Oscar nominated actress Jennifer Tilly will play 'Miss Caswell,' Cabaret star Steve Ross will play the 'Pianist,' Jessica Cummings will play 'Phoebe,' and Maura Lisabeth Malloy and Victor Joel Ortiz will also appear in The Actors Fund's highly anticipated all-star reading of ALL ABOUT EVE, the classic backstage drama that is one of the most entertaining and witty films of all time.
Previously announced casting includes Golden Globeâ Award-winning actress Annette Bening as 'Margo Channing,' Tony Award-winner Brian Bedford as 'Addison DeWitt,' four-time TonyAward winner Zoe Caldwell as 'Chief Prompter,' Tony Award nominee Peter Gallagher as 'Bill,' Oscar and Tony Award winner Joel Grey as 'Max Fabian,' four time Tony Awardâ-winner Angela Lansbury as 'Birdie,' Tony Award-winner Cynthia Nixon as 'Karen,' and Emmy Awardâ-nominee John Slattery as 'Lloyd.' ALL ABOUT EVE will be presented Monday, November 10 at 7:30pm at the Eugene O'Neill Theatre (230 West 49th Street).
The reading of ALL ABOUT EVE will be directed by Emmy and DGA Award-winning director John Erman ("Roots," "Who Will Love My Children").
The 1950 film, ALL ABOUT EVE, is written and directed by
Joseph L. Mankiewicz, based on the short story "The Wisdom of Eve," by
Mary Orr, and stars
Bette Davis as Margo Channing, the prominent yet aging Broadway star.
Anne Baxter plays Eve Harrington, a willingly helpful young fan who insinuates herself into Channing's life, threatening Channing's career and personal relationships. The film also features
George Sanders,
Celeste Holm,
Hugh Marlowe,
Gary Merrill,
Marilyn Monroe and
Thelma Ritter. ALL ABOUT EVE was nominated for 14 Academy Awardsâ and won 6, including Best Picture.
Brian Bedford (Addison) on leaving the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, played Hamlet at the age of 21. This was followed by performances in London's West End and Stratford-on-Avon working with, among others, Sir
John Gielgud and
Peter Brook. Gielgud's production of
Peter Shaffer's first play, Five Finger Exercise, brought him to Broadway where he starred in more than 20 productions, receiving five Tony® nominations for Best Actor and winning the award for Molière's School for Wives. Other honors include the Obie, Outer Circle Critics Award, L.A. Drama Critics Award and two Drama Desk Awards. He has directed and acted for 20 seasons at the Stratford Festival of Canada. His one-man Shakespeare show has taken him around the world. Film and TV credits include "Frasier," "More Tales of the City," "Scarlett," Nixon, Grand Prix and the voice of Robin Hood. This winter he will appear on TV with Kelsey Grammar in "Mr. St. Nick." He was recently inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame.
Annette Bening (Margo Channing) can currently be seen in the film of The Women starring alongside Meg Ryan,
Eva Mendes and
Jada Pinkett-Smith. She was last seen in the 2006 film Running with Scissors (Golden Globeâ Award nomination). Annette was Julia Lambert in Being Julia (Oscar nomination, National Board of Review Award, Golden Globeâ Award and a SAG nomination). She also starred in Mrs. Harris with
Ben Kingsley for HBO (Emmy, SAG, and Golden Globe nominations), the critically acclaimed film American Beauty (Academy Awardâ nomination, Golden Globe nomination, Screen Actors Guild Award and the BAFTA Award). She received her first Academy Awardâ nomination and was named "Best Supporting Actress" by the National Board of Review for her role in The Grifters. She also received a Golden Globe nomination for her starring role in
Rob Reiner's The American President, opposite
Michael Douglas. Her other films include Love Affair and Bugsy (Golden Globe nomination), both opposite
Warren Beatty. Bening's theater credits include The Cherry Orchard at Los Angeles'
Mark Taper Forum in 2006, and
Alan Bennett's Talking Heads, at the Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles. She also played the title role in
Hedda Gabler in March 1999 at Los Angeles'
Geffen Playhouse. In New York, Bening received both a Tony Award nomination and won the
Clarence Derwent Award for most outstanding debut performance of the season for her role in Coastal Disturbances, originally at the
Second Stage, then on Broadway.
