CSC's Opens THREE SISTERS, 1/12

Classic Stage Company (CSC), under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, will present Anton Chekhov's THREE SISTERS, featuring 2010 Academy Award nominee Maggie Gyllenhaal (Masha), Josh Hamilton (Andre) 2010 Tony Award nominee Jessica Hecht (Olga) and acclaimed actor Peter Sarsgaard (Vershinin). Also featured in the cast are Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Tuesenbach), Glenn Fitzgerald (Solyony), Roberta Maxwell (Anfisa), Louis Zorich (Chebutykin), George Morfogen (Ferapont), Paul Lazar (Kulygin), Gabriel Bettio (Rode) and James Patrick Nelson (Fedotik).

THREE SISTERS begins performances Wednesday, January 12 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) and will be directed by Austin Pendleton, who also directed Gyllenhaal and Sarsgaard in CSC's acclaimed 2009 production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. The production will feature a translation by Paul Schmidt. The official opening for THREE SISTERS is scheduled for Thursday, February 3 at 7pm and the production will play a limited engagement through Sunday, February 20. Casting for the roles of Irina and Natasha will be announced shortly. Mamie Gummer, previously announced as Irina, withdrew from the production due to a scheduling conflict with the upcoming ABC television series "Off the Map," in production in Hawaii.

The creative team for THREE SISTERS will include set design by Walt Spangler, costume design by Marco Piemontese, lighting design by Keith Parham, sound design and original music by Christian Frederickson and Ryan Rumery and hair design by Paul Huntley.

THREE SISTERS, Chekhov's immortal masterpiece of thwarted dreams, continues CSC's commitment to its Chekhov Initiative, which began five years ago during their FIRST LOOK FESTIVAL reading series. This continued with their first main production of The Seagull, starring Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming, followed by their acclaimed production in 2009 of Uncle Vanya, which featured many of the cast members who will be appearing in THREE SISTERS.

THREE SISTERS will perform Tuesdays through Fridays at 8pm; Saturdays at 2pm and 8pm and Sundays at 2pm. Tickets are $75 for weekday performances and $80 for weekends. For tickets and information, visit www.classicstage.org or call (866) 811-4111, or (212) 352-3101, or visit the CSC box office at 136 East 13th Street, Monday through Friday 12 pm to 6 pm.

Now in its 44th year as one of New York's most exciting theatres, Classic Stage Company is the award-winning Off-Broadway theatre committed to re-imagining the classical repertory for a contemporary American audience. Led by Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Jessica R. Jenen, they recently presented David Ives' highly acclaimed Venus In Fur, directed by Walter Bobbie as well as Ostrovsky's The Forest, adapted by Kathleen Tolan, starring Dianne Wiest and John Douglas Thompson, and directed by Brian Kulick. In the previous season the company presented three sold-out acclaimed productions: Shakespeare's The Tempest, starring Mandy Patinkin; Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, starring Denis O'Hare, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard; and Anne Carson's An Oresteia. Recent productions: critically acclaimed sold-out runs of Anton Chekhov's The Seagull, starring Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming; the world premiere of David Ives' New Jerusalem, directed by Walter Bobbie; Hamlet, Richard II, and Richard III starring Michael Cumpsty and directed by Brian Kulick; and Zoe Caldwell in Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play, directed by John Turturro.

CSC presents plays from the past that speak directly to the issues of today. As CSC returns to works of the past, it endeavors to keep a clear eye on the future, particularly in terms of the next generation of artists and audiences. Founded in 1967, CSC has received wide recognition for its significant contributions to theatre as an art form through productions of classic plays, translations and adaptations and a long-standing commitment to the identification and nurturing of leading and emerging artists. Classic Stage's artists are the finest established and emerging theater practitioners working in this country. Highly respected and widely regarded as a major force in New York and American theatre, Classic Stage has been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards: Obies, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and the 1999 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work. Memberships to Classic Stage Company productions are available at various price levels, including the flexible MasterPass membership, which in addition to prime seats entitles members to participate in CSC special series, including their sold-out Open Rehearsal events. For more information on Classic Stage Company visit the theatre's website at www.classicstage.org.

For further information on Classic Stage Company, call (212) 352-3101, visit the theatre in person at 136 East 13th Street, or go to www.classicstage.org.

Maggie Gyllenhaal (Masha) was most recently seen at Classic Stage Company in Uncle Vanya opposite Denis O'Hare and Peter Sarsgaard, directed by Austin Pendleton. Her other stage credits include Tony Kushner's Homebody/Kabul at both the Mark Taper Forum and BAM, Antony and Cleopatra at the Vanborough Theatre in London and Patrick Marber's award-winning Closer at the Mark Taper and Berkeley Rep. Her film credits include Crazy Heart (Academy Award nomination), Secretary (Golden Globe nomination), The Dark Knight, Adaptation, Criminal, Mona Lisa Smile, Stranger Than Fiction, World Trade Center, Happy Endings, Sherrybaby (Golden Globe nomination), Away We Go and Nanny McPhee Returns. Maggie is a 1999 graduate of Columbia University where she studied Literature.

