Tony Award winner John Rando (Urinetown) directs. Gilpin, best known as Roz on NBC's "Frasier," plays Whimberly North, "Matthew's piquant publicist"; and French Stewart, a "Third Rock from the Sun" veteran, plays dual roles as "Whimberly's ubiquitous assistant Jeffrey, as well as the bungling United Nations Ambassador Perrier du Pierre Jouet."
De Leon, Espinoza and Fite play a range of roles from "Chimborrazzi tribesmen to Matthew Modine's Conscience." Padilla plays Abraham.
Performances will play to Oct. 18. Opening is Sept. 16.
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"To have Matthew Modine, one of the greatest (and dare I say, underappreciated) actors of our generation, surrounded by comic geniuses like Peri Gilpin and French Stewart, is the most phenomenal gift a playwright could ever receive," stated playwright Singer. "I do not deserve a cast this exceptional; that said, I'm not giving them back." According to Geffen, "This rollicking comedy tells the plight of Matthew Modine — a celebrity desperately in need of getting back in the limelight. He needs a Cause. Luckily (for him), there is a rare breed of Chimborazzi Alpacas on the verge of extinction in the mountains of Ecuador. So Matthew jets down south to resurrect the alpacas — and, more importantly, his career. After all, desperate times call for desperate celebrities."
A world-premiere production, Matthew Modine Saves the Alpacas is "a satire in which no one is left unscathed."
Actor Modine's films include "Birdy," "Married to the Mob," "Full Metal Jacket," "Shortcuts," "Gross Anatomy," the TV film "And the Band Played On." He recently starred in an acclaimed new stage version of To Kill a Mockingbird at Hartford Stage.
Singer is both a playwright and a television writer. His play about adoption, Placement, recently concluded a run at The Black Dahlia Theater in Los Angeles, and was nominated for four 2006 LA Weekly Awards (receiving one award for Best Actor). His other plays and adaptations have been presented or read at Manhattan Theatre Club, Manhattan Class Company, The Guthrie Theater, Rattlestick Playwrights' Theater, The Cherry Lane Theatre, Jean Cocteau Repertory Theatre, The Vital Theater, The Chautauqua Theatre Institute, Pace University and The Juilliard School. Singer is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama.
The creative team includes set designer Beowulf Boritt, costume designer Robert Blackman, lighting designer Jeff Croiter and sound designer Jon Gottlieb.
For ticket information, visit GeffenPlayhouse.com.
