Andrea Martin, Chuck Cooper & More to Join Tony Shaloub, Santino Fontana in James Lapine's ACT ONE on Broadway

Lincoln Center Theater has announced that Bill Army, Will Brill, Laurel Casillo, Chuck Cooper, Steven Kaplan, Will LeBow, Mimi Lieber, Charlotte Maier, Andrea Martin, Deborah Offner, Matthew Saldivar, Matthew Schechter, Bob Stillman and Amy Warren will join Santino Fontana and Tony Shalhoub in the cast of its upcoming production of Act One, a play written and directed by James Lapine from the autobiography by Moss Hart. The production is scheduled to begin previews Thursday, March 20 and open on Thursday, 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. The company of sixteen actors will play multiple roles with Tony Shalhoub, Santino Fontana and Matthew Schechter playing Moss Hart at different stages of his life.

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.

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 25thAnnual Putnam County Spelling Bee. His other plays include Luck, Pluck and Virtue, The Moment When, Fran's Bed and Mrs. 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 Andersen 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 and Camelot. 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.

This spring, in addition to Act One, Lincoln Center Theater will produce Anthony Giardina's The City of Conversation,directed by Doug Hughes, beginning Thursday, April 10 in the Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater. The LCT3 presentation of Rude Mechs' Stop Hitting Yourself begins performances Wednesday, January 15 in the Claire Tow Theater and will be followed later in the spring by LCT3's third production of the season, Ayad Akhtar's new play The Who and the What, directed by Kimberly Senior, beginning performances Saturday, May 31.