Twelve Angry Men Tour to Play 2nd Season; Thomas Stars

Roundabout Theatre Company has announced a second season for its critically acclaimed national touring production of their Broadway smash hit, Twelve Angry Men.

"It's highly unusual for a straight play to enjoy such tremendous success with touring audiences and we are very excited that the demand for the show allows us to tour for a second year," said Todd Haimes. "Audiences continue to respond to the play's undeniable power - its themes and issues are still relevant a half century after it first appeared.   In the tour's first season the show was seen by more than 300,000 people in 19 cities.  This coming season we expect to play to even greater attendance."  The show will appear in numerous cities in the 2007-2008 season including Cleveland, Toronto, Costa Mesa, Ft. Lauderdale and Charlotte. 

The tour has been the recipient of several local awards for excellence including the Independent Reviewers of New England Best Visiting Production – Large Stage Award for the Boston engagement, Cincinnati's Acclaim Award for Best Touring Production and a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Non-resident Production (Washington, D.C.).

Written by Reginald Rose and directed by Scott Ellis (Roundabout Associate Artistic Director), Twelve Angry Men is the first touring production for the not-for-profit organization.  Richard Thomas (A Naked Girl on the Appian Way, Democracy) will continue to headline the production as "Juror #8 with full casting to be announced shortly.

The design team includes: Allen Moyer (sets), Michael Krass (costumes), Paul Palazzo (lights) and Brian Ronan (sound).

In the play, "a young delinquent awaits sentencing for the manslaughter of his aggressive father.  Twelve jurors are corralled in a room for their deliberations in a murder trial.  One juror feels that there is a "reasonable doubt" - to the frustration of his eleven colleagues - thereby preventing a quick verdict.  During the heated debate, the hidden preconceptions and assumptions of the jurors are revealed.  When faced with playing the hangman, each juror is forced to face himself," state press materials.

Roundabout's national tour of Twelve Angry Men, originally written as a 1954 teleplay, later made into a 1957 motion picture and then turned into its 1964 stage version, premiered in New Haven, Connecticut, at the Shubert Theatre on September 19th, 2006, and played in Philadelphia, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Boston, Columbus, Minneapolis, Appleton, Birmingham, Atlanta, Louisville, Cincinnati, Chicago,  Houston , Dallas, Sacramento, Seattle, Los Angeles and Miami.  Roundabout Theatre Company's Broadway production of  the play was the longest -running production at their home, the American Airlines Theatre, extending an unprecedented seven times to run for 32 weeks.  This production marked the first time the show was ever seen on a Broadway stage. 

The 2007-2008 Tour Schedule follows:

Lexington
Tampa
San Antonio
Pittsburgh
Detroit
Cleveland
Toronto
Des Moines
Tempe
Costa Mesa
Portland
Grand Rapids
Hartford
Indianapolis
Kansas City
Wilmington, DE
Ft. Lauderdale
Nashville
Charlotte

For dates and ticket information, visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.

Photo of Richard Thomas by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.