Suzanne Bertish, Carson Elrod, Claire Karpen & More to Lead CSC's THE HEIR APPARENT

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director Brian Kulick and Executive Director Greg Reiner, will present David Ives' THE HEIR APPARENT, adapted from the play by Jean-François Regnard, beginning performances Friday, March 28 at CSC (136 East 13th Street). Directed by John Rando, THE HEIR APPARENT will feature Suzanne Bertish (Madame Argante), Carson Elrod (Crispin), Claire Karpen (Lisette), Amelia Pedlow (Isabelle), David Pittu (Scruple), Dave Quay (Eraste) and Paxton Whitehead (Geronte). The official press opening for THE HEIR APPARENT is Wednesday, April 9. The production will play at limited engagement through Sunday, May 4.

From the ever-antic pen of David Ives (CSC: Venus In Fur, The School for Lies, New Jerusalem) comes his latest laugh fest based on Jean-François Regnard's comic masterpiece. Meet young Eraste. He has it all: good looks, a beautiful fiancée, and a huge inheritance from an ancient uncle. There's just one little problem: the uncle won't die and he's bequeathed his entire fortune to a distant relative. Oh, and did we mention the uncle also intends to marry Eraste's fiancée? What's a fine 18th-century fellow to do? What else but enlist the aid of his resourceful servant, Crispin, who could "out-Figaro" Figaro.

THE HEIR APPARENT will feature set design by Tony Award winner John Lee Beatty, costumes by David C. Woolard, lighting design by Japhy Weideman and sound design by Nevin Steinberg.

THE HEIR APPARENT will perform Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 pm and 8pm; and Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets start at $65. Tickets are available beginning Thursday, February 27 at 12pm at www.classicstage.org or by calling 212-352-3101 or 866-811-4111.

CSC will also continue ACCESS FRIDAYS for THE HEIR APPARENT, with a limited number of tickets at $20 each available for Friday evening performances (beginning with Friday, April 4). Tickets will go on sale each Monday at 12pm for the Friday performance of that week, available online, by phone or in person at the CSC box office with an exclusive code.

Suzanne Bertish (Madame Argante) was born in London to a British father and an American mother. Her work with The Royal Shakespeare Company includes: Nicolas Nickleby (Olivier Award), Masha in Three Sisters, Twelfth Night with Ian McKellen (dir. Trevor Nunn) and Desdemona in Othello. Work in London includes: Les Liaisons Dangereuses, An Inspector Calls (dir. Stephen Daldry), Tango at the End of Winter with Alan Rickman (dir. Yukio Ninagowa) and Hamlet, Ophelia with Derek Jacobi (Clarence Derwent Award) and Gertrude with Paul Rhys. Work with The National Theatre includes: King Lear with Antony Hopkins (dir. David Hare), Ibsen's Rosmersholm (Evening Standard Award nom.), Oedipus (dir. Peter Hall) and The Cherry Orchard with Vanessa and Corin Redgrave (dir. Trevor Nunn). Work in America includes: The Molière Comedies (dir, Michael Langham, Tony nom.), The Art of Success with Tim Curry (dir. Adrian Noble); Wit with Cynthia Nixon (dir. Lynne Meadow), Kin (dir. Sam Gold), Skirmishes (Theatre World Award), Richard III (The Public Theatre), Antony and Cleopatra (dir. Michael Kahn), Mrs. Warren's Profession (dir. Emily Mann), Breakfast At Tiffany's and Machinal (Roundabout Theater Co., dir. Lyndsey Turner). TV and Film include: "Ab Fab," "Inspector Morse," "Poirot," "Rome" (14 episodes), "Mr. Bean," "Rosemary and Thyme," "13th Warrior," "The Hunger" and "Hearts Of Fire." Suzanne teaches and has done numerous audio books and recordings.

Carson Elrod (Crispin) Broadway: Peter And The Starcatcher, Reckless, Noises Off. Off Broadway: Explorer's Club, Comic Potential, House/Garden (MTC), The Tempest, Measure For Measure, All's Well That Ends Well (NYSF), Cavedweller (NYTW), Oliver Twist (TFNA), Waiting For Godot (NYFringe). Regional: Yale Rep, Shakespeare Theatre DC (Battis Award Winner), Williamstown Theatre Festival, La Jolla Playhouse, Baltimore Center Stage, Center Theatre Group, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, American Repertory Theatre, Westport Country Playhouse, Shakespeare and Company. TV: "Deadbeats" (Hulu), "30 Rock", "Law and Order CI". Film: The Weekend, Kissing Jessica Stein, Wedding Crashers. Princess Grace Award Recipient. NYTW Usual Suspect. AEA since 2000. BA from KU. MFA from NYU Grad Acting.

