Producer Daryl Roth announced today that Sonia Manzano (Maria on "Sesame Street"), Anne Meara ("Sex and the City"; Stiller & Meara), Fredi Walker-Browne (original cast of Rent) and Rumer Willis (The House Bunny; "90210") will join upcoming casts of the hit Off Broadway show Love, Loss, and What I Wore, now in its second smash year at The Westside Theatre (407 West 43 Street).
Manzano, Walker-Browne and Willis complete the upcoming cast, performing March 23 - April 24, joining the previously announced Donna McKechnie and Annie Starke. Meara joins restaurateur and lifestyle expert B. Smith in the May cast (April 27 - May 29). Additional cast members for March - May will be announced shortly.
Love, Loss, and What I Wore, written by Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron, opened in October 2009 at The Westside Theatre (407 W 43rd Street), where it's broken all box office records. Directed by Karen Carpenter, this collection of stories is based on the best-selling book by Ilene Beckerman, as well as on the recollections of the Ephrons' friends. Like the popular book, Love, Loss, and What I Wore uses clothing and accessories and the memories they trigger to tell funny and often poignant stories that all women can relate to.
The production, which was honored with a 2010 Drama Desk Award and a Broadway.com Audience Award, is performed by a rotating cast of five all-star actors, who perform in five-week cycles. Members of the rotating cast have included Samantha Bee, Alexis Bledel, Kristin Chenoweth, Tyne Daly, Fran Drescher, Janeane Garofalo, Melissa Joan Hart, Carol Kane, Stacy London, Jane Lynch, Natasha Lyonne, Rosie O'Donnell, Rhea Perlman, Caroline Rhea, Doris Roberts, Tracee Ellis Ross, Sherri Shepherd, Brooke Shields, Jamie-Lynn Sigler, Cobie Smulders, Rita Wilson and many more. The current cast of Love, Loss, and What I Wore (through March 20) includes Katrina Bowden, Sabrina Le Beauf, Orfeh, Barbara Rhoades and Kim Zimmer.
The performance schedule for Love, Loss, and What I Wore is as follows: Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday and Saturday at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. Tickets ($79.00) are now on-sale through May 29, 2011 and are available via Telecharge.com (212-239-6200) and in-person at The Westside Theatre Box Office (407 West 43rd Street). Same-day general rush tickets ($25.00, cash only) are available at The Westside Theatre box office, beginning at noon. (Limited to two rush tickets per person. Seats are based on availability; some are limited view.)
----
Sonia Manzano has been playing Maria on "Sesame Street" since the early seventies. Stage work includes the original production of Godspell, Vagina Monologues and The Exonerated. Manzano has earned fifteen Emmys as a writer for "Sesame Street," and has published two children's books, No Dogs Allowed! and A Box Full Of Kittens with Simon and Schuster. Scholastic will publish her first novel in the fall 2012. She is working on a memoir.
Anne Meara. Broadway: Eastern Standard, Anna Christie (Tony nomination). Film includes: Fame, Boys from Brazil, The Daytrippers and Another Harvest Moon. TV includes: "Archie Bunker's Place," "Alf," "Sex and the City," "King of Queens" and five Emmy nominations. As a writer, Anne co-wrote (and starred in) The Other Woman (Writers Guild Award) and wrote After-Play (OCC Award) and Down the Garden Paths. Anne was known as half the comedy team "Stiller & Meara." She can currently be seen alongside her husband Jerry on their internet series stillerandmeara.com.
Fredi Walker-Browne created the role of Joanne Jefferson in the Pulitzer Prize winning musical RENT. Roles include: Rafiki - The Lion King, Erzulie - Once On This Island, as well as several television appearances, commercials and voice-overs. Directing credits include: Caged Bird by longtime collaborator Myla Churchill, for whom she also mounted the "sizzling jazzical" Scandalous People to rave reviews. Other credits include: The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told (Paul Rudnick) and When The Chickens Came Home To Roost (Lawrence Holder).
Rumer Willis most recently completed production on the independent feature The Diary Of Preston Plummer, a coming-of-age story opposite Trevor Morgan. In 2009, Rumer starred in Summit's House on Sorority Row. Additional film credits include House Bunny and From Within. Willis' television roles include a significant arc on "90210" as well as guest starring roles on "Army Wives," "CSI NY" and "Medium." Willis currently resides in Los Angeles.
www.LoveLossOnStage.com
