Two-time Tony winner Des McAnuff will direct Jefferson Mays in Tartuffe May 14-June 16 at La Jolla Playhouse. This production of Richard Wilson's verse translation of Moliere is the first of the French playwright's works for McAnuff, the first for the Playhouse's 2002 season and the first in the newly renovated theatre.
Mays, a La Jolla vet who recently starred in Doug Wright's I Am My Own Wife there, stars as Tartuffe, a hypocritical, supposed man of the cloth who uses his influence on the man of the house to steal from and seduce everyone around him. John Getz (M. Butterfly, They're Playing Our Song) plays Tartuffe's victim, Orgon, with Klea Scott as his wise wife Elmire and Paget Brewster ("Andy Ritcher Controls the Universe") as her saucy maid Dorine.
Also in the cast are John Campion (Madam Pernelle), Mike Genovese as Monsieur Loyal, Jonathan Adams (Cleante), Nadia Bowers (Mariane), Jim Parsons (Valere), Jimmi Simpson (Damis), Michael Keyloun, Dikla Marshall, David McMahon, Alex Smith and John Staley.
Tartuffe opens May 19. La Jolla Playhouse is located on the corner of La Jolla Village Drive and Torrey Pines Road. For tickets, call (858) 550-1010. La Jolla Playhouse is on the web at http://www.lajollaplayhouse.com.
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La Jolla Playhouse opens its 2002 season with new seats, carpeting and a fresh paint job. The seats are now red teak with brass plates, blending with the burgundy swirl carpet and the brown mocha walls. This is the first renovation for the La Jolla Playhouse, which first opened 1983.
