Pacino to Star in MERCHANT OF VENICE; Ferguson, Martin, Rabe, Santiago-Hudson & Wright Join Shakespeare in Park Rep

The Public Theater (Artistic Director Oskar Eustis; Executive Director Andrew D. Hamingson) announced early casting for the 2010 Shakespeare in the Park summer season. Daniel Sullivan will direct THE MERCHANT OF VENICE in rotating rep with THE WINTER'S TALE, directed by Michael Greif. The repertory company will feature Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Solanio/Young Shepherd); Jesse L. Martin (Gratiano/Polixenes); Al Pacino (Shylock); Lily Rabe (Portia/First Gentlewoman); Ruben Santiago-Hudson as (Prince of Morocco/Leontes); and Max Wright (Old Gobbo/Old Shepherd).

Complete casting for both plays being performed in repertory with the same core company of actors will be announced at a later date. Due to a scheduling conflict with rehearsals, Pacino will only appear in THE MERCHANT OF VENICE.

Shakespeare in the Park 2010 is not The Public Theater's first foray into rotating repertory. Henry IV, Parts One and Two were performed in rep in the Newman Theater in 1991, and 20 years earlier, the Henry VI plays and Richard III were condensed into The War of the Roses which was presented in rep and then performed in one all-night marathon in Central Park.

"We have an extremely exciting and impressive core of actors for our rep company in the Park. I couldn't be happier to put these skilled and passionate American artists on the Delacorte stage," said Public Theater Artistic Director Oskar Eustis. "We are so grateful to Bank of America, who has returned in 2010 as season sponsor, for supporting The Public's mission to keep Shakespeare in the Park free."

Daniel Sullivan (Director, The Merchant of Venice) directed the 2009 Shakespeare in the Park production of Twelfth Night. Also at The Public, he has directed A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007), Stuff Happens (2006), and The Merry Wives of Windsor (1994). His Broadway credits include Accent on Youth, Top Girls, Come Back Little Sheba, The Homecoming, Prelude to a Kiss, Rabbit Hole, After the Night and the Music, Julius Caesar, Brooklyn Boy, Sight Unseen, The Retreat From Moscow, Morning's at Seven, Proof, Major Barbara, A Moon for the Misbegotten, Ah, Wilderness!, An American Daughter, The Sisters Rosensweig, Conversations With My Father, The Heidi Chronicles and I'm Not Rappaport. His numerous off-Broadway credits include Intimate Apparel, In Real Life, Dinner With Friends, Proof, Ten Unknowns, Ancestral Voices and Spinning Into Butter. From 1981 to 1997, Sullivan served as Artistic Director of Seattle Repertory Theatre, where he directed more than 60 productions. Sullivan's film and television credits include The Substance of Fire and "Far East."

Michael Greif (Director, The Winter's Tale) directed the 2007 Shakespeare in the Park revival of Romeo and Juliet at The Public, as well as Diana Son's Satellites, the launch performance of Suzan-Lori Parks's 365 Days / 365 Plays, f-ing A, Dogeaters (Obie), Marisol, Pericles, Casanova, A Bright Room Called Day, and Machinal (Obie). His other recent work includes Next to Normal and Grey Gardens on Broadway, Tony Kushner's The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism With a Key to the Scriptures at the Guthrie, Boy's Life (Second Stage), A Very Common Procedure (MCC), and John Guare's Landscape of the Body (Signature Theater). Greif's Broadway credits include Jonathan Larson's Rent (Obie Award, Tony nom.) and Next to Normal (Tony nomination). He is an Artistic Associate at New York Theatre Workshop, where his credits include Cavedweller, Bright Lights, Big City, and Rent. His other Off-Broadway credits include Neal Bell's Spatter Pattern (Playwrights Horizons), Neal LaBute's The Distance from Here (MCC), Betty Rules (Zipper), Guare's A Few Stout Individuals (Signature Theatre), and Bell's Monster (CSC). La Jolla (Artistic Director 1995-1999): Our Town, Sweet Bird of Youth, Diana Son's Boy, Randy Newman's Faust (also Goodman), Kushner's Slavs (also Taper), and Thérèse Raquin.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Solanio/Young Shepherd) returns to the Delacorte, where he appeared in Daniel Sullivan's A Midsummer Night's Dream (2007) and George C. Wolfe's On the Town (1997). He is a series regular on ABC's "Modern Family" and has also appeared on television in "Do Not Disturb," "The Class" and "Ugly Betty." His Broadway credits include On the Town and The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, for which he earned Drama Desk and Drama League award nominations.

Jesse L. Martin (Gratiano/Polixenes) is making his Public Theater debut. He is best-known for playing Tom Collins in the original company of Jonathan Larson's Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent. His other theater credits include The Arabian Nights at Manhattan Theater Club and The Government Inspector and Timon of Athens on Broadway. He played Detective Ed Green for nine seasons on "Law & Order," and he currently appears as a series regular on NBC's "The Philanthropist." Recently starred in the films Peter and Vandy, The Cake Eaters and Rent.

Al Pacino (Shylock) returns to The Public, where he played Marcus Antonius in Stuart Vaughan's production of Julius Caesar (1988). On Broadway, he won Tony Awards for his performances in Does a Tiger Wear a Necktie? and The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and appeared in Camino Real, Richard III, American Buffalo, Chinese Coffee, Hughie (which he also directed), and two productions of Salome (1992 and 2003). His additional New York stage appearances include The Resistable Rise of Arturo Ui, The Local Stigmatic and The Indian Wants The Bronx. He has appeared in more than 35 films, receiving Academy Award nominations for his performances in The Godfather, Serpico, The Godfather: Part II, Dog Day Afternoon, ...And Justice For All, Dick Tracy and Glengarry GLen Ross; he won an Oscar for Scent of a Woman and an Emmy for Mike Nichols' miniseries Angels in America.

Lily Rabe (Portia/First Gentlewoman) is making her Public Theater debut. She has appeared on Broadway in Richard Greenberg's The American Plan, George Bernard Shaw's Heartbreak House for which she won the Callaway Award and was also nominated for an Outer Critics Circle Award, and Robert Harling's Steel Magnolias for which she received a Drama Desk Nomination. Off-Broadway credits include Crimes of the Heart at Roundabout and Colder Than Here at MCC. Her film credits include Mona Lisa Smile, No Reservations, What Just Happened, A Crime and The Toe Tactic. Rabe's television credits include David Milch's "Last of the Ninth" and guest appearances on "Medium," "Nip/Tuck," "Law & Order: SVU," and "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" and "Saving Grace." Upcoming film roles include Andrew Jarecki's All Good Things; Christopher Munch's Letters From A Big Man; and the indie features Weakness and Aftermath.

Ruben Santiago-Hudson (Prince of Morocco/Leontes) played the title role in Mary Zimmerman's 1997 revival of Henry VIII at Shakespeare in the Park. He made his Public Theater debut in EuGene Lee's East Texas Hot Links and wrote and starred in 2001's Lackawanna Blues, for which he won an Obie Award. On Broadway, he received Tony, Outer Critics, Drama League and Clarence Derwent Awards for his performance in August Wilson's Seven Guitars and appeared in Wilson's Gem of the Ocean and the musical Jelly's Last Jam. He directed Seven Guitars and The First Breeze of Summer at Signature and Things of Dry Hours at New York Theatre Workshop. His numerous film credits include Coming to America, The Devil's Advocate, Shaft, Domestic Disturbance, Mr. Brooks, American Gangster, The Invention of Lying, and George C. Wolfe's made-for-television adaptation of Lackawanna Blues.

Max Wright (Old Gobbo/Old Shepherd). His long history with The Public Theater includes appearances in the Shakespeare in the Park productions of Taming of the Shrew (1999) and Henry IV, Part 1 (1981), and The Public's productions of The Cherry Orchard (1977), The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and That Championship Season. His numerous Broadway credits include Richard III opposite Al Pacino, The Great White Hope, and Lincoln Center Theater's productions of Twelfth Night and Ivanov (Tony nomination). He is best-known to television audiences for his starring roles on "Alf" and "The Norm Show."

For additional information about Shakespeare in the Park, visit The Public Theater website at www.publictheater.org