Julian Cihi to Join Elizabeth Olsen in Classic Stage's ROMEO & JULIET; Daniel Davis Replaces William Hurt

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, announced complete casting today for its upcoming production of Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet starring Elizabeth Olsen as Juliet.

Julian Cihi has been cast as Romeo. Daniel Davis replaces William Hurt as Friar Laurence. Hurt has withdrawn from the production for personal reasons. Previously announced Emmy Award nominee T.R. Knight (Mercutio) and Tony Award nominee Daphne Rubin-Vega (Nurse) will be joined by McKinley Belcher III (Benvolio), Stan Demidoff (Paris/Sampson), Harry Ford (Gregory, Friar John, Watchman), David Garrison (Capulet), Anthony Michael Martinez (Prince), Kathryn Meisle (Lady Capulet), Dion Mucciacito (Tybalt) and John Rothman (Montague/Apothecary). CSC's Romeo & Juliet, which begins performances Friday, September 27, will be directed byTea Alagic (Jackie). Set design is by Marsha Ginsberg; costumes by Clint Ramos, lighting by Jason Lyons and sound by Ryan Rumery. The official opening night is Wednesday, October 16. Romeo & Juliet will play a limited engagement through Sunday, November 3. Tickets will go on sale Wednesday, September 4 at 12pm.

Romeo & Juliet continues CSC's ongoing exploration of the works of William Shakespeare, which has included critically-acclaimed productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream with Bebe Neuwirth and Taylor Mac, The Tempest with Mandy Patinkin and Hamlet with Michael Cumpsty (for which he received an Obie Award for his performance).

Julian Cihi (Romeo) is a recent graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University. Cihi spent the summer of 2012 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival where he performed in The Importance of Being Earnest and A Month in the Country. Following his time at the Williamstown Theatre Festival he starred in the Japanese tour of the hit musical Rent, as 'Roger'. Cihi was born in Japan where he lived until he was 17 before relocating to New York.

Romeo & Juliet will perform Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm and 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets start at $60.

With Romeo & Juliet, CSC also announces ACCESS FRIDAYS, with 20 tickets at $20 each for Friday evening performances (beginning Friday, October 4). Tickets will go on sale each Monday at 12 pm for the Friday performance of that week, available online, by phone or in person at CSC box office.

Tickets for Romeo & Juliet are available starting Wednesday, September 4 at 12pm at www.classicstage.org or by calling 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111 or at the box office at 136 East 13th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues.

CSC is the award-winning Off-Broadway theatre committed to re-imaging the classical repertory for a contemporary American audience. Founded in 1967, CSC uses works of the past as a way to engage in the issues of today. Highly respected and widely regarded as a major force in American theatre, it has become the home to New York's finest established and emerging artists, the place where they gather to grapple with the great works of the world's repertory. CSC has been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards: Obies, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.

CSC's upcoming 2013/2014 Season also features The Last Two People On Earth: An Apocalyptic Vaudeville, performed by Mandy Patinkin and Taylor Mac, directed and choreographed by Susan Stroman; Bertolt Brecht's A Man's A Man, featuring new music by Duncan Sheik, directed by Brian Kulick; and David Ives' The Heir Apparent, adapted from the play by Jean-François Regnard, directed by John Rando.

CSC recently concluded its 45th Anniversary Season which featured Anton Chekhov's Ivanov, starring Ethan Hawke, Joely Richardson and Juliet Rylance, directed by Austin Pendleton; followed by the highly-acclaimed, sold-out production of Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Passion, directed by John Doyle, and starring Melissa Errico, Judy Kuhn and Ryan Silverman; and concluded with Brecht's The Caucasian Chalk Circle, starring Christopher Lloyd, with music by Duncan Sheik, directed by Brian Kulick. Past productions include: Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream with Bebe Neuwirth; Brecht's Galileo with F. Murray Abraham; Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard with Dianne Wiest and John Turturro; Chekhov's Three Sisters with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jessica Hecht, Juliet Rylance and Peter Sarsgaard; David Ives' The School for Lies with Hamish Linklater; Unnatural Acts conceived by Tony Speciale; Ostrovsky's The Forest with Dianne Wiest and John Douglas Thompson; David Ives' Venus in Fur with Nina Arianda (Broadway transfer 2011/2012, Tony Award nom. Best Play); Shakespeare's The Tempest with Mandy Patinkin; Chekhov's Uncle Vanya with Maggie Gyllenhaal, Denis O'Hare and Peter Sarsgaard; Anne Carson's An Oresteia; Chekhov's The Seagull with Dianne Wiest and Alan Cumming; David Ives' New Jerusalem with Richard Easton; Richard III, Richard II and Hamlet with Michael Cumpsty; Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play with Zoe Caldwell; Steve Martin's adaptation of The Underpants; Philip Glass's In the Penal Colony; Bill Irwin's adaptation of Texts for Nothing;Waiting for Godot with John Turturro, Tony Shalhoub and Christopher Lloyd; Entertaining Mr. Sloane with Brian Murray; Harold Pinter's The Birthday Partywith David Strathairn and Faust Parts I and II.