David Margulies, Lenny Wolpe and More Set for OVER THE RIVER AND THEROUGH THE WOODS at Westport Country Playhouse

Casting is announced for Westport Country Playhouse's Script in Hand playreading of "Over the River and Through the Woods" by Tony Award-winning playwright Joe DiPietro, a comedy about a single, Italian-American guy who visits his beloved, though annoying, grandparents every Sunday for dinner. Scheduled for one-night-only on Monday, November 12, 7 p.m., the cast includes Matthew Amendt, Nicole Lowrance, David Margulies, Frances Sternhagen, Maria Tucci, and Lenny Wolpe. Director is Anne Keefe, Playhouse artistic advisor.

Tickets to the Script in Hand playreading are $15. Tickets for the reading and post-performance dessert reception with the cast in The Playhouse's Sheffer Studio are $50 ($15 for reading plus a $35 donation for reception). The reception will include Italian desserts and Prosecco.

Matthew Amendt (Nick) appeared in Westport Country Playhouse's "Tartuffe" earlier this season. Off-Broadway, he played the title role in "Henry V" and was in "The Subject Was Roses" and "The Misanthrope." He is a 2000 Presidential Scholar in the Arts, has a BFA in acting from the Guthrie/U of M, and is an Ivey Award winner for writing/performing in "The Comedian's Tragedy."

Nicole Lowrance (Caitlin) performed in Westport Country Playhouse's "Beyond Therapy" and "David Copperfield." On Broadway she is currently understudying the role of Honey in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf," and was in "Dividing the Estate." Off-Broadway work includes "The Merchant of Venice," "All's Well That Ends Well," and "Don Juan."

David Margulies (Nunzio) appeared on Broadway in "Wonderful Town" (2003 revival), "A Thousand Clowns" (1996 revival), "Angels in America: Perestroika," "Angels in America: Millennium Approaches," "Brighton Beach Memoirs," and "The Iceman Cometh." On television he played Tony Soprano's lawyer Neil Mink in HBO's "The Sopranos."

Frances Sternhagen's (Aida) Westport Country Playhouse appearances include "Triple Play," "On Golden Pond," "All My Sons," and a Script in Hand playreading of "The Golden Age." She received two Tony Awards for "The Good Doctor" and "The Heiress." She was nominated five other times for "Equus," "On Golden Pond," "The Sign in Sidney Brustein's Window," "Angel," and "Morning's at Seven." She also portrayed the title character in off-Broadway's "Driving Miss Daisy."

Maria Tucci (Emma) was in a Script in Hand playreading of "Morning's at Seven" earlier this season at Westport Country Playhouse. On Broadway, she received Tony nominations for "The Rose Tattoo" and "Requiem for a Heavyweight." Other Broadway credits include "Mary Stuart," "Night of the Iguana," Athol Fugard's "A Lesson from Aloes," "Mrs. Warren's Profession," "Collected Stories," "Filumena (which she translated), and "A Man for All Seasons."

Lenny Wolpe (Frank) was in Westport Country Playhouse's "She Loves Me." On Broadway, he currently is in "Old Jews Telling Jokes." Also, he portrayed the Wizard in "Wicked" and appeared in "The Drowsy Chaperone," "The Sound of Music," "Copperfield," "Mayor," "Into the Light," and "Onward Victoria." Regional theater roles include The Baker in "The Baker's Wife," opposite Alice Ripley, Herbie in "Gypsy," opposite Betty Buckley, and Tevye in six productions of "Fiddler on the Roof."
Playwright Joe DiPietro won two Tony Awards for co-writing "Memphis," which also received the 2010 Tony, Drama Desk and Outer Critics Circle awards for Best Musical. He wrote the book of the current Broadway musical, "Nice Work If You Can Get It." His other plays and musicals include "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change" (the longest-running musical revue in Off-Broadway history); "The Toxic Avenger" and "The Thing About Men" (both winners of the Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Off-Broadway musical); the much-produced comedy "Over the River and Through the Woods"; "The Art of Murder" (Edgar Award winner for Best Mystery Play); and the Broadway musical "All Shook Up." His drama "Creating Claire" debuted at George Street Playhouse in 2010. His work has received thousands of productions across the country and around the world.

Director Anne Keefe served as artistic director of Westport Country Playhouse, with JoAnne Woodward, in 2008 and as associate artistic director from 2000-2006, also with Ms. Woodward. She co-directed with Ms. Woodward the Westport Country Playhouse production of "David Copperfield," and directed many Script in Hand playreadings.

Upcoming Script in Hand playreadings include the romantic comedy, "The Philadelphia Story" by Philip Barry, on Monday, December 10, 7 p.m. "The Philadelphia Story" has been a play, a film, and, as "High Society" with music and lyrics by Cole Porter, a Broadway and movie musical as well. Other Script in Hand playreadings will take place on Mondays, February 11 and March 11, titles to be announced.

Script in Hand sponsors are Marc and Michele Flaster; Script in Hand partners are Ann Sheffer and Bill Scheffler; and Script in Hand corporate sponsors are U.S. Trust/Bank of America Private Wealth Management and JH Cohn LLP. The series is supported, in part, by the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation.
For more information or tickets, call the box office at (203) 227-4177, or toll-free at 1-888-927-7529, or visit Westport Country Playhouse, 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport. Tickets are available online 24/7 at www.westportplayhouse.org. Stay connected to The Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), follow on Twitter (@WCPlayhouse), view Playhouse videos on YouTube (WestportPlayhouse) or get an insider's peek on The Playhouse Blog (www.theplayhouseblog.org).

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