Willis, Conlee, Noseworthy, Knowlton Added to Starry Threepenny Opera in Williamstown

By Robert Simonson
June 11, 2003

Just when you thought the ambitious Williamstown Theatre Festival production of Brecht and Weill's Threepenny Opera couldn't possibly get any more loaded with name actors, a new raft of New York stage talents are cast.

Added to the ensemble—which already includes Melissa Errico, Karen Ziemba, Randy Graff, Jesse L. Martin and Betty Buckley—are Jack Willis, Jack Noseworthy, John Ellison Conlee and Sarah Knowlton.

Willis, who starred on Broadway in The Old Neighborhood, will be Tiger Brown. Noseworthy, the subject of John Lithgow's wrath in Sweet Smell of Success, is Crook-Finger Jake. Conlee, a Tony-nominated star of The Full Monty, will play Walt Dreary. And Sarah Knowlton, of Broadway's One the Town, is Dolly.

Peter Hunt directs the Williamstown staging of the Bertolt Brecht/Weill classic, which runs June 25-July 6. The cast and orchestra of Threepenny Opera will number 60; the score includes "Wedding Song," "Pirate Jenny," "Army Song," "Love Song," "Ballad of the Easy Life," "Barbara Song," "Jealousy Duet," "Solomon Song," "Useless Song” and “The Ballad of Mack the Knife.”

A full cast list (including more beggars than posh Williamstown has seen in a century) follows:

Laurent Giroux: Street Singer
David Schramm:   Mr. J.J. Peachum
Randy Graff: Mrs. Peachum
William Duell:  Filch
Melissa Errico: Polly Peachum
Jesse L. Martin :  Macheath
Betty Buckley: Jenny
Stephen Gabis:  Rev. Kimball
Jack Willis: Tiger Brown
Kenneth Garner: Smith
Karen Ziemba: Lucy Brown
Jim Stanek: Ready-Money Matt
Jack Noseworthy:      Crook-Finger Jake
Julio Monge: Bob the Saw
John Ellison Conlee: Walt Dreary
Kathy McCafferty: Betty
Sarah Knowlton :  Dolly
Rachel  Siegel: Molly
Kelly  Brady : Coaxer
James McMenamin : Constable 1
Frank Faucette: Constable 2
Michael Crane: Beggar
Matthew Bailey: Beggar
Nikki Berger:  Beggar
Stefani Cvijectic:Beggar
Bianca La Verne  Jones: Beggar
Nancy McNulty: Beggar
Gus Danowski: Beggar
John Forest: Beggar
Claire Turner French: Beggar
Charlie Hudson III: Beggar
Abby Huston: Beggar
Ana Isabel Mercado: Beggar
Susan Myhr: Beggar
Jacquelyn Marie      Phillips: Beggar
Godfrey Plata : Beggar
Amina Robinson : Beggar
Jonathan Randell      Silver: Beggar
Scott Sweat: Beggar
Nick Thomas : Beggar
Baron Vaughn : Beggar
Audrey Lynn     Weston : Beggar

*

In a scheduling change, the WTF 2003 season will have one less premiere. Berkshire Village Idiot, a new solo show written and performed by Michael Isaac Connor, will replace the previously announced The Lake by Frank D. Gilroy. The reason given was scheduling conflicts.  Barry Edelstein will direct Idiot, which runs July 30-Aug. 10.

Only mail-order ticket requests will be accepted for Williamstown offerings before the box office opens June 13. For information and a brochure, call (413) 597-3399.

The schedule, at a glance, runs as follows:

Main Stage:
Threepenny Opera, June 25-July 6
Landscape of the Body, July 9-20
Under Milk Wood, July 23-Aug. 3
Travesties, Aug. 6-17
An Enemy of the People, Aug. 20-24

Nikos Stage:
Big Bill, running July 2-13
Mother of Invention, July 16-27
Berkshire Village Idiot, July 30-Aug. 10
The Chekhov Cycle, Aug. 12-17