FREEZE FRAMES: Meet the Company of MTC's CASA VALENTINA

CASA VALENTINA, the new play by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, is currently in rehearsals at Manhattan Theatre Club. The limited engagement of Casa Valentina will begin previews on Tuesday, April 1 and open Wednesday, April 23 on Broadway at MTC's Samuel J. Friedman Theatre (261 West 47th Street). The company met the press earlier today and you can check out a photo prview from the special event below!

The cast for Casa Valentina features Drama Desk Award winner Reed Birney (Taking Care of Baby at MTC, Blasted), Tony Award winner John Cullum (The Scottsboro Boys, "ER"), Tony Award winner Gabriel Ebert (Matilda, 4000 Miles), Obie Award winner Lisa Emery (Lonely, I'm Not; Iron at MTC), Tony Award nominee Tom McGowan (Wicked, "Everybody Loves Raymond"), Drama Desk Award nominee Patrick Page (Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark, Cyrano de Bergerac), Larry Pine (The Royal Family, "House of Cards"), Drama Desk Award winner Nick Westrate (Loot, Tribes), and Emmy Award winner and Oscar nominee Mare Winningham (Picnic, "Hatfields & McCoys").

Back in 1962, most men went to the Catskill Mountains to escape the summer heat, but others took the two-hour drive to escape something else entirely: being men. Nestled in the land of dirty dancing and borscht belt comedy sat an inconspicuous bungalow colony that catered to a very special clientele: heterosexual men whose favorite pastime was dressing and acting as women. It was paradise for these men-white-collar professionals with families-to spend their weekends discreetly and safely inhabiting their chosen female alter egos. But when they got the opportunity to share their secret lives with the world, these "self-made women" had to decide whether the freedom they would gain by emerging from hiding was worth the risk of personal ruin.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride