Pearl Theatre Company Announces New Resident Acting Company Members

The Pearl Theatre Company today announced that actors Joey Parsons and Wayne T. Carr have joined the Pearl's Resident Acting Company.

As New York City's only classical resident company, The Pearl Theatre's 14-member ensemble is featured in company productions, serve as teaching artists for acclaimed arts education programs and train emerging artists in the Pearl Conservatory. The Pearl offers its resident company continual opportunities for growth and development, challenging them to take artistic risks.

Wayne T. Carr played the Duke of Aumerle in The Pearl's 2011 production of Richard II. His other New York credits include Othello (Wandering BArk Theatre Company), Gentrifusion (Red Fern), Funk it Up (Joe's Pub), and Bombitty of Errors and Troilus and Cressida (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival). Regional credits include: Goodman Theatre, Milwaukee Rep, American Players Theatre, Indiana Rep, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Nebraska Shakespeare Festival and more. Carr is currently at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in As You Like It and All the Way. He has a Masters in Acting from Penn State University and a Bachelors degree in Directing from Frostburg State University.

Joey Parsons played Arsinoé in The Pearl's 2011 production of The Misanthrope (2011 Lortel Award nomination Best Revival) and The Eternal Feminine in The Pearl's 2011 production of Wittenberg. Her other New York credits include A Little Journey (Mint Theatre) and Secrets of a Soccer Mom (Snapple Theater). Regionally, she has appeared in God of Carnage (Arizona Theatre Co./San Jose Repertory Theatre), Fifty Words and the world premiere of the one-woman show Dear Sara Jane (Contemporary American Theater Festival), Rabbit Hole (Pittsburgh Public), Dead Man's Cell Phone (Hartford Theaterworks), The Shape of Things (St. Louis Rep.), The Merry Wives of Windsor, The Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, As You like it, Richard III (Hudson Valley Shakespeare Festival), Comedy of Errors and Measure for Measure (Yale Rep.). She has appeared on the television shows "Law & Order: SVU," "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," "Third Watch," "Deadline," "Guiding Light," and in the film "Lightning Jack." Parsons is a graduate of the Yale School of Drama.

J.R. Sullivan, The Pearl's Artistic Director, commented, "Joey Parsons and Wayne T. Carr are exceptionally gifted artists and they are wonderful additions to our company. They have each delivered great performances for The Pearl in the past and will certainly distinguish themselves in the work to come in our new home on 42nd Street. The Pearl Theatre Company is delighted to welcome them to our ensemble."

Founded in 1984, The Pearl has grown into a renowned Off-Broadway company, connecting audiences to timeless classic plays, while providing an artistic home to theatre professionals. The Pearl's body of work encompasses the full breadth of theater history, from ancient Greek tragedy to contemporary works rooted in the classics.

Carr and Parsons join current members Jolly Abraham, Rachel Botchan, Robin Leslie Brown, Bradford Cover, Dominic Cuskern, Dan Daily, Robert Hock, Sean McNall, Chris Mixon, Carol Schultz, Edward Seamon and Lee Stark.These additions to the Resident Acting Company cap off a banner year for The Pearl. The company just concluded a highly acclaimed production of Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten. This fall, The Pearl will move into its new permanent home: 555 West 42nd Street, the venue formerly occupied by Signature Theatre Company.

A special 2011 Drama Desk Award lauded The Pearl for "nurturing a stalwart resident company of actors,". Past and current Pearl artists have been nominated for and received Tony, Obie, Callaway, and Barfield awards; performed on Broadway; been featured in theatre, radio, and television across the country; and continue to hone their creative skills in a variety of endeavors.

The Pearl's 2012-13 season-its 29th-begins with Figaro (October 19-November 18, 2012), a fresh adaptation by Charles Morey. The work is based on Beaumarchais's' 1778 play The Marriage of Figaro, the comedy that preceded the Mozart opera. In the winter (January 10-February 3, 2013), the company will present the New York premiere of writer-performer James DeVita's In Acting Shakespeare, the personal, playful story of one man's journey from the fishing boats of Long Island to a life as a classical actor. The Pearl will stage Henry IV Part 1, Shakespeare's tale of a headstrong prince teetering between two very different fates (February 15-March 17, 2013). The play picks up where Richard II (produced by The Pearl in the 2011-12 season) leaves off. The season will conclude with the world premiere of And Away We Go, a new play written expressly for The Pearl by four-time Tony Award-winner Terrence McNally (April 19-May 19, 2013).

Subscriptions for The Pearl's upcoming season can be purchased by visiting www.pearltheatre.org or calling 212.598.9802.