Zoe Caldwell (Chief Prompter) has appeared in most of the great companies of the English-speaking world. On Broadway, she has won four Tony® Awards for roles in Slapstick, The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, Medea, and Master Class. She appeared Off-Broadway in
Yasmina Reza's A Spanish Play, Colette, and in
Terrence McNally's A Perfect Ganesh. She played
Emma Hamilton in
Terence Rattigan's Bequest to the Nation in London; Cleopatra opposite
Christopher Plummer's Antony in Stratford, Ontario; Long Day's Journey Into Night opposite
Jason Robards at the Kennedy Center and BAM; and
Lillian Hellman in Lillian on Broadway. Her portrayals on TV include "Medea," "
Sarah Bernhardt," Mme. Arkadina in "
The Seagull," and
Carlotta Monterey O'Neill in "
Eugene O'Neill, A Glory of Ghosts." Miss Caldwell directed An Almost Perfect Person with
Colleen Dewhurst and Richard II in Stratford, Ontario; the award-winning Broadway production of Othello starring
James Earl Jones and
Christopher Plummer; Park Your Car in Harvard Yard starring
Jason Robards and
Judith Ivey; and the Off-Broadway production of Vita & Virginia starring
Vanessa Redgrave and
Eileen Atkins.
Jessica Cummings (Phoebe) is currently understudying the roles of Nina and Masha in
The Seagull on Broadway. Earlier this year she worked with Roundabout Theatre Company on the off-Broadway production of Crimes of the Heart. Jessica has studied at the British American Drama Academy and has a BA in theatre from
Northwestern University.
Peter Gallagher (Bill). Broadway: The Country Girl, Noises Off,
Guys and Dolls, Long Days Journey Into Night (Tony Awardâ Nomination), The Real Thing (Charles Derwent Award), The Corn Is Green (Theatre World Award), A Doll's Life,
Grease and Hair (revival). Regional and Off-Broadway include: The Exonerated, Another Country,
Pal Joey. Mr. Gallagher has starred in over 50 films, including sex, lies and videotape, American Beauty (SAG Award), The Player (Golden Globe), Short Cuts, The Idolmaker, While You Were Sleeping, The Underneath, To Gillian on her 37th Birthday, Center Stage, Dreamchild and Mr. Deeds. He has worked with some great directors including
Mike Nichols,
Robert Altman,
Steven Soderbergh,
Sam Mendes,
Nicholas Hytner,
Jonathan Miller, the Coen Brothers and
Hal Prince. On television: "The OC," "The Murder of Mary Phagan," "The Caine Mutiny Court Martial," "
Guys and Dolls: Off the Record," "Brave New World" and HBO's "Path to Paradise." Recordings include: 7 Days In Memphis,
Guys and Dolls.
Joel Grey (
Max Fabian). Debut: Age nine as Pud in On Borrowed Time. Stage credits include
Wicked, Give Me Your Answer, Do! (Drama Desk nom.); Chicago (Drama Desk Award); A Fool and Her Fortune; Herringbone; When We Dead Awaken; Cabaret (20th anniv. prod.); Silverlake (NYC Opera); The Grand Tour (Tony® nom.); Platonov; The Normal Heart; Marco Polo Sings a Solo; Goodtime Charley (Tony® nom.); George M! (Tony® nom.); Cabaret (Tony Award®); Harry, Noon, and Night; Stop the World I Want to Get Off; Half a Sixpence; Come Blow Your Horn. Film credits include Cabaret (Academy Award®), Man on a Swing, Buffalo Bill and the Indians, The Seven-Percent Solution, Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins, Kafka, Player, The Music of Chance,
The Fantasticks, Dancer In the Dark and Choke. Television credits include "Brooklyn Bridge" (Emmy® nom.), "A Christmas Carol," "Oz," "Alias," "Brothers & Sisters," "House" and "Private Practice."
