The reading and production will feature Tony Award nominee Lewis J. Stadlen (1996's …Forum and 1974's Candide), Peter Stadlen (his son, of Off-Broadway's Birdy and The Mystery Plays), Tony nominee Denny Dillon (My One and Only), Richard Kline ("Three's Company"), Tasha Lawrence (Proof on tour) and Dana Acheson (Paper Mill's Diary of Anne Frank). Tom Caruso will direct.

The June workshop precedes August Buffalo rehearsals before a September launch at Studio Arena Theatre, the resident Equity theatre that had hits with Dudzick's Over the Tavern trilogy, a phenomenon in regional theatres in the past 15 years.

Don't Talk to the Actors is the story of a greenhorn Buffalo playwright being swept up in the New York theatrical whirlwind when his first play is optioned for Broadway.

"I seem to have struck some kind of nerve with this play," Dudzick told Playbill.com. "Everyone who's read it loves it. It's based on people I know and experiences I've had putting my plays up on stage. Even though its focus is the theatre world, people can identify because it's about having your dream come true. And everyone has a dream."

Dudzick said he has high hopes for a commercial transfer to New York. A reading will be presented June 8 in New York City. Dudzick is repped by Jonathan Lomma at the William Morris Agency.

Don't Talk to the Actors will play Sept. 11-30 at Studio Arena Theatre. For more information, visit www.studioarena.org.