Hartford Stage Announces Full Cast, Creative Team for TWELFTH NIGHT

Hartford Stage, under the leadership of Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts, today announced the full creative team, cast and events for Shakespeare's Twelfth Night, directed by Tresnjak, on stage from May 18 through June 16.

Hartford Stage's Production of Twelfth Night is part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

The bard's finest comedy is a paean to the restorative power of love. Viola lands on the shore of Illyria after losing her brother in a shipwreck, and disguises herself as a page, Cesario. Countess Olivia mourns the loss of her own brother. When the lovely Countess meets the handsome young page, desire banishes grief in this romantic comedy.

Twelfth Night marks the 40th collaboration for Tresnjak and costume designer Linda Cho (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Hartford Stage). The creative team for Twelfth Night also features set design by Alexander Dodge (A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, Hartford Stage); lighting design by Matthew Richards (Ann, Lincoln Center Theatre and Bell, Book and Candle, Hartford Stage); sound design byDavid Budries (The Tempest, Hartford Stage and Hello, Dolly!, Ford's Theatre) andNathan A. Roberts (The Tempest, Hartford Stage and The Electric Baby, Two River Theatre Company); and production stage manager Mary K. Klinger.

Director Darko Tresnjak joinEd Hartford Stage in 2011 as Artistic Director and directed Bell, Book and Candle, The Tempest, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder and Breath & Imagination at the Stage. He was the Artistic Director of The Old Globe Shakespeare Festival in San Diego from 2004-2009. His directing credits at The Old Globe include The Women, The Pleasure of His Company, Bell, Book and Candle,Cyrano de Bergerac, Coriolanus, All's Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, Titus Adronicus, A Midsummer Night's Dream, The Winter's Tale, A Comedy of Errors, Antony and Cleopatra, The Two Noble Kinsmen, and Pericles. Recent directing credits include the national tour of The Merchant of Venice, starring F. Murray Abraham; City of Angels at Goodspeed Musicals; and Titus Adronicus at the Stratford Shakespeare Festival.

The cast of Twelfth Night includes Che Ayende (The Whipping Man, Hartford Stage) as Feste; McKinley Belcher III (Invisible Man, Huntington Theatre Company) as Antonio; Lea Coco (Hamlet, Folger Theatre) as Orsino; Michael Spencer Davis (The Tempest, Hartford Stage) as Sir Toby Belch; Adam Green (A Midsummer Night's Dream, Shakespeare Theatre Company) as Sir Andrew Aguecheek; Kate MacCluggage (Bell, Book and Candle, Hartford Stage) as Viola; Gregor Paslawsky (Bell, Book and Candle, Hartford Stage) as Fabian and Sea Captain; Joe Paulik (The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford Stage) as Sebastian; Jennifer Regan (How I Learned to Drive, Second Stage) as Maria; Stacey Yen (The Arabian Nights, Arena Stage) as Olivia; and Bruce Turk, recipient of a Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship (The Tempest, Hartford Stage and Measure for Measure, The Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey) as Malvolio. The Fox Foundation Resident Actor Fellowship is a partnership for actors that supports their artistic and professional growth in collaboration with a TCG Member theatre.

The cast will also include five students from the Hartt School at the University of Hartford: Josh Boscarino, Celina Lopez, William Macke, Katie Schenker and Arielle Soloman.

Press Night: 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 22. Opening Night: 8 p.m. on Friday, May 24. The production runs May 18 through June 16. Evening performances areTuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.; Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Matinee performances are Sundays, and select Wednesdays and Saturdays at 2 p.m.

Tickets for all shows start at $26.50. Discounts available for groups of 10 or more and for students (recommended for ages 12 and older). Family 4-Packs of tickets are also available for Premium Gold Seats (2 adults, 2 children) $199.50 and for Gold Seats (2 adults, 2 children) $174.50. Valid on May 18-30 performances only and offer expiresMay 18.

For a more specific schedule of performances or to buy tickets for Twelfth Night, please call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.

Library Talks take place at 7 p.m. May 7 at Prosser Library, One Tunxis Avenue, Bloomfield, and at 7:30 p.m. May 9 at the West Hartford Public Library, 20 S. Main Street, West Hartford. Senior Dramaturg ElizaBeth Williamson gives community talks on each show in the season, at the Bloomfield and West Hartford Public Libraries.

Dinner + Design takes place at 6 p.m. May 22. Costume Shop Manager Matt Smart shares what it takes to create the theatrical worlds of our season. Learn more about the magic that happens backstage while enjoying a pre-show dinner. (Dinner at 6 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m. curtain.) Tickets are $21 (performance not included) and can be purchased at www.hartfordstage.org.

The Producer's Table takes place at 5:45 p.m. June 6. Managing Director Mike Stotts hosts a pre-show dinner, where he gives you a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to produce a play. (Tour at 5:45 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m. before the 7:30 p.m.curtain.) Tickets are $21 (performance not included) and can be purchased at www.hartfordstage.org.

Community Night will take place at 6:45 p.m. May 28. Hartford Stage's Community Night Series invites members of the greater Hartford community to connect with Hartford Stage and each other through discourse and performance.

LGBT Night Out takes place at 6:15 p.m. May 23. Pre-show nosh and complimentary wine (plus drink specials at cash bar) for our lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender patrons. Special guests will be Out & Equal CT. FREE.

Sunday Afternoon Discussion takes place May 26. Enjoy a discussion with artists and/or scholars about the production immediately following the 2 p.m. matinee. FREE.

AfterWords Discussions take place June 4, 5, 11 and 12. Join members of the cast and our Artistic staff for a free discussion, immediately following select 7:30 p.m.performances on Tuesdays or 2 p.m. Wednesday matinees. FREE.

Now in its 49th season, Hartford Stage is one of the nation's leading resident theatres, known internationally for producing classics, provocative new plays and musicals, and neglected works from the past, as well as a distinguished education program that reaches 21,000 students annually. In 2011, Darko Tresnjak became the fifth artistic director to lead Hartford Stage. That same year, the theatre presented the World Premiere of Quiara Alegría Hudes' Water by the Spoonful, winner of the 2012 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This year the company also produced a world premiere musical, A Gentleman's Guide to Love and Murder, which recently played at The Old Globe in San Diego, and the world premiere of Breath & Imagination by Daniel Beaty, which recently played at City Theatre Company in Pittsburg.

Hartford Stage has earned many of the nation's most distinguished awards, including a Tony Award for Outstanding Regional Theatre, the Margo Jones Award for Development of New Works, OBIE awards, two New York Critics Circle Awards, a Dramatists Guild/CBS Award and an Elliot Norton Award, and has produced nationally renowned titles, including the Broadway productions of Enchanted April and Our Country's Good and the Off-Broadway productions of The Orphans' Home Cycle and The Carpetbaggers Children.

The leading provider of theatre education programs in Connecticut, Hartford Stage's offerings include student matinees, in-school theatre residencies, teen performance opportunities, theatre classes for students (ages 3-18) and adults, afterschool programs and professional development courses. In 2012 the theatre acquired the education programs of the Hartford Children's Theatre and created The Children's Theatre of Hartford Stage.

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