Original "Saturday Night Live" player Jane Curtin will perform in this summer's revival of Our Town starring Paul Newman at the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut, according to director James Naughton.
The theatre could not confirm the casting and has not announced its season beyond the Thornton Wilder play.
Since Joanne Woodward took over the artistic directorship of the Westport Country Playhouse in 2000, the summer theatre has had little trouble attracting star talent. And very often those stars are Woodward herself and her husband, Newman.
Both were featured in the sold-out 2000 Westport engagement of Ancestral Voices. At the time, Woodward told the New York Times that the sight of Newman on the Westport stage without a script in his hands (in Gurney's play, the actors read from the text) was an unlikely prospect.
Newman must have reconsidered since then. The famous film actor ("Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "The Hustler") will play the Stage Manager in Our Town. The production will run June 5-22. Naughton, who has frequently directed at Westport since Woodward entered the scene, will pilot the show. No other casting has been announced, though one would expect the combination of Newman and Naughton to attract a stellar array of name actors. Beyond "SNL," Curtin is known for the sitcom "Kate & Allie" and an occasional stage turn in plays such as Love Letters.
Subscriptions for the Westport season are currently on sale. Call (203) 226-0153.
—By Robert Simonson