Culled from the letters of legendary blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo — the playwright's father — Trumbo tells the story of one of the "Hollywood Ten" who went before the House Un-American Activities Committee. After refusing to answer questions about his political affiliations, Trumbo was fired from MGM and imprisoned for a year.
Peter Askin (Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Sexaholix... a love story) directs the work presented by Claudia Catania and the Westside Theatre with the help of People For the American Way. The actors utilize a script-in-hand technique as employed in such other rotating cast works as The Vagina Monologues and The Guys.
Chris Cooper, Alec Baldwin and Eddie Izzard are the lineup of stars also scheduled to play the title role. Giamatti previously played opposite Dreyfuss as Trumbo's son. Gordon MacDonald played the latter role opposite Ed Harris in the first performance of the work on March 31.
The stagework's focus, Trumbo, wrote such screenplays as "The Brave One," "Exodus," "Spartacus," "Roman Holiday," and "Papillon" as well as the novel "Johnny Got His Gun."
The aforementioned actors take on the title role for one performance each. Predominantly known for their film work, the actors are scheduled as follows: Harris (Precious Sons, Taking Sides, "A Beautiful Mind," "Pollack") - March 31, Dreyfuss (Death and the Maiden, The Exonerated "Mr. Holland's Opus") - April 7, Robbins (The Exonerated, The Guys "Bull Durham," "The Shawshank Redemption") - April 14, Cooper (Of the Fields, Lately "Adaptation," "American Beauty") - April 21, Baldwin (A Streetcar Named Desire, Prelude to a Kiss) - April 28 and Izzard (Joe Egg, "Dress To Kill") - May 5. Future actors will be announced soon. For tickets to Trumbo at the Westside Theatre, 407 W. 43rd Street, call (212) 239-6200 or click here.