Kate Baldwin, Aaron Lazar to Lead Dallas Theatre Center's GIANT, 1/18-2/19

Dallas Theater Center announced today the cast and design team of Giant, a co-production with The Public Theater, which runs at the Wyly Theatre Jan. 18 - Feb. 19, 2012.

Aaron Lazar will star as Bick. Lazar has appeared in seven Broadway productions and was recently seen in the revival of Stephen Sondheim's A Little Night Music. He was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for his role in the revival of Les Miserables and can now be seen in Clint Eastwood's film J. Edgar. Tony Award nominee Kate Baldwin (Finian's Rainbow) will play Leslie. Baldwin has performed at theaters across the country and has appeared on Broadway in several productions including The Full Monty. The role of Jett will be played by P.J. Griffith who recently starred in the original Broadway production of American Idiot.

Other members of the cast include: Paul Aranas as Polo; Mary Bacon as Adarene and Mrs. Lyntonn; Miguel Cervantes as Angel, Jr. and Angel, Sr.; Natalie Cortez as Juana; Rocio Del Mar Valles as Analita; John Dossett as Bawley; Matt Doyle as Jordy, Jr.; Andrea Lynn Green as Lil Luz; Jason Hite as Bobby, Jr.; Dee Hoty as Luz; Doreen Montalvo as Lupe; Martin Sola as Dimodeo; Matthew Stocke as Mike; Katie Thompson as Vashti and William Youmans as Pinkie. Ensemble members include: Enrique Acevado, Michael Halling, Allison Rogers and Isabel Santiago.

Three-time Tony nominee Michael Greif (Rent, Grey Gardens, Next to Normal) will direct Giant, which is written by Michael John LaChiusa (music and lyrics) and Sybille Pearson, based on the novel by Edna Ferber. Greif will reunite with costume designer Jeff Mashie, who also worked on the Broadway and touring productions of Next to Normal. The design team also includes set designer Allen Moyer (Grey Gardens, Twelve Angry Men), lighting designer Ken Posner (Catch Me if You Can), sound designer Brian Ronan (The Book of Mormon, American Idiot) and choreographer Alex Sanchez.

Tickets for Giant are on sale now. Base ticket prices range from $15 - $85 and are available online at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org or by phone at 214-880-0202

All performances of Giant will be held at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre at the AT&T Performing Arts Center located at 2400 Flora St., where it runs Jan. 18 - Feb. 19. Preview performances are Jan. 18 - Jan. 26. Opening night is Friday, Jan. 27 at 8:00 p.m. Performance times are Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday evenings at 8 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2 p.m.; and select Sunday evenings at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for Giant are available by calling the box office at 214-880-0202 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 214-880-0202 end_of_the_skype_highlighting or by visiting www.DallasTheaterCenter.org. The Pay-What-You-Can (PWYC) performance of Giant will be Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m. PWYC tickets will be available online the week of the performance at www.DallasTheaterCenter.org and at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre Box Office beginning Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m. Pay-What-You-Can allows patrons to purchase ANY seat in the house for ANY amount they choose. For as little as a penny, theatergoers can see world-class live theater created by Dallas Theater Center for North Texas residents.

DTC thanks the production sponsors for their generous support of Giant. Title Sponsor is Pioneer Natural Resources. Commissioning Sponsors are Lyn and John Muse. Premiere Sponsor is JP Morgan Chase Foundation. Presenting Sponsor is Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty. Executive Producing Partner is Reata Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Assistant Producing Partners are Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP; Hyatt Summerfield Suites Dallas/Lincoln Park; Pricewaterhouse Coopers. Additional support provided by Kimberley and Scott Sheffield.

One of the leading regional theaters in the country, Dallas Theater Center (DTC) performs to an audience of more than 90,000 North Texas residents annually. Founded in 1959, DTC is now a resident company of the AT&T Performing Arts Center and presents its Mainstage season at the Dee and Charles Wyly Theatre, designed by REX/OMA, Joshua Prince-Ramus and Rem Koolhaas. DTC also presents productions at its original home, the Kalita Humphreys Theater, the only freestanding theater designed and built by Frank Lloyd Wright. Under the leadership of Artistic Director Kevin Moriarty and Managing Director Heather Kitchen, DTC produces a seven-play subscription series of classics, musicals and new plays and an annual production of A Christmas Carol; extensive education programs, including Project Discovery, Summer Stage and partnerships with Southern Methodist University's Meadows School of the Arts and Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts; and community outreach efforts including leading the DFW Foote Festival and recent collaborations with the Dallas Public Library, Dallas Holocaust Museum, North Texas Food Bank, Dallas Opera, and Dallas Black Dance Theater. Throughout its history, DTC has produced many new works, including The Texas Trilogy by Preston Jones in 1978, Adrian Hall's All the King's Men in 1986, and recent premieres of The Trinity River Plays by ReGina Taylor, the revised It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, Charles Strouse and Lee Adams, Give it Up! (now titled Lysistrata Jones and currently on Broadway) by Douglas Carter Beane and Lewis Flinn, Sarah Plain and Tall by Julia Jordan, Laurence O'Keefe and Nell Benjamin and The Good Negro by Tracey Scott Wilson.

Dallas Theater Center gratefully acknowledges the support of our season sponsors: American Airlines, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Office of Cultural Affairs, Lexus, National Endowment for the Arts, TCA, Texas Instruments and WFAA.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos