Full casting has been confirmed by the Massachusetts company for its season closer, which is scheduled to run May 18-June 17 with an opening night slated for May 23. Huntington artistic director Nicholas Martin directs.

Garber will portray the "self-absorbed aging matinee idol Garry Essendine whose agents, managers, house staff, and paramours create a dysfunctional surrogate family," according to show materials.

Ashmanskas (as Roland Maule) joins the star in the newly announced cast, which also features Lisa Banes (Arcadia), Nancy Carroll (Huntington's The Rose Tattoo), Alice Duffy (Huntington's Les Liaisons Dangereuses), Holley Fain (Frank's Home), Pamela Gray (Huntington's Butley), Sarah Hudnut (Huntington's The Cherry Orchard), James Joseph O'Neil (Huntington's A Month in the Country), Richard Snee (Huntington's The Sister's Rosensweig) and Marc Vietor (Mr. Marmalade).

Known for his television turns on "Alias" and "Justice," Garber has played on Broadway in Deathtrap, Sweeney Todd, Arcadia, Art, Noises Off, Damn Yankees, Little Me, You Never Can Tell, Lend Me a Tenor, Two Shakespearean Actors and Off-Broadway in Assassins, Love Letters, Wenceslas Square and Ghost. Other credits include the films "Titanic," "Sleepless in Seattle," "Legally Blonde" and the TV versions of "Annie" and "The Music Man."

The Coward work replaced David Rabe's Streamers, which was rescheduled due to director Scott Ellis' duties on the Broadway musical Curtains. The Rabe drama will now land at the Huntington for a Nov 9-Dec. 9 run as part of the upcoming season. Tickets to Present Laughter at the Huntington's B. U. Theatre, 264 Huntington Ave. in Boston, MA, are available by phone at (617) 266-0800 or online at www.huntingtontheatre.org.