Cast And Creatives Of The Old Globe Production of AS YOU LIKE IT Announced!

As the 2019 Summer Shakespeare Festival kicks off, The Old Globe today announced the cast and creative team with As You Like It, the Bard's fabulously charming romantic comedy, whose heroine is one of his most remarkable creations. Director Jessica Stone's recent body of work-including Barefoot in the Park, Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood!, Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, and Arms and the Man-has had Globe audiences rolling in the aisles. Her Shakespearean directing debut will run June 16 - July 21, 2019 outdoors under the stars in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Tickets start at $30.00 and are on sale to the general public now. Previews run June 16-21 with opening night on Saturday, June 22, 2019 at 8:00 p.m.

"All the world's a stage,
And all the men and women merely players."

The magical forest of Arden is the play's famous setting, where a gallery of eccentric characters comes together to find love, fortune, redemption...and themselves. Banished from the court by her deceitful and treacherous uncle, Rosalind disguises herself as a boy, not knowing that the man she loves, also on the run, is behind the next tree. Bucolic Balboa Park is the ideal spot for Shakespeare's enticing tale of mistaken identity, heartfelt romance, and the endearing fumbles and foibles of love.

"As You Like It is one of my favorite Shakespeare plays, one of the Bard's masterpieces, and one of the works that really expresses what's so magical about Shakespeare onstage," said Erna Finci Viterbi Artistic Director Barry Edelstein. "It's got everything: brilliant poetry, amazing characters, love and romance, music, and the perfect balance between a bit of thematic darkness and a joyous happy ending. I could watch the play a million times and never fall out of love with it. The Globe's good friend, the immensely talented director Jessica Stone, brings her great sense of comic brio and her warm and kind heart to this play, and makes a production that's a charmer. Shakespeare in Balboa Park is always a bucolic experience, but this summer and this show are going to be memorable. I can't wait to share a special evening's entertainment with San Diego."

The cast includes Mark H. Dold (Globe's Opus; Freud's Last Session) as Jaques, Meredith Garretson (Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood! at the Globe; Fosse/Verdon, Dancing at Lughnasa) as Rosalind, Joseph Kamal (A Thousand Splendid Suns, The Band's Visit) as Adam, Leonard Kelly-Young (Globe's Titus Andronicus; The Heart of Robin Hood) as Corin and Hymen, Nikki Massoud (New York Theatre Workshop's Othello; A Doll's House, Part 2) as Celia, Jon Orsini (Globe's Hamlet, Love's Labor's Lost, Othello; The Nance) as Orlando, Vincent Randazzo (American Conservatory Theater's Vanity Fair, A Walk on the Moon) as Touchstone, and Cornell Womack (Globe's Hamlet, The Winter's Tale; L.A. Philharmonic's The Tempest; On Golden Pond) as Duke Senior and Duke Frederick. The cast includes students in The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program: Carlos Angel-Barajas as Jaques de Boys, Summer Broyhill as Amiens, Ramon Burris as Charles, Mason Conrad as Silvius, Yadira Correa as Audrey, Aubrey Deeker Hernandez as Oliver, Eric Hagen as Dennis, Bibi Mama as Duke Senior's Lord 1, Hallie Peterson as Le Beau, Jersten Seraile as Sir Oliver Martext and Duke Senior's Lord 2, Morgan Taylor as Phoebe, Wenona Truong as Duke Frederick's Lady, Jared Van Heel as William, and Marco Antonio Vega as Duke Frederick's Lord.

The creative team includes Globe and Broadway favorites Tobin Ost (Scenic Design), David Israel Reynoso (Costume Design), Stephen Strawbridge (Lighting Design), Sten Severson (Sound Design), Obadiah Eaves (Original Music), Jacob Grigolia-Rosenbaum (Fight Director), David Huber (Voice and Text Coach), Alaine Alldaffer, CSA (Casting), and Jess Slocum (Production Stage Manager).

