Mark Blum to Permanently Replace Michael McKean in THE BEST MAN

Producers of the Tony-nominated Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN have announced that Obie Award winner Mark Blum will permanently assume the role of Dick Jensen, the role regularly played by Michael McKean. Blum, who originated the same role in the 2000 Broadway revival, appeared off-Broadway this past year in Paul Weitz's Lonely, I'm Not at Second Stage and We Live Here by Zoe Kazan at Manhattan Theatre Club.

Blum will begin performances this Tuesday, June 5, 2012 at 7:00pm. The critically-acclaimed production of Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN, which was originally scheduled to play through July 8, 2012, has been extended twice, now playing through Sunday, September 9, 2012 at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre (236 West 45th Street). Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased at Telecharge.com or by calling (212) 239-6200.

McKean was injured when he was struck by a car at the intersection of West 86th Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. James Lecesne, who plays Mitch Graham, a reporter from the Washington Post and is making his Broadway debut in Gore Vidal's THE BEST MAN, had stepped in to McKean's role in the interim.

Mark Blum. Broadway: Twelve Angry Men, The Graduate, A Thousand Clowns, Gore Vidal's The Best Man, Lost in Yonkers, My Thing of Love, The Merchant. Off Broadway: Lonely I'm Not, Picked, We Live Here, After the Revolution, The Overwhelming, The Waverly Gallery, The Long Christmas Ride Home, The Music Teacher, The Seagull, Mizlansky/Zilinsky, Gus and Al (Obie), It's Only A Play, Little Footsteps, Key Exchange, Table Settings, Say Goodnight Gracie. Regional: Long Wharf, Huntington, Old Globe. Film: I Don't Know How She Does It, The Green, Passing Harold Blumenthal, Step Up 3-D, Desperately Seeking Susan, Crocodile Dundee, Shattered Glass, The Presidio, Blind Date, Worth Winning, Getting to Know You, You Can Thank Me Later, Miami Rhapsody, Indictment: The McMartin Trial, The Defenders, Just Between Friends, Lovesick. TV: "Damages", "The Good Wife," "Fringe," "Jesse Stone," "The Sopranos," "The West Wing," "NYPD Blue," "CSI: Miami," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Frasier," "Ed," "The Practice," "Wings," "St. Elsewhere," "Capitol News," and Steve Martini's "The Judge." He is on the faculty of Brooklyn College and HB Studio.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.