Paice Replaces Benanti in Roundabout's A Little Night Music Gala

Jill Paice will replace the previously announced Laura Benanti in the role of Anne Egerman in the Roundabout Theatre Company's gala benefit concert reading of A Little Night Music. 

Laura Benanti, has withdrawn under a doctor's orders because of a serious throat infection. Benanti is currently starring as Louise in the revival of Gypsy. She is expected to continue to perform in her Tony winning role in Gypsy which closes on Sunday January 11th, but the added rehearsals and peformance of 'Night Music' was considered too much in regards to her throat ailment.

Jill Paice returned to the West End to play Scarlett O'Hara, after originating the role of Laura Fairlie in Trevor Nunn's production of The Woman in White both at the Palace Theatre here in London and on Broadway.  Her other theatre credits include Nicki Harris in Curtains at the Ahmanson Theatre in Los Angeles and later on Broadway where she reprised the role to acclaim oppositeDavid Hyde Pierce.  She was the original Sophie in the Las Vegas Company of Mamma Mia and also appeared in the US touring company of Les Misérables.  Her recording credits include the original cast recording of Curtains, The Woman in White and The Gig and she was a featured artist on the Andrew Lloyd Webber on Broadway album.

Roundabout Theatre Company's (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) presents a once-in-a-lifetime gala concert reading of Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's enchanting, Tony Award®-winning masterpiece A Little Night Music on Monday, January 12th, 2009 at 7:30PM at Studio 54 (254 West 54th St.)

Director Scott Ellis (She Loves Me, 1776, Curtains) will helm a cast of 15 including Natasha Richardson (Desirée Armfeldt), Victor Garber (Frederick Egerman), Christine Baranski (Countess Charlotte Malcolm), Marc Kudisch (Count Carl-Magnus Malcolm), Steven Pasquale (Henrik Egerman) and Vanessa Redgrave (Madame Armfeldt), and with legendary musical director Paul Gemignani (Assassins, Pacific Overtures) leading a 27-member orchestra with orchestrations by Jonathan Tunick.

The cast will also include Kendra Kassebaum (Petra), Alexandra Socha (Fredrika), Maija Lisa Currie (Mrs. Nordstrom), Steven Goldstein (Mr. Erlandson), Leena Chopra (Mrs. Segestrom), Julianne Borg (Mrs. Anderssen) and Philip Cokorinos (Mr. Lindquist).

Not seen on Broadway in 35 years, this classic musical follows three lovestruck couples as they lose - and find - each other during a long midsummer night on a country estate. Sondheim's most heartbreaking score includes "Send in the Clowns," "The Miller's Son" and "A Weekend in the Country."

The design team includes Derek McLane (Sets), Kenneth Posner (Lights) and Steve Kennedy (Sound). Additional designers will be announced shortly.

Premium and Reception Tickets include admission to an exclusive cast party following the performance with all proceeds to benefit not-for-profit Roundabout Theatre Company.

American Airlines is the official airline of the Roundabout Theatre Company. Production underwriters are the Shen Family Foundation and Williams Real Estate.

TICKET INFORMATION:
● Premium Tickets at $2,500 include pre-show reception with cast, premium seating,
open bar at intermission, and admission to an exclusive cast party ($2,150 tax-
deductible).
● Reception Tickets at $1,000 include house seats and admission to an exclusive cast
party ($750 tax-deductible).
● Orchestra/Front Mezzanine Tickets at $500.
● Mid-Mezzanine Tickets at $250.
● Rear Mezzanine Tickets at $150. - SOLD OUT

Production Underwriter packages available; please inquire.

Tickets are available by phone and box office:
1) Phone at Roundabout Ticket Services: (212)719-1300.
2) Box Office: Any Roundabout box office (American Airlines Theatre, Studio 54 or the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre).

ROUNDABOUT THEATRE COMPANY is one of the country's leading not-for-profit theatres. The company contributes invaluably to New York's cultural life by staging the highest quality revivals of classic plays and musicals as well as new plays by established writers. Roundabout consistently partners great artists with great works to bring a fresh and exciting interpretation that makes each production relevant and important to today's audiences.

Roundabout Theatre Company currently produces at three permanent homes each of which is designed specifically to enhance the needs of the Roundabout's mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. Together these three distinctive venues serve to enhance the work on each of its stages.

American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts; and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. American Express is the 2008-2009 season sponsor of the Roundabout Theatre Company. The Westin New York is the official hotel of Roundabout Theatre Company.

Roundabout Theatre Company's 2008-2009 season also includes Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, starring Frank Langella, directed by Doug Hughes; Rodgers & Hart's Pal Joey, starring Stockard Channing, Matthew Risch & Martha Plimpton, directed by Joe Mantello; David Rabe's Streamers, directed by Scott Ellis; Steven Levenson's The Language of Trees, directed by Alex Timbers; Henrik Ibsen's Hedda Gabler, starring Mary-Louise Parker, Michael Cerveris, Paul Sparks & Peter Stormare, directed by Ian Rickson; Lisa Loomer's Distracted featuring Cynthia Nixon, directed by Mark Brokaw; Christopher Hampton's The Philanthropist, starring Matthew Broderick, directed by David Grindley and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, starring Bill Irwin & Nathan Lane, directed by Anthony Page. Roundabout's sold out production of The 39 Steps transferred to the Cort Theatre on April 29th, 2008.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.