Boyd Gaines & Magaret Colin Join John Lithgow in MTC's THE COLUMNIST this Spring

Manhattan Theatre Club has announced that two time Drama Desk Award nominee Margaret Colin ("Gossip Girl," MTC's Defiance) and four time Tony Award winner Boyd Gaines (Gypsy, Contact) will join Tony and Emmy Award winner John Lithgow in the cast of the world premiere of THE COLUMNIST by Tony and Pulitzer Prize winner David Auburn, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan.

In THE COLUMNIST, Colin will play Susan Alsop, wife of Joseph Alsop, to be played by Lithgow. She returns to MTC after appearing in Defiance, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination. She also appeared in MTC's acclaimed Off-Broadway productions of Pschopathia Sexualis and Sight Unseen. Her other theatrical credits include Arcadia, Old Acquaintances, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, and Jackie. She has co-starred in the hit CW series "Gossip Girl" and the acclaimed ABC drama "Now and Again."

Gaines will play Stewart Alsop, brother of Joseph Alsop. Gaines is one of the most acclaimed actors of the American theatre having received four Tony Awards: Gypsy (2008), Contact (2000), She Loves Me (1994), and The Heidi Chronicles (1989). In addition, he appeared in the Broadway productions of Driving Miss Daisy, Journey's End, and Twelve Angry Men. Off-Broadway he has starred in Bach at Leipzig, Major Barbara, The Comedy of Errors, and A Month in the Country.

THE COLUMNIST will begin performances Wednesday, April 4 and open Wednesday, April 25 at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street).

Columnists are kings in midcentury America and Joseph Alsop (Tony and Emmy Award winner John Lithgow) wears the crown. Joe is beloved, feared and courted in equal measure by the Washington political world at whose center he sits. But as the '60s dawn and America undergoes dizzying change, the intense political drama Joe is embroiled in becomes deeply personal as well.

David Auburn, whose Pulitzer and Tony Award-winning Proof dazzled audiences and critics alike, returns to MTC with this fascinating new work to be directed by his Proof collaborator Daniel Sullivan.

The creative team for THE COLUMNIST includes John Lee Beatty (scenic design), Jess Goldstein (costume design), Kenneth Posner (lighting design), John Gromada (original music, sound design), Rocco DiSanti (projection design), and Charles LaPointe (hair & wig design).

Under the leadership of Artistic Director Lynne Meadow and Executive Producer Barry Grove, MTC has become one of the country's most prominent and prestigious theatre companies. Over the past three decades, MTC productions have earned a total of 18 Tony Awards and six Pulitzer Prizes, an accomplishment unparalleled by a New York theatrical institution. MTC has a Broadway home at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street) and an Off-Broadway theatre at New York City Center – Stage I (131 West 55th Street). Renowned MTC productions include Venus in Fur; Master Class; Good People; The Whipping Man; Time Stands Still; The Royal Family; Ruined; The American Plan; Come Back, Little Sheba; Blackbird; Translations; Shining City; Rabbit Hole; Doubt; Proof; The Tale of the Allergist's Wife; Love! Valour! Compassion!; A Small Family Business; Sylvia; Putting It Together; Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune; Crimes of the Heart; and Ain't Misbehavin.'

More Articles by This Author...