Sir Peter Hall will direct the Center Theatre Group production of the Oscar Wilde classic scheduled to run Jan. 17-March 5, 2006 at the California company's Ahmanson stage. The work will later tour to a number of venues nationally including New York's Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Joining Redgrave will be Miriam Margolyes, Terence Rigby, Bianco Amato, Charlotte Parry, Robert Petkoff, James Waterston, Geddeth Smith, James Stephens, Greg Felden, Margaret Daly and Diane Landers.
Redgrave will take on the role of Lady Bracknell in The Importance of Being Earnest. The Wilde tale set in 1890s England focuses on a gentleman who assumes the role of his fictitious brother Ernest in order to enjoy himself in the city without ruining his reputation at his country estate. Mistaken identity ensues in the classic tale.
A member of one of five generations of actors in her family, Redgrave is known for her Tony Award-nominated one-woman show, Shakespeare for My Father. She recently appeared on Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company presentation of W. Somerset Maugham's classic The Constant Wife. Other credits included Talking Heads, The Exonerated, The Mandrake Root, Black Comedy, Aren't We All, Moon Over Buffalo and another Tony nominated turn in Mrs. Warren's Profession. She was nominated for an Academy Award for the film "Gods and Monsters," her second nod after her title role in "Georgy Girl."
CTG's Ahmanson currently houses the Greg Morrison, Lisa Lambert, Bob Martin and Don McKellar new musical The Drowsy Chaperone (through Dec. 24) before The Importance of Being Earnest plays. Next up will be the special events Matthew Bourne's Swan Lake (March 8-19, 2006) and Dame Edna: Back With A Vengeance (March 28-April 9, 2006) as well as Robert Wilson, Tom Waits and William S. Burroughs' The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets (April 22-June 11, 2006) and a new pre-Broadway musical to be announced. Tickets to The Importance of Being Earnest at the Ahmanson, 135 North Grand Ave. in Los Angeles, CA, by calling (213) 628-2772 or visit www.TaperAhmanson.com.
