Breaking News: Santino Fontana & Tony Shalhoub to BOTH Play 'Moss Hart' in Upcoming ACT ONE

Lincoln Center Theater (under the direction of Producing Artistic Director André Bishop) has announced that actors Santino Fontana and Tony Shalhoub will both be featured as the legendary writer/director Moss Hart at different stages of his life in its upcoming production of ACT ONE, a play written and directed by James Lapine from the autobiography by Moss Hart. The production, which will also feature a third actor who will play Mr. Hart as a young boy, is scheduled to begin previews Thursday, March 20 and open onThursday, April 17 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater (150 West 65 Street).

ACT ONE, James Lapine's new play from the classic autobiography by Moss Hart, deemed one of the finest books about 20th-century American theater, eloquently chronicles the playwright/director's impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater. A path which led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once In A Lifetime.

ACT ONE will have sets by Beowulf Boritt, costumes by Jane Greenwood, lighting by Ken Billington, sound by Dan Moses Schreier and original music by Louis Rosen. Casting for the production will be announced at a later date.

Santino Fontana, currently starring as the Prince in the Broadway musical Cinderella, was previously seen off-Broadway in The Sons of the Prophet and on Broadway in The Importance of Being Earnest (Clarence Derwent Award), Brighton Beach Memoirs (Drama Desk Award), Billy Elliotand Sunday in the Park with George. His other off-Broadway credits include the revival of The Fantasticks and Perfect Harmony (which he co-wrote). He's been seen on television in The Good Wife, Nurse Jackie, A Gifted Man, Royal Pains and Made in Jersey. He will appear in the upcoming film Jack Ryan and can be heard in the current Disney animated feature Frozen.

Tony Shalhoub returns to Lincoln Center Theater after appearing last year in LCT's critically acclaimed production of Clifford Odets' Golden Boy, for which he was nominated for the Tony Award. His Broadway credits include Lend Me A Tenor, Conversations With My Father (Tony nomination),The Heidi Chronicles and the female version of The Odd Couple. He has been seen off-Broadway in The Scene, Waiting for Godot, Rameau's Nephew and Zero Positive. Film and television credits include Pain & Gain, Big Night, Barton Fink, The Siege, A Civil Action, Men in Black (I and II), Wings, Monk and HBO's Too Big To Fail and Hemingway and Gelhorn.

James Lapine returns to LCT where he wrote the book for the musical A New Brain (with music and lyrics by William Finn) and directed his play Twelve Dreams. Director of the current HBO documentary Six By Sondheim, he collaborated with Stephen Sondheim as author and director on the musicals Sunday in the Park with George (Pulitzer Prize), Into the Woods, Passion (Tony Award) and the multi-media revue Sondheim on Sondheim. With William Finn he has also collaborated on March of the Falsettos and, Falsettoland (later presented on Broadway as Falsettos), Muscle and the current Little Miss Sunshine. On Broadway he also directed the current revival of the musical Annie, Golden Child, The Diary of Anne Frank, Amour and The 24th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His other plays include Luck, Pluck and Virtue, The Moment When, Fran's Bed andMrs. Miller Does Her Thing.

After their first collaboration on Once In A Lifetime, Moss Hart continued his collaboration with George S. Kaufman on a series of now classic comedies which include The Man Who Came To Dinner and You Can't Take It With You, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for DramA. Hart's solo works as a writer included the play Light Up The Sky, the book for the musical Lady in the Dark and the screenplays for the films Gentleman's Agreement (Academy Award nomination), Hans Christian Anderson and the 1954 version of A Star Is Born which starred Judy Garland. As a director his credits include two legendary Broadway musicals - My Fair Lady andCamelot. Originally published in 1959, Act One was an extremely popular memoir. The landmark work quickly reached the top of best-seller lists upon its publication and remained there for almost a year.