Tony Winner LaPaglia Joins Trumbo Cast; Izzard, Dreyfuss, Robbins Back In

By Ernio Hernandez
April 24, 2003

Eddie Izzard and Anthony LaPaglia will perform as the title role in Christopher Trumbo's new work Trumbo. Richard Dreyfuss and Tim Robbins will also reprise the role in the rotating cast production at the Westside Theatre.

Izzard, who was recently announced to be replaced by Bob Balaban, will play his originally scheduled performance, May 5. The British comedian known for his "Dress To Kill" HBO special is currently appears in the Roundabout revival of Joe Egg. Balaban may perform at a later date.

LaPaglia won a Tony Award for his performance in the Broadway revival of A View from the Bridge. He has also appeared on Broadway in The Rose Tattoo and in the rotating cast of The Guys — a role he reprised in the film adaptation.

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.

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."

Alec Baldwin and Nathan Lane are also scheduled to play the title role. Actors Ed Harris and Chris Cooper were featured in previous performances. Paul Giamatti and Gordon MacDonald alternate in the show's other role of son/narrator Christopher Trumbo. The schedule is as follows: