Huntington artistic director Nicholas Martin will direct the Coward comedy to close out the Massachusetts company's 25th anniversary season in the same slot David Rabe's Streamers had been slated to fill, May 18-June 17, 2007. Opening night is May 23.

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. Additional casting is yet to be announced.

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 Rabe work, rescheduled due to director Scott Ellis' duties on the Broadway-bound musical Curtains, will now land at the Huntington for a November-December 2007 run with Ellis still directing. Patrons holding Streamers tickets may use them for Laughter on the same date or may contact the box office for more information.

Next up for Huntington will be Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard, starring Kate Burton, Dick Latessa, Joyce Van Patten and Mark Blum (Jan. 5-Feb. 4, 2007); Lisa Kron's Well (March 9-April 8, 2007); and Noah Haidle's Persephone (March 30-May 6, 2007). 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.