Steppenwolf's WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF? to Preview on Broadway Sept. 27, 2012; Understudy EPAs Set for Jun. 5

According to an Equity Audition notice, the Steppenwolf's production of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf will begin previews on Broadway on September 27, 2012 in anticipation of its previously announced October 13, 2012 opening at a Shubert Theatre to be announced. Pam MacKinnon will continue to helm the project.

The Equity Principal Auditions have been announced for June 5 at Pearl Studios. The notice seeks understudies for the four original Steppenwolf leads: Tracy Letts (George), Amy Morton (Martha), Madison Dirks (Nick), and Carrie Coon (Honey).

The Broadway opening will mark exactly 50 years to the date after the play's original Broadway opening on Saturday, October 13, 1962. This production of Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? originally ran at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company (December 13, 2010 - February 13, 2011) and then transferred to Washington, D.C.'s Arena Stage (February 25 - April 10, 2011).

On the campus of a small New England college, George and Martha invite a new professor and his wife home for a nightcap. As the cocktails flow, the young couple finds themselves caught in the crossfire of a savage marital war where the combatants attack the self-deceptions they forged for their own survival. Steppenwolf ensemble members Tracy Letts and Amy Morton face off as one of theatre's most notoriously dysfunctional couples in Albee's hilarious and harrowing masterpiece.

The Broadway production will feature the original Steppenwolf creative team: Todd Rosenthal (set design), Nan Cibula-Jenkins (costume design), Allen Lee Hughes (light design) and Rob Milburn and Michael Bodeen (sound design).

Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? will be presented on Broadway by Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Susan Quint Gallin and Mary Lu Roffe (of Chicago) in association with Steppenwolf Theatre Company, Artistic Director: Martha Lavey and Executive Director, David Hawkanson. Richards and Frankel previously teamed up with Steppenwolf to present ensemble member Tracy Letts' Tony® and Pulitzer Prize-winning production of August: Osage County and Superior Donuts on Broadway. They are also producing Steppenwolf's production of the Pulitzer finalist Detroit by Lisa D'Amour, directed by Steppenwolf ensemble member Austin Pendleton, set to open on Broadway this fall.

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Tracy Letts (George) joined the Steppenwolf ensemble in 2002. Previous Steppenwolf productions include American Buffalo, Betrayal, The Pillowman, Last of the Boys, The Pain and the Itch, The Dresser, Homebody/Kabul, The Dazzle, Glengarry Glen Ross (also Dublin and Toronto), Three Days of Rain, many others. Other productions include: Orson's Shadow (Barrow Street Theatre, NY); Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (ALLIANCE THEATRE, Atlanta); The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (A Red Orchid Theatre); Conquest of the South Pole (Famous Door); Bouncers (the Next Lab).­ TV and film: Guinevere, U.S. Marshals, Profiler, Prison Break, Seinfeld, Home Improvement, many others. As a playwright, he is the author of Killer Joe, Bug (also screenplay), Man from Nebraska (Pulitzer finalist), August: Osage County (Pulitzer Prize, Tony® Award for Best Play), Superior Donuts and an adaptation of Chekhov's Three Sisters to be presented during Steppenwolf's 2011/12 Season.