festival and participating in this wonderful piece and delighted to be performing once again in P-Town with Kenny Werner," Buckley stated.
As previously reported, festival curator David Kaplan will direct the reading that also features Jeff Zinn as late author F. Scott Fitzgerald. Ghosts from a Summer Hotel "reflects poetically on the lives of Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald," according to press notes. "The action is set in the North Carolina hospital where Zelda would die in a fire. In her hallucinations, the hospital becomes the Riviera hotel where she had an affair with a French aviator."
The original Broadway production featured a musical score by Michael Valenti, who will also perform his score live as part of the Provincetown presentation.
Buckley received a Tony Award for her performance as Grizabella in Andrew Lloyd Webber's Cats. Her numerous Broadway appearances also include 1776, Pippin, Carrie, Song & Dance, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Sunset Boulevard and Triumph of Love. Buckley earned an Olivier nomination for her work in the West End as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard and also appeared in the London cast of Promises, Promises. Her screen credits include "Eight Is Enough," "Tender Mercies," "The Happening," "Wyatt Erp," and "Oz." Buckley previously appeared in the Hartford Stage production of Tennessee Williams' Camino Real.
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