Angela Lansbury (Birdie) has enjoyed a career without precedent. Her professional career spans more than a half-a-century, during which she has flourished, first as a star of motion pictures, then as a four-time Tony Awardâ-winning Broadway musical star, and most recently as the star of "Murder, She Wrote," the longest running detective drama series in the history of television. The actress made her Broadway debut in 1957 when she starred as
Bert Lahr's wife in the French farce, Hotel Paradiso. In 1960, she returned to Broadway as
Joan Plowright's mother in the season's most acclaimed drama, A Taste of Honey by
Shelagh Delaney. One year later, she starred on Broadway in her first musical, Anyone Can Whistle. Lansbury returned to New York in triumph in 1966 as Mame for which she won the first of her unprecedented four Tony Awardsâ as Best Actress in a Musical. She received the others as the Madwoman of Chaillot in Dear World (1968), as Mama Rose in the 1974 revival of
Gypsy and as Mrs. Lovett in Sweeney Todd (1979). From 1984 – 1996 she starred as Jessica Fletcher, mystery-writing amateur sleuth, on "Murder, She Wrote," for which she won four Golden Globeâ Awards. In 1982, she was inducted into the Theater Hall of Fame. And in 1994 she was named a Commander of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. Angela and her husband Peter were married in 1949. They worked together until Peter's death in January 2003. Angela has three grown children, Deirdre, Anthony and David and three grandchildren. This spring Lansbury will be seen in the Broadway production of
Blithe Spirit.
Maura Lisabeth Malloy Recent credits include Marilyn in A Beautiful Child (FringeNYC & Fringe Encores), Shelby in Steel Magnolias, Lenny in Crimes of the Heart, and a principal role in the New York TV Festival pilot "Bloodhounds." She is a recent graduate of the University of Virginia's M.F.A. acting program and studies with
Michael Howard.
Cynthia Nixon (Karen) won a Theater World Award at age fourteen for her stage debut in
Ellis Rabb's production of The Philadelphia Story at Lincoln Center. At age eighteen, she appeared simultaneously in two Broadway productions:
David Rabe's Hurlyburly and
Tom Stoppard's The Real Thing, both directed by
Mike Nichols, while a freshman in her first semester at Barnard College. Cynthia's other Broadway credits include
Wendy Wasserstein's The Heidi Chronicles, Indiscretions (Tony nomination),
Tony Kushner's Angels in America,
Alfred Uhry's The Last Night of Ballyhoo and
David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole (Tony Awardâ), and The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie. For her television work, Cynthia has received 4 Emmy nominations, five Golden Globe nominations and 6 SAG Award nominations for "Sex and the City" and "Warm Springs," having been honored with an Emmy Awardâ, two SAG Awards and a Lucy Award for "Sex and the City." Her recent film credits include Little Manhattan, One Last Thing and Sex and the City. Nixon will soon be seen off-Broadway in the Roundabout Theatre Company's production of Distracted.
Victor Joel Ortiz was born in Puerto Rico and raised in South Florida. His love for storytelling began when introduced to "Star Wars" as a young child. A passion for the dramatic arts flourished throughout his adolescence, leading him to pursue a BFA in Acting at Florida International University. He has consistently displayed perseverance and leadership, playing basketball on state championship team in high school and serving as president of Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity in college. Victor then moved to New York, like so many great Thespians before him, to learn how to act from the world-class teachers here and to learn a true respect and understanding for the craft. His credits include "Law and Order", "Guiding Light" and "All My Children."
Frank Sinatra's classic song "My Way" depicts the vision Victor holds for his acting career. For more on him, please see his website at VictorJoelOrtiz.com.