Claire Karpen (Lisette) CSC debut. NY: Unrequited (Public Shakespeare Lab). Regional: Into the Woods (McCarter/Fiasco), The 60's Project (Goodspeed), The Last Five Years (Stamford Center for the Arts), Richard III, The Tempest, Much Ado About Nothing, Comedy of Errors (Trinity Rep). Writing: Hardcore West Virginia (2012 ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop, written with Mike Pettry). Directing: The Woodsman (59E59), Henry IV Part I, Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune and A Little Night Music (Juilliard), Voices in My Head (Ars Nova). Training: Juilliard and Brown University.

Amelia Pedlow (Isabelle) Off-Broadway: You Never Can Tell (Pearl Theatre Company). Off-Off Broadway: The Notebook of Trigorin (The Flea); Billy Witch (Studio 42); Favorites (CINO Nights); Much Ado About Nothing (Boomerang); True Art (Director's Company). Regional: Hamlet and The Liar (The Denver Center); Midsummer Night's Dream and The Merchant of Venice (The Shakespeare Theatre); Legacy of Light (Cleveland Playhouse); The Diary of Anne Frank and The Tempest (Virginia Stage Company); The Glass Menagerie, Death of a Salesman, and Sick (Chautauqua Theatre Company). TV: "The Good Wife"; "Blue Bloods". Education: BFA, The Juilliard School.

David Pittu (Scruple) Recent credits: Three Kinds of Exile (Atlantic), It's a Bird, It's a Plane, It's Superman! (Encores!). Broadway: LoveMusik (Tony/Drama Desk nominations, Outer Critics' Circle Award), Is He Dead? (Tony nomination), The Coast of Utopia. Off-Broadway: Twelfth Night (Delacorte - St. Clare Bayfield Award), Equivocation (MTC - Lortel and OCC nominations). Creator and star of What's That Smell?: The Music of Jacob Sterling (OCC nominations: Best Off-Broadway Musical & Actor). TV/Film: All of the "Law and Orders," True Story, "Blue Bloods," "Damages," "Pan Am," Invention of Lying, "Rescue Me," "Sex and the City," "The Sopranos," Men in Black III. 2010 Daryl Roth Creative Spirit Award. Two Audie nominations for his recording of Donna Tartt's new novel, The Goldfinch.

Dave Quay (Eraste) is making his CSC debut. NY: The Rufus Equation (ABS Productions); Until Next Time (NY Clown Theatre Festival, also directed). Regional: Julius Caesar, Richard III, As You Like It, All's Well..., R&J, Pericles, Twelfth Night (Georgia Shakespeare); Eurydice, Tennis in Nablus (Alliance Theatre); Philadelphia Story, Love's Labour's Lost, Three Sisters, Everything is Ours (CTC); Dracula (Aurora Theater); Woyzeck (Theater Zero). TV/Film: "Drop Dead Diva" (Lifetime), "Past Life" (NBC), The Adventure (Fake Wood Wallpaper). MFA, NYU Graduate Acting.

Paxton Whitehead (Geronte) Broadway: The Importance of Being Earnest, Absurd Person Singular; Colonel Pickering, and later, Henry Higgins in the revival of My Fair Lady (Helen Hayes Award); Lettice and Lovage with Dame Maggie Smith; A Little Hotel on the Side; Artist Descending a Staircase; Run For Your Wife; Noises Off (Drama Desk Award); Camelot with Richard Burton (Tony nom.); Sherlock Holmes in The Crucifer of Blood; Habeas Corpus; Candida; Beyond The Fringe and The Affair. Off-Broadway: Bill Irwin's The Harlequin Studies; Suite in Two Keys; Neil Simon's London Suite; One Way Pendulum and Gallows Humor. Most recently: Colonel Pickering in Pygmalion at Williamstown Theater Festival and San Diego's Old Globe (where he is an Associate Artist) and the US premiere of Habit of Art in Washington, DC. From 1967-9177 he was the Artistic Director of Canada's Shaw Festival.

David Ives (Playwright) was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Play for his play Venus In Fur, which premiered at Classic Stage Company before moving to Broadway. The play has since been produced all over the country and the world, and turned into a film by Roman Polanski that premiered in 2013 at the Cannes Film Festival. Other plays of David Ives that premiered at Classic Stage: New Jerusalem: The Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza (winner of the prestigious Hull-Warriner Award) and The School For Lies (adapted from Molière's Misanthrope), as well as his translation of Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play. David Ives's adaptation of Alexis Piron's The Metromaniacs will appear in Washington D.C. at the Shakespeare Theatre next season. He is a former Guggenheim Fellow in playwriting and lives in New York City.

Photo by Walter McBride