Josh Hamilton (Andre). Broadway: The Coast of Utopia, Proof, Brighton Beach Memoirs. Off-Broadway: Hurlyburly (Drama Desk, Lortel nominations), Gone Home, Things We Want (New Group), The Waverly Gallery (Promenade), This Is Our Youth (New Group), suburbia (LCT), The Cider House Rules (Atlantic), As Bees in Honey Drown, Music From a Sparkling Planet, Sexual Perversity in Chicago, The Downtown Plays, Evolution, Sons and Fathers, Women and Wallace. Regional: The Violet Hour (Steppenwolf), The Cider House Rules (Mark Taper), Ancestral Voices (Williamstown). TV and film include Sam Mendes' Away We Go; The Last New Yorker; Ten Stories Tall; Tonight at Noon; Alexander the Last; Outsourced; Broken English; Diggers; Alive; Kicking and Screaming; The F Word; Freak Talks About Sex; On Line; With Honors; House of Yes; The Proprietor; "Abby, My Love" (Emmy Award); "Absolutely Fabulous;" "Third Watch;" "Sex and the City;" "Law & Order."

Jessica Hecht (Olga). Broadway: A View From the Bridge (Tony Award nomination as Best Featured Actress), Brighton Beach Memoirs, Julius Caesar, After the Fall, The Last Night of Ballyhoo. Off-Broadway: Make Me (Atlantic), Howard Katz (Roundabout), The House in Town (Lincoln Center), Flesh & Blood (NYTW), The Fourth Sister (Vineyard), Plunge and Lobster Alice (Playwrights Horizons), Stop Kiss (Public Theater), A Midsummer Night's Dream (Theatre for a New Audience). Williamstown Theatre Festival: The Torchbearers, The Three Sisters, Blithe Spirit, The Autumn Garden, Top Girls, Light Up the Sky, The Most Fabulous Story Ever Told. Film: Fair Game, Helena from the Wedding, Whatever Works, The Winning Season, Dan in Real Life, Starting Out in the Evening, The Forgotten, Sideways, The Grey Zone. TV: "Bored to Death," "Medium," "The Good Wife," "Eleventh Hour," "Breaking Bad," "ER," "Law & Order," "Friends," "The Single Guy," "Homicide," "Seinfeld."

Peter Sarsgaard (Vershinin). Broadway: The Seagull. Theatre: Uncle Vanya at CSC, Kingdom of Earth, Burn This (Signature Theatre Company), Horton Foote's Laura Dennis (Signature). Film: An Education, Orphan, Rendition, Jarhead, Kinsey (Critics Choice nomination, Independent Spirit nomination), Shattered Glass (Awards: Boston, SF, St. Louis, Toronto, Nat'l Society of Film Critics; Golden Globe, Spirit nominations for Best Supporting Actor), Boys Don't Cry, Year of the Dog, The Center of the World, Flightplan, The Dying Gaul, Garden State, Elegy, In the Electric Mist, The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.

Glenn Fitzgerald (Solyony) was nominated for a Lucille Lortel Award (Outstanding Leading Actor) for his performance in Lobby Hero. His other theater credits include Mizlansky/Zilinsky (MTC), The Grey Zone (Long Wharf), Blue/Orange, Tatjana in Color, Hedda Gabler. Film: Flirting with Disaster, The Ice Storm, A Price Above Rubies, The Sixth Sense, Finding Forrester, Manny & Lo, Series 7, The Believer, Tully, 40 Days and 40 Nights, Igby Goes Down, Buffalo Soldiers and Trust the Man. TV: "Dirty Sexy Money" (recurring), "Six Feet Under," "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Criminal Intent," "Homicide: Life on the Street," "New York Undercover" and "Wonderfalls."

Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Tuesenbach). Off-Broadway: On the Mountain (Playwrights Horizons), Fifth of July (Signature), 36 Views (The Public), When They Speak of Rita (Primary Stages). Regional: Berkeley Repertory, San Jose Rep., Sundance Theater Lab, Williamstown. TV/film: "Damages" (recurring), HBO miniseries "John Adams" (John Quincy Adams), The Lake House, Stealth, Mona Lisa Smile, The Royal Tenenbaums, "Medium," "Law & Order" (SVU, Trial by Jury, Criminal Intent).

Louis Zorich (Chebutykin). Broadway: Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, 45 Seconds from Broadway, Follies, She Loves Me, The Marriage of Figaro, Arms and the Man, Death of a Salesman, They Knew What They Wanted (Drama Desk nomination), Hadrian VII (Tony nomination), Herzl, Goodtime Charley, The Odd Couple, Moby Dick, Fun City, Becket. Classic Stage Company: Uncle Vanya. Movies: 45 films including Fiddler on the Roof, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Commandments, Honor Thy Father, City of Hope, Fish in the Bathtub, Hole in One, etc. TV: 300 shows. TV series: "Brooklyn Bridge," "Mad About You."

