Anderson Will Be Doc to Merkerson's Lola in Broadway's Sheba in 2008

By Kenneth Jones
13 Nov 2007

S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson

Casting for Manhattan Theatre Club's early 2008 Broadway production of William Inge's Come Back, Little Sheba was announced by the not-for-profit Nov. 13.

Joining the previously announced S. Epatha Merkerson ("Law & Order") will be Drama Desk Award winner Kevin Anderson (Broadway's Death of a Salesman, Orpheus Descending, Brooklyn), Lyle Kanouse (Big River), Zoe Kazan (The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie), Brian J. Smith (Fabulous Life of Size Zero), Brenda Wehle (Pygmalion) and Matthew J. Williamson ("Boston Legal").

Performances will play MTC's Broadway home, the Biltmore Theatre, starting Jan. 3, 2008, toward a Jan. 24 opening.

Michael Pressman directs the production, as he did an earlier spring 2007 incarnation in Los Angeles. Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Merkerson also starred in the previous run at Center Theatre Group's Kirk Douglas Theatre.

In the classic by the Midwest writer Inge, "Lola (Merkerson) is a faded beauty queen trapped in a lonely marriage to Doc (Anderson), a recovering alcoholic on the brink of relapse. When a pretty young woman (Kazan) becomes a boarder in their cluttered Midwest home, their lives are unsettled as unspoken passions rise to the surface. As the emptiness of their marriage is laid bare, can they find their way back to each other or will they be undone? This new look at William Inge's great American story is an absorbing tale of lost hopes and unfulfilled promise, told with unflinching honesty and heartbreaking power."

Additional casting will be announced in the coming weeks.

The design team for the production will include James Noone (scenic design), Jennifer Von Mayrhauser (costume design), Jane Cox (lighting design), Obadiah Eaves (sound design), Peter Golub (original music), J. David Brimmer (fight director) and David Caparelliotis (casting).

The Biltmore is located at 261 West 47th Street, between Broadway and Eighth Avenue. For information on how to subscribe to MTC, which also operates two theatres Off-Broadway, visit www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.

For tickets visit or call Telecharge.com at (212) 239-6200 or (800) 432-7250.