The show, about a Jewish movie star who tries to reinvigorate his career with a television Christmas special, will run July 28-30 in the Martel Theater, on the grounds of Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York. David Warren directs.
Featured in the cast are Douglas Sills (Moonlight and Marigolds, The Scarlet Pimpernel), Lee Wilkof (Kiss Me Kate, Democracy), Christopher Fitzgerald (Wicked), Jessica Stone (The Odd Couple, Smell of the Kill) and Adriane Lenox (Tony winner for Doubt).
Also in the ensemble are Kim Brownell, David Costabile, Tiffany Haas, Leslie Kritzer and David Reiser.
Lippa is the composer of The Wild Party, which played at Manhattan Theatre Club. Goldfarb is the playwright associated with the Broadway-bound Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me.
In other NYS&F news, the cast for the new Sondheim revue, called Mixed Company, is complete. The show is conceived and performed by Billy Porter. Porter will also co-direct the piece with Tazewell Thompson. The show, to run July 28-29, is said to marry Sondheim's music with Porter's soulful, emotional vocal style, and will include other performers and snatches of Shakespeare's poetry. Joining Porter on stage will be Natalie Belcon, Terry Burell, Tony-winner Chuck Cooper (The Life), Nathan Lee Graham, Patina Miller and Ken Robinson.
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NYS&F's 2004 season reaped remarkable benefits. Among the presentations—all of which subsequently traveled to New York, or were announced for future New York productions—were Doubt by John Patrick Shanley, The Argument by Alexandra Gersten-Vassilaros and Fran's Bed by James Lapine.
NYS&F's biggest success of last season was John Patrick Shanley's Defiance, which went from a workshop at Vassar to a full production at Manhattan Theatre Club.
Additionally, three shows given readings at the 2005 festival have seen New York productions during the 2005-06 season: Manic Flight Reaction by Sarah Schulman; Jayson With a Y by Darci Picoult; and The Busy World Is Hushed by Keith Bunin.