Edward Hibbert & Wesley Taylor to Lead THE SILVER CORD at Peccadillo Theater Company

According to a casting notcice, Edward Hibbert and Wesley Taylor have signed on to star in an upcoming off-Broadway revival of Sidney Howard's 1926 play THE SILVER CORD at The Peccadillo Theater Company. A staged reading for the show was held in January featuring Tayor alongside Charles Busch Dan Wackerman, Jessie Austrian, Molly Camp, and Robert Eli. The production will run May 15 through June 23.

THE SILVER CORD, one of the most successful plays of the 1926-27 Broadway season, centers on a domineering matriarch (Charles Busch) who is pathologically close to her sons. Originally starring Laura Hope Crews, THE SILVER CORD opened December 26, 1926 at the Golden Theatre, running for 112 performances. Miss Crews subsequently starred in the 1933 RKO film version with Irene Dunne, Joel McCrea and Frances Dee.

Founded in 1994, The Peccadillo Theater Company is a not-for-profit arts organization dedicated to the rediscovery of classic American theater, particularly those works which, despite their obvious literary and theatrical value, are not regularly revived. Beginning with Eugene O'Neill (generally considered the starting point of modern American theater), Peccadillo concentrates on the era of the so-called well-made play, a period of sparkling wit and sophistication in comedy as well as deepening realism in the drama. It encompasses such diverse and little-known works as Jane by S.N. Behrman, The Shanghai Gesture by John Colton as well as the neglected plays of celebrated authors like Dorothy Parker and John O'Hara. Collectively, this work represents nothing less than the American experience itself in all its contradictions and screwball energy.

In recent years, Peccadillo has broadened its mission to include original plays and musicals that share some of the virtues of classic American theater such as period style, well-defined characters and strong plotting. Such was the case with The Talk of the Town, an original musical about the legendary wits of the Algonquin Roundtable, several of whose plays Peccadillo has produced. And Zero Hour, about the actor/comedian Zero Mostel, whose appearance before the House Un-American Activities Committee was just as explosive as his stage performances. Peccadillo's most recent production was its acclaimed production of Jeffrey Hatcher's Ten Chimneys about Alfred Lunt and Lynn Fontanne.

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