Clea Alsip, Lucy DeVito & Elaine Hendrix Join Bucks County Playhouse's STEEL MAGNOLIAS; Full Cast Announced!

BroadwayWorld is excited to report that full casting is set for Bucks County Playhouse's star-studded revival of Robert Harling's saucy Southern comedy STEEL MAGNOLIAS, directed by four-time Oscar nominee Marsha Mason. The announcement was made today by producers Robyn Goodman, Alexander Fraser, Josh Fiedler, and Stephen Kocis.

The cast features Clea Alsip ("Vanya & Sonia & Masha & Spike" at Bucks County Playhouse) as Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, Lucy DeVito (Nora and Delia Ephron's "Love, Loss and What I Wore") as Annelle Dupuy-Desoto, Elaine Hendrix (FX's "Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll") as Truvy Jones. They join previously announced Patricia Richardson as M'Lynn ("Home Improvement"), Susan Sullivan as Clairee Belcher (ABC's "Castle") and Jessica Walter as Ouiser Boudreaux ("Arrested Development").

STEEL MAGNOLIAS will begin previews at Bucks County Playhouse (70 S. Main Street, New Hope, PA) on May 27 with an opening night scheduled for May 28 and will run through June 18. This star-studded Southern comedy kicks of the 2016 season after a highly successful 2015 season with two productions heralded by The Wall Street Journal as among "The Best Theater of 2015."

At Truvy's Beauty Salon in Chinquapin, Louisiana the hair is big and the gossip is juicy. While their coifs are perfected and daily lives debated, six distinctly different women forge a unique bond of sisterhood - one that even when put to the test, only grows stronger. Infused with heart and humor, STEEL MAGNOLIAS is a hilarious story of love, loss, and enduring friendship.

Four-time Academy Award Nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Marsha Mason returns to direct for the second time on the Playhouse Stage. Mason previously directed Neil Simon's "Chapter Two" at Bucks County Playhouse. She is not the only member of the production making a return.

Having earned acclaim and a new generation of fans for her recent television appearances as Lucille Bluth in "Arrested Development" and for voicing the role of Malory Archer on the popular FX animated series "Archer," Jessica Walter, a Golden Globe nominee for "Play Misty for Me," is returning to the Playhouse where she first appeared onstage as a teenager.

"I am truly excited to be returning to the place where I started my career. At 17, I apprenticed at Bucks County Playhouse and it was there, in a role in Paddy Chayefsky's play 'Middle of the Night,' that I got my Actors Equity card," says Walter. "I really look forward to getting to working with Marsha Mason and a talented cast on Robert Harling's funny and moving play."

Walter will star opposite Golden Globe and Emmy nominee, Susan Sullivan, who is familiar to audiences for her long-time roles on "Falcon Crest" and "Dharma & Greg" and is currently seen on ABC TV's "Castle."

"I am delighted to return to my theatre roots - especially at the iconic Bucks County Playhouse ... cradled in the lush beauty of New Hope, Pennsylvania," says Sullivan. "What could be more enlivening!"

Sullivan and Walter are joined by Patricia Richardson who is best known for her role as Jill Taylor on the TV sitcom "Home Improvement." Richardson garnered four Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe nominations for this role, and went on to have recurring roles in "The West Wing" and "Strong Medicine," for which she received two Prism Award nominations. Richardson also boasts a formidable Broadway career, originating roles in Michael Weller's "Loose Ends" and Beth Henley's "The Wake of Jamie Foster."

Gabe Weissman will co-direct with Mason. Lauren Helpern is scenic designer with lighting design by Gina Scherr and costume design by Nicole Moody. Matthew Given serves as sound designer.

Bucks County Playhouse will offer discounted preview performances of STEEL MAGNOLIAS on Friday, May 27 at 8 pm and Saturday, May 28 at 2pm. Tickets to preview performances are only $30. Opening night is Saturday, May 28 at 7:00 pm. Tickets are $40-$84 plus fees.

The production will play the following schedule: Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m., Wednesdays at 2:00 pm, Thursdays at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8:00 p.m., Saturdays at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., and Sundays at 2:00 p.m.

Single tickets to STEEL MAGNOLIAS are on sale now. For full details, and to purchase tickets, visit buckscountyplayhouse.org, call 215-862-2121, or visit the box office at 70 South Main Street, New Hope, PA.

Bucks County Playhouse, a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, is the oldest and largest professional Equity performing arts center in Bucks County. Under the direction of Tony Award-winning producers, Alexander Fraser and Robyn Goodman, the Playhouse provides first class professional theatrical entertainment as well as community events, partnerships and arts education programming for visitors and residents of New Hope, Doylestown, Lambertville and the Delaware Valley.

Located between Philadelphia and New York, Bucks County Playhouse opened in 1939 in a converted 1790 gristmill after a group of community activists, led by Broadway orchestrator Don Walker and playwright Moss Hart, rallied to save the building. The Playhouse quickly became one of the country's most famous regional theaters, featuring a roster of American theatrical royalty including Helen Hayes, Kitty Carlisle, George S. Kaufman, Grace Kelly, Robert Redford, Bert Lahr, Walter Matthau, Angela Lansbury, Bernadette Peters, Alan Alda, Tyne Daly, Liza Minnelli and Audra McDonald and remained in continuous operation until December 2010. In 2012, the Playhouse re-opened thanks to the efforts of the Bridge Street Foundation, the nonprofit family foundation of Kevin and Sherri Daugherty, and Broadway producer Jed Bernstein.

Since its renovation, significant productions include Terrence McNally's "Mothers and Sons" starring Tyne Daly, which moved to Broadway and was nominated for two Tony Awards, and "Misery" by William Goldman based on the Stephen King novel which also went on to a Broadway run in the 2015-16 season. Two of the Playhouse's recent productions -- "Company" starring Justin Guarini, and William Finn's "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" -- were named by Wall Street Journal to its "Best of Theatre" list for 2015.