Kitt, Huffman, Hensley Star in Kander & Ebb's All About Us

Westport Country Playhouse has announced that Grammy, Emmy and three-time Tony Award nominee Eartha Kitt, and Tony Award winners Shuler Hensley and Cady Huffman will appear in the new Kander and Ebb musical, All About Us, which opens the Playhouse 2007 season, April 10 through April 28.

The production is generously sponsored by The Private Bank of Bank of America.  All About Us is produced in association with Jacki Barlia-Florin.  Tickets go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 5, 10 a.m.

All About Us is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play, The Skin of Our Teeth by Thornton Wilder.  The book is by the legendary Joseph Stein, author of Fiddler on the Roof.  The production will be directed by Gabriel Barre (MTC's The Wild Party), with choreography by Christopher Gattelli (Altar Boyz, High Fidelity).

Music and lyrics are by John Kander and Fred Ebb, one of the foremost songwriting teams in Broadway history. The famed duo wrote a string of long-running musicals, including Cabaret and Chicago.  Kander and Ebb are winners of Tony, Grammy and Academy Awards, in addition to being recognized for their contributions to theatre and music with the Kennedy Center Honors in 1998.  All About Us is one of their final collaborations prior to lyricist Ebb's death in 2004.

"The new musical has a dazzling profusion of themes, including the importance of family.  A wild, humorous, poignant and emotional journey, All About Us is the story of the bewitched, befuddled and becalmed Antrobus family who have survived a thousand calamities by the skin of their teeth. The musical is a tribute to their indestructibility and a testament of faith in humanity," according to press materials.

Kitt will play the Fortune Teller.  Her enduring international career that spans theatre, cabaret, television, and the recording industry.  She is one of only a handful of performers to be nominated for a Grammy Award, an Emmy Award, and twice for a Tony Award, for Timbuktu! in 1978, and The Wild Party in 2000. A best-selling recording artist, she was also was in the 1967 "Batman" television series as Catwoman. Most recently, she toured nationally in Cinderella as the Fairy Godmother, and her voice was heard in the Disney film, The Emperor's New Groove.  Kitt was last on the Westport Country Playhouse stage in the title role of Mrs. Patterson in 1957.

Huffman will play Sabina.  In 2001, Huffman played the role of Ulla in the Broadway musical The Producers, and received the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical. She later appeared as herself in several guest spots on the television show "Curb Your Enthusiasm."  Huffman made her film debut in the 1992 film Hero, which stars Dustin Hoffman, Geena Davis, and Andy Garcia. She was seen in the 2005 film Romance & Cigarettes, and played Dr. Paige Miller on "One Life to Live." Other Broadway credits include Dame Edna: The Royal Tour, Steel Pier, The Will Rogers Follies, Big Deal and La Cage aux Folles.

Hensley, who has been cast as Mr. Antrobus, currently plays Kerchak in Disney's hit Broadway musical production of Tarzan.  He won the Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle and Olivier Awards for his critically acclaimed performance as Jud Fry in Oklahoma! and has also starred in Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera.  He appeared Off-Broadway in The Great American Trailer Park Musical.  Other theatre credits include On The Town, The Most Happy Fella, and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.

All About Us will feature musical direction by Patrick Vaccariello, sets by James Youmans, lighting by Tony Award-winner Ken Billington, costumes by Tony Award-winner Ann Hould-Ward and sound by Brian Ronan.

The Westport Country Playhouse 2007 season continues with Souvenir, a comedy based on a true story by Stephen Temperley, directed by Vivian Matalon, May 31 through June 16; Mary's Wedding, a love story by Stephen Masicotte, directed by Tazewell Thompson, June 21 through July 7; Relatively Speaking, a romantic comedy by Alan Ayckbourn, directed by John Tillinger, July 12 through July 28; Sedition, a political intrigue by David Wiltse, directed by Tazewell Thompson, August 2 through August 18; Sondheim Meets Shakespeare, a new musical revue with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, conceived and directed by Billy Porter, additional text by William Shakespeare, August 23 through September 8; and The Turn of the Screw, a thriller adapted by Jeffrey Hatcher from the story by Henry James, directed by Davis McCallum, October 11 through October 27. 

Visit www.westportplayhouse.org for more information.