Birdsong, Buckley, Carlson, Llana and Zbornik Cast in Tales of the City for O'Neill Conference

By Adam Hetrick
11 Jun 2009

Jose Llana
Jose Llana

Tony Award winner Dick Latessa, Lynn Cohen, Jeffrey Carlson, Mary Birdsong and Johanna Day have been cast in the O'Neill Theater's Musical Theater and Playwrights Conference projects.

As previously reported, Tony nominee Jason Moore will direct the O'Neill presentation of the musical adaptation of Armistead Maupin's beloved series Tales of the City. The musical has a score by Scissor Sisters band members Jason Sellards (lyrics) and John Garden (music), with a book by Tony winner Jeff Whitty.

The newly announced residents of 28 Barbary Lane include Mary Birdsong, Candy Buckley, Jeffrey Carlson, Diane Davis, Christopher J. Hanke, John Jellison, Steve Kazee, Jose Llana, Matt McGrath, Betsy Wolfe and Kristine Zbornik. (July 4-11).

Joe Calarco will stage the Daniel Zaitchik musical Picnic at Hanging Rock. Cast members include Whitney Bashor, Charlie Brady, Matt Doyle, Jessica Grove, Veronica Kuehn, Hannah Laird, Anne Letscher, Anne Nathan, Lauren Nolan, Laila Robins, Sarah Shahinian, Nick Sullivan, Kate Wetherhead, Jessica-Snow Wilson, Lauren Worsham and Valerie Wright. (June 27-July 3).

For the Playwrights Conference, Mark Brokaw directs Julia Cho's The Language Archive, featuring Lynn Cohen, Johanna Day, Sue Jean Kim, Dick Latessa and Alan Ruck (July 4-5). Lauren Gunderson's Fire Work will feature Brandon Dirden, Suehyla El-Attar and Kevin Geer under the direction of Sean Daniels. (July 9-10).

Maria Cellario, Alma Cuervo, Johanna Day, Mike Doyle, Rey Lucas and Stephen Schnetzer have been announced to appear in Nilo Cruz' The Color of Desire, under the direction of Conference artistic director Wendy C. Goldberg (July 11-12). Sarah Benson stages Gregory Moss' House of Gold, featuring Karen Briscoe, Rob Campbell, Matt D'Amico, Stephen Ellis, Evan Enderle, Kevin Geer, Ben Gunderson and Karak Osborn (July 16-17).

The cast of Josh Tobiessen's Spoon Lake Blues, directed by Kyle Donnelly, includes Michelle Beck, Scott Drummond, Ryan King and Makela Spielman (July 18-19). Davis McCallum directs Carthage by Emily Schwend, which features Craig Bockhorn, Christian Conn, Emily Donahoe and Matt Rausch (July 23-24). And, David Esbjornson will direct a cast including Dane Dehaan, Birgit Huppuch, Ryan King, Rachel Leslie and Ryan Spahn in Bogwog by Abbie Spallen (July 25-26).

Tickets for the O'Neill Conference readings are available by phoning (860) 443-1238 or visit www.theoneill.org.

The Eugene O'Neill Theater Center was founded in 1964 and is based in Waterford, CT. Programs at the Center include the Puppetry Conference, Playwrights Conference, Critics Institute, Music Theater Conference and the National Theater Institute. The Monte Cristo Cottage, O'Neill's childhood home, is also owned and operated by the group.