Azudi Onyejekwe, Andrew Samonsky and More Among Additional Cast and Creative Announced for Williamstown Theatre Festival

Williamstown Theatre Festival has announced casting and creative team additions to the 2018 season including Tony Award winners Natasha Katz and Clint Ramos, as well as details on additional programming and special events for the 2018 summer season.

On the Main Stage, the creative team for The Closet (June 26 - July 14) includes: Allen Moyer (Scenic Designer), Jessica Pabst (Costume Designer), Japhy Weideman (Lighting Designer), and Jane Shaw (Sound Designer); for Lempicka (July 19 - August 1), the creative team includes: Riccardo Hernandez (Scenic Designer), Montana Levi Blanco (Costume Designer), Tony Award winner Natasha Katz (Lighting Designer), Nevin Steinberg (Sound Designer), Remy Kurs (Music Supervisor), Cian McCarthy (Orchestrations), Charity Wicks (Music Director), and Raja Feather Kelly (Choreographer); and Bray Poor (Sound Designer) joins the creative team for The Member of the Wedding, now under the direction of Gaye Taylor Upchurch (previously announced Lila Neugebauer had to withdraw due to a personal matter); on the Nikos Stage, the creative team for The Sound Inside (June 27 - July 8) includes: Alexander Woodward (Scenic Designer), David Hyman (Costume Designer), Heather Gilbert (Lighting Designer), Daniel Kluger (Original Music and Sound Designer), Aaron Rhyne (Projections Designer); for Artney Jackson (July 11 - July 22), the creative team includes: Arnulfo Maldonado (Scenic Designer), Emilio Sosa (Costume Designer), Isabella Byrd (Lighting Designer), Stowe Nelson (Sound Designer); the creative team for Seared (July 25 - August 4) includes: Tim Mackabee (Scenic Designer),Tilly Grimes (Costume Designer), David Weiner (Lighting Designer), Palmer Hefferan (Sound Designer); and for Dangerous House (August 8 - 19), the creative team includes: 2018 Tony Award nominee Dane Laffrey (Scenic Designer), Dede Ayite (Costume Designer), Lap Chi Chu (Lighting Designer), and Palmer Hefferan (Sound Designer).

Additional casting for the Main Stage and Nikos Stage productions include Azudi Onyejekwe and Andrew Samonsky in Lempicka, Portia and Ray Anthony Thomas in Artney Jackson, and Leon Addison Brown and James Waterston in The Member of the Wedding.

The summer will also feature special events throughout the season including the Season Sneak Peek & Reading, The Hot Spot, and the always-popular Fridays@3 reading series. The Season Sneak Peek reading of Greg Keller's new comedy The Jokers will include Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Gerry Bamman, and Debra Monk, in addition to the previously announced Marin Ireland and Morgan Spector. The Hot Spot is a sizzling series that shines a spotlight on a performer or group, and on August 4, Ophira Eisenberg, the edgy, witty, and self-deprecating host of NPR's and WNYC's "Ask Me Another" brings Playing The Odds, a new show all about the gambles of life and how to survive and fail up.

By popular demand, the 2018 season will include the Fridays@3 reading series. A number of new plays read at Fridays@3 have manifested into full Festival productions, including this season's world premiere musical Lempicka on the Main Stage and the new comedy Seared on the Nikos Stage. This year, the line-up of readings includes Tell Me I'm Not Crazy by Sharyn Rothstein and featuring Mark Blum and Jane Kaczmarek (July 6); Saying Goodbye to the People I Love From My Bathtub by Halley Feiffer, directed by Trip Cullman, and featuring Halley Feiffer, Paola Lazaro, Deborah Rush, and Ryan Spahn (July 13); Long Lost by Donald Margulies, directed by Tony Award winner Daniel Sullivan, and featuring Kelly AuCoin(July 20); Secret Soldiers, book by Marsha Norman, music and lyrics by Zoe Sarnak, directed by Leigh Silverman, and featuring Jamar Williams, (July 27); and Selling Kabul by Sylvia Khoury and featuring Omar Metwally and Marjan Neshat (August 10). These readings have limited availability and will be hosted at The Clark Auditorium.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos