Jerry Adler and Richard Kline to Star in CRT's THE SUNSHINE BOYS; Full Cast Announced!

Connecticut Repertory Theatre (CRT) announces the complete cast for its production of Neil Simon's THE SUNSHINE BOYS, the second show of its three-show Summer Nutmeg Summer Series onstage June 14-29 in the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theater, Storrs.

The comedy is led by Broadway and Television veterans Jerry Adler as Willie Clark and Richard Kline as Al Lewis.

They are joined by Broadway stars Tina Fabrique (Ragtime, Bring...Funk, How To Suceed...), Sara Andreas (Catch Me If You Can) and UConn alum Richard Ruiz (National Tours of Sweet Charity, Urinetown and CRT's Man of La Mancha) will play Ben Silverman.

The cast also includes Steve Hayes (CRT's Seussical: The Musical, Man of La Mancha and The Pirates of Penzance), Thomas Brazzle (CRT's Three Musketeers, Romeo and Juliet, Legally Blonde: The Musical) and Conor Donnally. The production is directed by CRT's Artistic Director, Vincent J. Cardinal.

Tony Award nominee Jerry Adler returns to the CRT stage, along with TV's Richard Kline, in his CRT debut, to star in Neil Simon's The Sunshine Boys. Jerry Adler, of The Soprano's, Rescue Me, and The Good Wife, was last seen on CRT's stage in 2012's hysterical world-premiere of I'm Connecticut by The Simpsons writer Michael Reiss. Richard Kline, best known for playing Larry Dallas on the television sitcom Three's Company, made his Broadway debut in City of Angels and was featured as The Wizard in the first national tour of WICKED. The Sunshine Boys affectionately and hilariously tells the story of Lewis and Clark, vaudeville's undisputed Kings of Comedy, as they reunite an once-in-a-lifetime television special. The only problem is they haven't spoken in 40 years and the shtick hits the fan when old grudges begin horning in on the act.

Performances begin on June 19 and run through June 29 at the Harriet S. Jorgensen Theatre on the UConn campus in Storrs, CT. For tickets and information, call 860-486-2113 and visit www.crt.uconn.edu.

Vincent J. Cardinal (Director/Artistic Director) has produced and/or directed productions starring Jerry Adler, Joyce DeWitt, Tina Fabrique, Barrett Foa, Eileen Fulton, Liz Larsen, Dirk Lumard, Terrence Mann, Andrea McArdle, Kevin Meaney, Pat Sajak, and Kim Zimmer. Cardinal was identified as one of the top five directors in Connecticut by CBS WFSB Connecticut. Cardinal was the Director of off-Broadway's Circle Repertory Company School of Theater. He was also an Associate Artist with the Circle Repertory Company and a member of its LAB. He graduated in Playwriting from the Yale School of Drama where he was honored with the ASCAP-Cole Porter Award for Best-Collected Work and served as production assistant to August Wilson for the Broadway transfers of Two Trains Running & The Piano Lesson and John Guare for Moon Over Miami.His play, The Colorado Catechism, premiered at Circle Repertory Company. The Los Angeles production of the play garnered actors Timothy Daly and Amy Van Nostrand Dramalogue Awards for Best Performances. He is the Artistic Director of Connecticut Repertory Theatre and Chair of the Department of Dramatic Arts at the University of Connecticut.

The Design team includes: Tim Brown, Scenic Designer; Lisa Loen, Costume Designer; Greg Purnell, Lighting Designer; Geoffrey Borronda, Stage Manager and Mike Skinner, Sound Designer.

THE CAST:

JERRY ADLER (Willie Clark) is a veteran of over 50 Broadway productions as Prodcer, Director and Production Stage Manager, including the original My Fair Lady (the revival of which he directed), Coco, The Homecoming, Annie and many more, as well as the Tony Award-winning Good Evening which he directed with Dudley Moore and Peter cook - before he began his new career as an actor. He then appeared in Woody Allen's Manhattan Murder Mystery and The Public Eye with Joe Pesci. He has been seen on many television productions, including The West Wing, Law and Order, Northern Exposure, CSI: Miami and was a regular on Mad About You. He is an orginal cast member of The Soprano's and was Hesh, Tony's mentor/advisor, throughout that award-winning HBO Production's run. His recent films include In Her Shoes opposite Shirley MacLaine and Cameron Diaz, Prime with Meryl Streep and Uma Thurman, Synnecdoche playing Philip Seymour Hoffman's father, and the soon to be released Last Angry Man in Brooklyn with robin Williams. On TV, he was the Fire chief in Rescue Me with Denis leary and is presently Howard Lyman on The Good Wife. He is the 2013 recipient of an honorary Doctorate from the University of Connecticut.

RICHARD KLINE (Al Lewis) recently returned from the Maltz Jupiter theatre where he appeared in Other Desert Cities. He will be playing Liberace in the pre- Broadway try-out of All That Glitters. Last year, he co-starred with Tyne Daly in the musical It Shoulda Been You directed by David Hyde Pierce. Prior to that he was seen as the Wizard in the National Tour of Wicked . Broadway debut: City of Angels. Film debut: Barry Levinson's Liberty Heights. TV debut: The Mary Tyler Moore Show. Richard has appeared in many musicals including The Rothschilds, Titanic, Hello Again, They're Playing Our Song, Do I Hear A Waltz, and Andrew Lloyd Weber's By Jeeves as Jeeves directed by Sir Alan Ayckbourn. Tv: Among over 70 shows,Three's Company, Bluebloods, The Americans, That 70's Show, Gilmore Girls, Judging Amy, NYPD Blue, LA Law, St.Elsewhere. Richard holds a Masters Degree in Theater from Northwestern University.

TINA FABRIQUE (Registered Nurse) has been honored with the Kevin Kline Award, the Acclaim Award, and a Helen Hayes Award Nomination for her performance as Ella Fitzgerald in Ella, which she originated at Hartford TheaterWorks, and has performed in more than 20 theaters across the country. Broadway/National credits include: How to Succeed..., Ragtime, Bring in Da Noise..., South Pacific, The Wiz. NY credits include 70, Girls, 70! (Encores!) Regional includes: Trouble in Mind, Ma Rainey, Comedy of Errors, Women of Brewster Place. TV/Film: L&O: SVU, Today, sang the theme songs to "Reading Rainbow" and "Mad Hot Ballroom." Her latest CD: Tina Sings The Great Composers (available at www.tribaldisorder.com).

RICHARD RUIZ (Ben Silverman) Off Broadway: Two Gentlemen of Verona for the Public Theatre. National Tours: Sweet Charity, Urinetown, Man of La Mancha and Jesus Christ Superstar. Regional: Cyrano (Folger Shakespeare Theatre, DC), The Winter's Tale (Yale Rep), Tis Pity She's a Whore (Baltimore Center Stage), Guys and Dolls (Long Wharf Theatre), Moby Dick:Rehearsed (Berkshire Theatre Festival), Candide (Arden Theatre, PA), Romeo and Juliet (CRT), Treasure Island (People's Light and Theatre, PA) A Midsummer Night's Dream (Two Rivers Theatre, NJ) and Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Theatre Virginia).

Call 860-486-2113 for tickets or for more information. Please call or visit the box office for specific show dates and times because performance schedules vary and are subject to change. Tickets available online at www.crt.uconn.edu. Weeknight evening performances start at 7:30 p.m. Weekend evening performances start at 8 p.m. Matinee performances start at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $10 - $43.

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