First Stars Announced for INTO THE WOODS in Central Park; Additional Casting for AS YOU LIKE IT Revealed

The Public Theater has announced additional casting today for the 50th Anniversary season of free Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte. David Furr (Orlando) and Stephen Spinella (Jaques) join the previously announced MacIntyre Dixon (Adam), Renee Elise Goldsberry (Celia), Omar Metwally (Oliver), and Lily Rabe (Rosalind) in Shakespeare's comedy AS YOU LIKE IT, directed by Daniel Sullivan.

Jack Broderick (Narrator), Gideon Glick (Jack), Cooper Grodin (Rapunzel's Prince), Ivan Hernandez (Cinderella's Prince/Wolf), Tina Johnson (Granny), Josh Lamon (Steward), Jessie Mueller (Cinderella), Laura Shoop (Cinderella's Mother), and Tess Soltau (Rapunzel) join the cast of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's beloved musical INTO THE WOODS.

AS YOU LIKE IT will begin previews on Tuesday, June 5 and continue for four weeks through Saturday, June 30. INTO THE WOODS, directed by Timothy Sheader with co-direction by Liam Steel, will begin previews on Monday, July 23 and continue for five weeks through Saturday, August 25 with an official press opening on Thursday, August 9.

Grammy® and Emmy winning actor/comedian/musician and bestselling author Steve Martin will compose original music for AS YOU LIKE IT which will feature a live Bluegrass band. AS YOU LIKE IT is Shakespeare's most musical play, containing more songs than any other. Sullivan will set the play's famous Forest of Arden in the rural American South, circa 1840, where folk and roots music perfectly capture the mood of the time.

Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers' latest album Rare Bird Alert debuted at #1 on Billboard's Bluegrass Chart and at #43 on the Billboard Top 200. The album was nominated for a Grammy® for "Best Bluegrass Album" and features 13 new Martin-penned tracks, including a live version of "King Tut," and special guest vocals by Paul McCartney and the Dixie Chicks. His debut album The Crow: New Songs for the Five-String Banjo won Best Bluegrass Album in 2009. Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers were also named 'Entertainer of the Year' at the 2011 International Bluegrass Association Awards.

Celebrating its 50th Anniversary, THE DELACORTE THEATER officially opened in Central Park on June 18, 1962 with The Merchant of Venice, directed by Joseph Papp and Gladys Vaughan and featuring George C. Scott as Shylock. The Merchant of Venice was followed that summer by a production of The Tempest, directed by Gerald Freedman and featuring Paul Stevens as Prospero and James Earl Jones as Caliban. The first Delacorte summer season concluded with King Lear, directed by Joseph Papp and Gladys Vaughan and featuring Frank Silvera as Lear. Since then more than 100 productions have been presented for free at the Delacorte Theater. Highlights of past Delacorte productions include Othello in 1964 with James Earl Jones; Hamlet in 1975 with Sam Waterston; The Taming of the Shrew in 1978 with Raul Julia and Meryl Streep; The Pirates of Penzance in 1980 with Kevin Kline and Linda Ronstadt; Henry V in 1984 with Kevin Kline; Much Ado About Nothing in 1988 with Kevin Kline and Blythe Danner; Richard III in 1990 with Denzel Washington; Othello in 1991 with Raul Julia and Christopher Walken; The Tempest in 1995 with Patrick Stewart; The Seagull in 2001 with Natalie Portman, Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline and Philip Seymour Hoffman; Mother Courage in 2006 with Meryl Streep and Kevin Kline; Macbeth in 2006 with Liev Schreiber; HAIR in 2008 with Jonathan Groff and Will Swenson; Twelfth Night in 2009 with Anne Hathaway; The Merchant of Venice in 2010 with Al Pacino and Lily Rabe; and most recently last summer's acclaimed productions of All's Well That Ends Well and Measure for Measure.

More Articles by This Author...