Tony Winner Brent Carver, Mark Harelik and Nancy Robinette Share a Winter's Tale, Opening April 5 at the McCarter

By Andrew Gans
05 Apr 2013

Brent Carver
Brent Carver

McCarter Theatre Center, in association with The Shakespeare Theatre Company, presents William Shakespeare's The Winter's Tale, which officially opens April 5 following previews that began April 2. Performances continue through April 21.

Directed by Rebecca Taichman, the cast features Sean Arbuckle, Todd Bartels, Tony winner Brent Carver, Mark Harelik, Nancy Robinette, Tom Story, Ted van Griethuysen, Heather Wood and Hannah Yelland.

"Tragic, romantic, hilarious, and uplifting," The Winter's Tale, according to press notes, "is a genre-bending masterpiece and one of Shakespeare's most elegant and haunting plays. Directed by Rebecca Taichman (Sleeping Beauty Wakes, Twelfth Night), this gorgeous, music-filled, and magical classic celebrates redemption, reconciliation, and the mending of broken hearts."

The production also includes sets by Christine Jones, costumes by David Zinn, lighting by Christopher Akerlind, sound by Matt Tierney, original music by Nico Muhly and choreography by Camille A. Brown. The production stage manager is Alison Cote and assistant stage manager is Samantha Flint.

In an earlier statement director Taichman said, "The Winter's Tale is a study in tonal collision — sliding from tragedy to comedy and back again. We careen through the dangerous, moneyed Sicilian court, into the comic Bohemian countryside, and back again. The play contains multiple and ever-shifting webs of meaning. As a director, the visual and theatrical challenges are...well...absurdly difficult and wonderfully exciting."

Tickets range from $20-$67, and are available online at mccarter.org, by phone at (609) 258-2787, and in person at the McCarter Theatre ticket office (91 University Place, Princeton).