THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST Extends Through 7/3; THE PEOPLE IN THE PICTURE to Play Studio 54

Roundabout Theatre Company announced tonight a 17-week extension of the critically acclaimed Broadway production of Oscar Wilde's comedy The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by and starring Brian Bedford as "Lady Bracknell," at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd St.).

The limited engagement of The Importance of Being Earnest has been extended through Sunday, July 3rd, 2011. It was originally scheduled to run through March 6th, 2011.

The new musical The People in the Picture which was scheduled to open at the American Airlines Theatre this spring, will now open at Roundabout's Studio 54. Mike Stoller, Artie Butler & Iris Rainer Dart's The People in the Picture, starring Donna Murphy, directed by Leonard Foglia will begin previews on Friday, April 1st and open Thursday, April 28th, 2011 as previously announced. Roundabout subscribers with tickets to The People in the Picture will be issued new tickets, with the same performance date, reflecting the change of venue in the coming weeks.

The Importance of Being Earnest cast also features Dana Ivey as "Miss Prism," Paxton Whitehead as "Rev. Canon Chasuble," Santino Fontana as "Algernon Moncrieff," David Furr as "John Worthing," Tim MacDonald as "Merriman," Paul O'Brien as "Lane," Charlotte Parry as "Cecily Cardew," and Sara Topham as "Gwendolen Fairfax." The design team includes Desmond Heeley (Sets & Costumes), Duane Schuler (Lights) and Drew Levy (Sound).

The Importance of Being Earnest is a glorious comedy of mistaken identity, which ridicules codes of propriety and etiquette. Dashing men-about-town John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff pursue fair ladies Gwendolen Fairfax and Cecily Cardew. Matters are complicated by the imaginary characters invented by both men to cover their on-the-sly activities - not to mention the disapproval of Gwendolen's mother, the formidable Lady Bracknell.

Wilde's classic production premiered in 1895 at the St. James Theatre in London offering a stinging critique of love, sex and social hypocrisy that remains relevant today.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival presented an acclaimed production of The Importance of Being Earnest, directed by and starring Brian Bedford, in 2009. Following the extended run of The Importance of Being Earnest at Roundabout, Brian Bedford and Sara Topham will return to Stratford to appear in The Misanthrope which runs from July 31 to August 12, 2011.