Directed by Jonathan Munby, the production will begin performances Jan. 29, 2011, on the Wurtele Thrust Stage prior to an official opening Feb. 4. Performances will continue through March 27.
Guthrie favorite Helen Carey will head the cast as Paulina. The company will also feature Tony Award-nominated actor Michael Hayden as the Sicilian King Leontes and Michael Thomas Holmes as Autolycus with Ansa Akyea (Archidamus), Christina Baldwin (Emilia), Raye Birk (Old Shepherd), John Catron (Young Shepherd), Bob Davis (Camillo), Sean Michael Dooley (Cleomenes), Tyson Forbes (Dion/Bear), Emily Gunyou Halaas (Mopsa), Juan Rivera Lebron (Florizel), Bill McCallum (Polixenes), Michelle O’Neill (Hermione), Suzanne Warmanen (Dorcas/Oracle), Christine Weber (Perdita) and Stephen Yoakam (Antigonus/Time). Noah Coon and Devon Solwold will share the role of Mamillius.
"Comedy collides with tragedy in this fairy tale that balances two worlds filled with music and dance," according to press notes. "Sicilia resembling the Kennedy-era White House and Bohemia capturing the freedom of rural Minnesota. King Leontes (Hayden) of Sicilia, suspecting his wife Hermione (O’Neill) has committed adultery with his childhood friend Polixenes (McCallum) and consumed with unfounded jealousy, abandons her and their newborn child, turning their royal dream into a nightmare. Sixteen years later the child Perdita (Weber) has grown into a free-spirited young woman in Bohemia and unknowingly falls in love with Florizel (Lebron), the son of her father’s friend. But a twist of fate leads to long-kept secrets revealed in a homecoming like never imagined."
The production team includes Alexander Dodge (set designer), Linda Cho (costume designer), Scott W. Edwards (sound designer), Daniel Pelzig (choreographer), Adam Wernick (composer), Carla Steen (dramaturg), Andrew Wade (voice and language consultant), Chris A. Code (stage manager), Andy Ottoson (assistant director), Michele Harms (assistant stage manager) and Justin Hossle (assistant stage manager).
For ticket information visit www.guthrietheater.org.
