O'Connor will play Edith in the production, which begins previews Feb. 26 at the Shubert Theatre.
O'Connor, who will be making her Broadway debut, has been seen Off-Broadway in What To Do When You Hate All Your Friends, Apostasy, Marion Bridge, Walk Two Moons, Never Swim Alone, See Bob Run and St. Scarlet. Her regional credits include A Sleeping Country (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park), What the Butler Saw (Huntington Theatre), Wonder of the World (Barrington Stage) and Indoor/Outdoor (Portland Stage). She has appeared on film in "Flying Scissors," "Acts of Worship," "The Day My Towers Fell," "The Question," "The Moment" and "Parallel Passage."
As previously reported, four-time Tony winner Angela Lansbury will play psychic Madame Arcati, and two-time Tony winner Christine Ebersole (Grey Gardens and 42nd Street) will be the ghostly Elvira in a cast that also boasts film star Rupert Everett ("My Best Friend's Wedding," "Another Country" and "An Ideal Husband"), who will be making his Broadway debut as Charles Condomine, theatre veteran Simon Jones as Mr. Bradman, two-time Tony Award nominee Jayne Atkinson as Ruth Condomine and Tony nominee Deborah Rush as Mrs. Bradman. Michael Blakemore, who directed Lansbury in Deuce, will direct.
The design team will include set designer Peter J. Davison, costume designer Martin Pakledinaz and lighting designer Brian MacDevitt.
In Blithe Spirit, one of Coward's biggest successes, novelist Charles Condomine, living with his second wife, Ruth, invites a local medium, Madame Arcati, to his house. His intention is to do some research into the spirit world for his new book. But he gets more than he bargained for when Arcati conjures up the ghost of Charles first wife, Elvira. Caught between one live wife and one dead wife — both jealous of the other — Charles thinks matters couldn't be worse. The most recent revival of Coward's 1941 comedy played the Neil Simon Theatre in 1987. Directed by Brian Murray, the cast featured Richard Chamberlain, Blythe Danner, Judith Ivey, Geraldine Page, Nicola Cavendish, Patricia Conolly and William LeMassena.
The original Broadway production starred Clifton Webb as Charles, Peggy Wood as wife Ruth and Leonora Corbett as Elvira. Mildred Natwick was eccentric medium Madame Arcati. The play originated in London, with Coward starring as Charles.
Blithe Spirit will be produced by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Steve Traxler, Bat Barry Productions, Jennifer Costello/Broadway Across America, Ken Davenport, Scott Delman, Jamie deRoy/Alan D. Marks, Wendy Federman, Michael Filerman, Jeffrey Finn/Arlene Scanlan, Ronald Frankel, Barbara and Buddy Freitag, JK Productions, Kathleen Johnson, Patty Ann McKinnon, and Terry Schnuck.
The Shubert Theatre is located in Manhattan at 225 West 44th Street. Tickets are available by calling (212) 239-6200 or by visiting www.telecharge.com.