William Shakespeare (Playwright), 1564-1616, was an English poet, playwright, and actor, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. During his career he wrote 38 plays, 154 sonnets, two long narrative poems, and other verses. His body of plays consists of the tragedies Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus, Hamlet, Julius Caesar, King Lear, Macbeth, Othello, Romeo and Juliet, Timon of Athens, Titus Andronicus, and Troilus and Cressida; the comedies All's Well That Ends Well, As You Like It, The Comedy of Errors, Love's Labor's Lost, Measure for Measure, The Merchant of Venice, The Merry Wives of Windsor, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Much Ado About Nothing, The Taming of the Shrew, Twelfth Night, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, and The Two Noble Kinsmen; the romances Cymbeline, Pericles, The Tempest, and The Winter's Tale; and the histories Henry IV Parts I and II, Henry V, Henry VI Parts I, II, and III, Henry VIII, King John, Richard II, and Richard III. His plays have been translated into every major living language and are performed more often than those of any other playwright.

Jessica Stone (Director) previously directed Barefoot in the Park, Ken Ludwig's Robin Hood!, Arms and the Man, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at The Old Globe. She has worked as an actor on and Off Broadway and in television and film for the last 30 years. Her Broadway credits include Anything Goes, Butley, The Odd Couple, The Smell of the Kill, Design for Living, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, and Grease. She has performed Off Broadway and in regional theatres across the country, including 10 seasons at Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her television credits include series-regular and guest-starring roles on CBS, NBC, ABC, and Hulu. Her film credits include work with Ang Lee, M. Night Shyamalan, and Kevin Bacon, among others. Stone's directing career began in earnest with her 2010 all-male production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum for Williamstown Theatre Festival. Her directing credits now include Kate Hamill's Vanity Fair (Shakespeare Theatre Company, American Conservatory Theater), Dancing at Lughnasa, Absurd Person Singular, and A Funny Thing... (Two River Theater), Bad Dates, Ripcord, and Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (Huntington Theatre Company), Bad Jews (George Street Playhouse), The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (Bucks County Playhouse), Charlotte's Web (Theatreworks USA), and June Moon and Last of the Red Hot Lovers (Williamstown Theatre Festival). She currently lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two sons.

As You Like It is supported in part through a gift from Production Sponsor Darlene Marcos Shiley, with additional support from the Jean and Gary Shekhter Fund for Classic Theatre. Financial support is provided by The City of San Diego.

Additional events taking place during the run of As You Like It include:

SHAKESPEARE IN THE GARDEN: Tuesday, June 25; Wednesday, June 26; Thursday, June 27; Friday, June 28; and Saturday, June 29, 2019; all at 7:00 p.m.
The Old Globe artistic staff presents introductory talks prior to select performances. All talks take place one hour prior to the show, in the Craig Noel Garden. FREE.

VICKI AND CARL ZEIGER INSIGHTS SEMINAR: Tuesday, June 18, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.
An opportunity to closely connect with productions both onstage and backstage. A panel selected from the artistic company of each show (playwrights, actors, directors, designers, and/or technicians) engages patrons in an informal and illuminating presentation of ideas and insights to enhance the theatregoing experience. Reception at 5:00 p.m. FREE.

POST-SHOW FORUMS: Tuesdays, June 25 and July 2, and Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Join us after the show for an informal and enlightening question-and-answer session with cast, crew, and/or Globe staff members. Get the inside story on creating a character and putting together a professional production. FREE.

SINGLE TICKETS to As You Like It start at $30.00, on sale now, and can be purchased online at www.TheOldGlobe.org, by phone at (619) 23-GLOBE [234-5623], or by visiting the Box Office at 1363 Old Globe Way in Balboa Park. Discounts are available for full-time students, patrons 29 years of age and under, seniors, military members, and groups of 10 or more.

Performances begin on June 16 and continue through July 21, 2019 in the Lowell Davies Festival Theatre. Preview performances run June 16-21. Opening night is Saturday, June 22 at 8:00 p.m. Regular performances are all at 8:00 p.m. There will be no performances on Thursday, July 4 or Sunday, July 14, and there will be an additional performance on Monday, July 15.

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