Steve Ross (Pianist) rose to fame as a cabaret entertainer during his lengthy sojourns at New York's fabled Algonquin Hotel and Ted Hook's Backstage in the late 1970's. He has spent the ensuing decades singing and playing in smart clubs and swank parties all over the world. On the airwaves Steve has been the performer/host for radio series for both the BBC and National Public Radio. In 1992 he was voted outstanding singer-instrumentalist by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets. Also in that year Steve made his Off-Broadway debut in his own tribute to
Fred Astaire, I Won't Dance. He continues to tour in solo concerts, master classes, theatrical engagements and symphonic Pops appearances. Steve was just awarded the Gold Medal for Lifetime Achievement by the National Arts Club of New York.
John Slattery (Lloyd). Slattery can currently be seen in the Emmy Awardâ winning series, "Mad Men." Broadway credits include Rabbit Hole, Betrayal,and Laughter on the 23rd Floor. Off-Broadway credits include Three Days of Rain (L.A. Critics Award, Drama Desk nomination), Night, And Her Stars, The Extra Man and The Lisbon Traviata. Other television credits include the critically acclaimed series "Jack & Bobby," HBO's "K Street," "Sex and the City," "From the Earth to the Moon," "The Brooke Ellison Story" for A&E, Masterpiece Theatre's "A Death in the Family" and several appearances on "Will & Grace." Films include Flags of Our Fathers, The Situation, Mona Lisa Smile, The Station Agent, Traffic, Bad Company, Sleepers and City Hall.
Jennifer Tilly (Ms. Caswell) Broadway: The Women. Off-Broadway: One Shoe Off (Public Theater, Theatre World Award). Film: The Caretaker, Deal, Home on the Range, Monsters, Inc., Stuart Little, Music from Another Room, Liar Liar, Bound, House Arrest, Edie & Pen, Bullets Over Broadway (Academy Award® Nomination), The Fabulous Baker Boys. TV: "Family Guy," "Out of Practice," "Frasier," "The Women," "Hey Arnold!," "Key West," "Cheers".
John Erman (Director) came into prominence in the world of television with a film called "Green Eyes," which starred
Paul Winfield. This earned him the Humanitas Prize and the opportunity to direct "Roots" (Emmy® nomination, Director's Guild Award). He also directed "Moviola," "The Letter," "Roots – The Next Generations (with
Marlon Brando), "Who Will Love My Children" starring Ann-Margret (Emmy, Christopher Award). Also with Ann-Margret, he directed "A Streetcar Named Desire" (Emmy® nomination), "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles," "Our Sons" (also with
Julie Andrews and
Hugh Grant) and "Queen" (also with
Halle Berry and
Danny Glover). His other TV credits include "Scarlett " an 8 hour mini-series for CBS, "An Early Frost" with
Gena Rowlands and
Sylvia Sidney (DG Award, Emmy® nomination), "The Attic: The Hiding of
Anne Frank" with
Mary Steenburgen (Peabody Award, Christopher Award), "David" with
Bernadette Peters, "Stella" with
Bette Midler, "The Last Best year" with
Mary Tyler Moore and
Bernadette Peters, "The Last To Go" with
Tyne Daly, "The Boys Next Door" with
Nathan Lane,
Mare Winningham and
Tony Goldwyn, "Only Love" with
Marisa Tomei and
Rob Morrow, "Doris Duke Story" with
Lauren Bacall and
Richard Chamberlain, "Victoria and Albert" with
Nigel Hawthorne,
Diana Rigg and
Jonathan Pryce, and "The Blackwater Lightship" with
Angela Lansbury and
Dianne Wiest. Recent theatre credits include Under the Blue Sky at
Williamstown Theatre Festival with
Vera Farmiga,
Marsha Mason and
Annabella Sciorra.
THE ACTORS FUND is a national human services organization that helps all professionals in performing arts and entertainment. The Fund, which helps actors and performers and everyone behind the scenes who works in theatre, film, TV, music, dance, radio and opera, is a safety net, providing social services and emergency assistance, health services, employment and training programs and housing support for those who are in need, crisis or transition. Learn more about The Actors Fund at www.actorsfund.org
Tickets available through by phone at 212-221-7300 x133 or online at tickets@actorsfund.org
For more information, visit
www.actorsfund.org.
Photo of Jennifer Tilly by Linda Lenzi
