Melissa Joan Hart, Shirley Knight et al. Join LOVE LOSS this Spring

Producer Daryl Roth announced today that Judy Gold, Melissa Joan Hart, Shirley Knight and Doris Roberts have signed on to lend their talents to Nora Ephron and Delia Ephron's smash-hit Off Broadway show, Love, Loss, and What I Wore, which has been playing to sold-out houses at The Westside Theatre (407 W 43rd Street). Judy Gold, Melissa Joan Hart and Shirley Knight will join the April cast (March 31 - April 25), and Doris Roberts will join the cast beginning April 28 (through May 23).

Directed by Karen Carpenter, this collection of stories is based on the best-selling book by Ilene Beckerman, as well as on the recollections of the Ephrons' friends. Like the popular book, Love, Loss, and What I Wore uses clothing and accessories and the memories they trigger to tell funny and often poignant stories that all women can relate to. The production is performed by a rotating cast of five all-star actors, who perform in four-week cycles. Additional casting for April and May is forthcoming.

The current cast (through March 28th) includes Didi Conn, Fran Drescher, Jayne Houdyshell, Carol Kane and Natasha Lyonne.

The current performance schedule is as follows: Wednesday and Saturday at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8:00 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. & 7 p.m. Beginning April 4th, 2010, the performance schedule will change to: Tuesday at 7 p.m., Wednesday and Saturday at 2 p.m. & 8 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 3 p.m. (There will be additional performances on Sunday, April 11 at 7 p.m. and Sunday, May 2 at 7 p.m. and no performance on Tuesday, March 30 and Tuesday, April 27.)

Tickets ($75.00) are available via Telecharge.com (212-239-6200) and in-person at The Westside Theatre Box Office (407 West 43rd Street). Same-day general rush tickets ($25.00, cash only) are available at The Westside Theatre box office, beginning at noon. (Limited to two rush tickets per person. Seats are based on availability; some are limited view.) For more information, visit www.lovelossonstage.com.

Judy Gold is An Emmy Award-Winning Actress And Comedian, Best Known As The Star Of The Off-Broadway Hit 25 Questions For A Jewish Mother (GLAAD Award, Drama Desk Nomination). TV: Tru TV's "The Smoking Gun," HBO's "At The Multiplex With Judy Gold," "Comedy Central Presents: Judy Gold", "Ugly Betty," "Law & Order," And Many More. Her Newest Show, It's Jewdy's Show!, Will Be Produced At The Williamstown Theatre Festival This Summer. CD: "Judith's Roommate Had A Baby." www.judygold.com.

Melissa Joan Hart. Known for her starring roles in "Clarissa Explains It All" and "Sabrina the Teenage Witch," Melissa Joan Hart began her career at age 4 with commercials and various TV appearances. She starred in the film Drive Me Crazy alongside "Entourage's" Adrian Grenier as well as the ABC Family Original Movie Holiday in Handcuffs, which was the highest rated program in the history of the network. In 1993 Hart started her own Production Company, Hartbreak Films, and is releasing her first thriller film Nine Dead to DVD in 2010. She was recently featured as a contestant in the ninth season of ABC's "Dancing with the Stars." Melissa will star in the scripted ABC Family series, "Melissa & Joey", with co-star Joey Lawrence (Summer 2010). Hart and husband Mark Wilkerson are parents of two sons, Mason and Braydon.

Shirley Knight most recently appeared at the George Street Playhouse, starring in Come Back, Come Back, Wherever You Are, written and directed by Arthur Laurents. Miss Knight has done extensive work in theatre, film, and television. She has won numerous awards including the Tony with two nominations, three Emmy awards with ten nominations, two Golden Globes with three nominations, The Venice Film festival Best Actress Award, and two Academy Award nominations among others.

Doris Roberts entered the television world as a regular on "The Lily Tomlin Comedy Hour," and translated her success there into a lifelong career on the small screen. Doris became one of the medium's most successful stars as a series regular on "Angie," "The Boys," "Ladies On Sweet Street," "Remington Steele," "Maggie," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show Comedy Hour" and nine seasons on "Everybody Loves Raymond." She also guest starred on such popular programs as "Rhoda," "Walker, Texas Ranger," "Step By Step," "Empty Nest," "Perfect Strangers," "Full House" and "Murder She Wrote." Her films include: A Fish in the Bathtub with Jerry Stiller, My Giant with Billy Crystal, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase, A Lovely Way To Die with Kirk Douglas, The Heartbreak Kid with Charles Grodin, The Taking Of Pelham 123 with Walter Matthau, and Number One With A Bullet with Robert Carradine and Peter Graves. Roberts boasts four Emmys for "Everybody Loves Raymond" and a fifth for her dramatic portrayal as a victim of homelessness on "St. Elsewhere." Her memoir, Are You Hungry, Dear?, became an immediate best seller. Recently, Roberts has appeared in "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (in an written especially for her) and in Grandma's Boy and They Came From Upstairs, opposite Ashley Tisdale.

 

Photo Credit: Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.