George Morfogen (Ferapont). Broadway: A Man for All Seasons, Fortune's Fool, An Inspector Calls, Arms and the Man, Kingdoms, John Gabriel Borkman. Off-Broadway: The Forest, Uncle Vanya, Richard II (CSC; Bayfield Award); Mrs. Warren's Profession, The Country Girl, Cyrano (Roundabout); All's Well That Ends Well, Antony and Cleopatra (TFANA); The Madras House, Uncle Bob (Mint; L.A. Drama-Logue); Heartbreak House (Pearl); Hamlet, Othello, Cymbeline, Henry V, As You Like It, A Midsummer Night's Dream (Public); The Oxford Roof Climber's Rebellion (Urban Stages). Regional: Baltimore, Seattle, Long Wharf, Dallas, Manitoba, Williamstown. Film/TV: Twenty Bucks; What's Up, Doc?; "Oz;" "Law & Order;" "Damages."

Roberta Maxwell (Cornelia). Broadway: Our Town, Equus, Othello, Henry V. Off-Broadway: Richard III (CSC); The Cripple of Inishmaan (The Public), MTC, NY Shakespeare Festival. Regional: Hartford Stage, Long Wharf, Mark Taper Forum, The Old Globe, Guthrie Theater, Alley Theatre, Stratford Connecticut, Stratford Ontario. Film: Dead Man Walking, Brokeback Mountain, Popeye, Philadelphia, Last Night, Sudden Disclosure, Scar Tissue. TV: "Law & Order," "Another World," "Mourning Becomes Electra" (PBS), "Airwaves" (CBS series), "What Makes a Family," "Warehouse 13." Awards: Obie (Whistle in the Dark, Ashes); Drama Desk (Slag); Villager (Mary Stuart); Carbonelle (Lettice and Lovage); Fox Fellow recipient.

Paul Lazar (Kulygin) is co-Artistic Director with Annie-B Parson of the Big Dance Theatre Company. He directed the following pieces for Big Dance: Odon Van Horvath's Don Juan Comes Back From The War at the Classic Stage Company; Fassbinder's Bremen Freedom at the Cucaracha Theatre; Tristan Tzara's The Gas Heart in the Caught In The Act Festival at the HERE Theatre; Mac Wellman's Girl Gone at the Flea Theatre and The Kitchen. Paul received a Bessie Award in 2002 and Big Dance received an Obie in 2000. His theater credits include The False Servant and Richard III (Classic Stage Company), Marie Irene Fornes' Mudd, Richard Maxwell's Cowboys and Indians at Soho Rep and as a Wooster Group Associate performed in Brace Up!, The Hairy Ape and The Emperor Jones. His film credits include roles in Silence of the Lambs, Mickey Blue Eyes, Beloved, Twenty Ninth Street, Lorenzo's Oil, Philadelphia, Speechless, Married to the Mob, Six Ways to Sunday and The Host.

Gabe Bettio (Rode). Recent NY theatre credits: Much Ado About Nothing (Oberon Theatre), Titus Andronicus (American Globe), The Satin Slipper by Paul Claudell (Storm Theatre), and Order (Oberon Theatre) directed by Austin Pendleton. Other favorite stage credits: Vati in the Holocaust story, My Heart in A Suitcase (ArtsPower); Stanley in A Streetcar Named Desire; and both Theo and Vincent van Gogh in the one-man show, Vincent, written by Leonard Nimoy.

James Patrick Nelson (Fedotik). Off-Broadway debut. Regional: American Shakespeare Center, Olney Theatre Center, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Boston: Central Square Theatre (dir. David Wheeler), Actors' Shakespeare Project, New Repertory Theatre, Boston Playwright's Theatre, among others. New York: Hudson Guild Theatre, HERE Arts Center, Theatre for the New City, Fundamental Theatre Project, Seeing Place Theatre, The Shakespeare Forum, ReGroup Theatre at the Irish Rep and Columbia University (w/ Anne Bogart). Awards: YoungArts Scholarship from Anthony Rapp and the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts. Education: BFA, Boston University School of Theatre, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Austin Pendleton (Director) most recently directed Uncle Vanya at Classic Stage Company and Vieux Carré at the Pearl Theatre. Additional recent directing credits include Fifty Words, produced by the Manhattan Class Company and Lillian Yuralia, by Barbara Eda-Young produced at La MaMa. On Broadway, he has directed Spoils of War, John Gabriel Borkman, The Runner Stumbles, Shelter and The Little Foxes, for which he received a Tony nomination. As an actor, recent appearances include Romulus Linney's Love Drunk, Bruce Robinson's Another Vermeer (Abingdon Theatre); Wendy Kesselman's musical The Black Monk; and Mother Courage (w/ Meryl Streep) and Romeo and Juliet (w/ Lauren Ambrose) at The Public Theatre in Central Park. For many years he has apprenticed, acted and directed at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, is a member of the Ensemble at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre, where he has also acted and directed extensively, and teaches acting at HB Studio. He has appeared in over 100 movies and on television, where he was most recently seen in episodes of "Life on Mars" and "Cupid." Earlier TV work includes many appearances on "Homicide," "Oz," and "Law and Order." He has written three plays: Orson's Shadow, Uncle Bob and Booth, all of them published, and produced internationally and in New York.

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/WM Photos