Parker, Cerveris, Sparks & Stormare to Star in HEDDA GABLER; Begins Jan. 09

Roundabout Theatre Company (Todd Haimes, Artistic Director) has announced that Tony® award winner Mary-Louise Parker (Hedda Gabler), Tony® award winner Michael Cerveris (Jorgen Tesman), Paul Sparks (Ejlert Lovborg) and Peter Stormare (Judge Brack) in a new Broadway production of Hedda Gabler by Henrik Ibsen. The production features a new adaptation by Christopher Shinn and will be directed by Ian Rickson.

The cast also includes Lois Markle (Berte), Ana Reeder (Mrs. Thea Elvsted) and Helen Carey (Miss Juliane Tesman).

Hedda Gabler will begin previews on Tuesday, January 6th, 2009 and open officially on Sunday, January 25th, 2009 at the American Airlines Theatre on Broadway (227 West 42nd Street). This will be a limited engagement through March 29th, 2009.

This production marks Tony, Emmy & Golden Globe winning actress Mary-Louise Parker's return to Broadway following her 2004 Tony-nominated performance in Craig Lucas' Reckless. Director Ian Rickson is currently represented on Broadway with his production of The Seagull.

The design team includes Hildegard Bechtler (Sets), Ann Roth (Costumes), Natasha Katz (Lights), John Gromada (Sound).

Mary-Louise Parker stars as "Hedda Gabler" in this new interpretation of Henrik Ibsen's modern classic. A woman of dangerous independence restrained by a conventional marriage, Hedda Gabler indulges in a cruel game, amusing herself with the misfortune she inflicts on those around her. As Hedda struggles to balance her wild desires against her chosen life, she sets into motion a manic chain of events that bring her story to a chilling end.

Roundabout Theatre Company has produced a number of Henrik Ibsen's plays including Hedda Gabler (1994, Broadway), An Enemy of the People (1985), The Master Builder (1983), Hedda Gabler (1981), Little Eyolf (1979), John Gabriel Borkman (1976), Rosmersholm (1974) and The Master Builder (1971).

Michael Cerveris returns to Roundabout Theatre Company, where he won a Tony Award for Assassins in 2004. Helen Carey returns to Roundabout and the American Airlines stage following the 2007 production of Pygmalion. She was also seen at Roundabout in London Assurance Hotel Suites and Give Me Your Answer, Do!

TICKET INFORMATION:
Tickets are available exclusively to American Express Card members online at Broadway.Yahoo.com, by phone at (212) 719-1300, or at the American Airlines Box Office (227 West 42nd Street). Ticket prices range from $66.50 to $111.50.

Public on-sale begins Saturday, November 15th by calling Roundabout Ticket Services at (212)719-1300, online at www.roundabouttheatre.org or at the American Airlines Box Office (227 West 42nd Street). Through ACCESS Roundabout, 100 tickets will be available for the first preview performance (January 6th) for only $10 each.

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE:
Hedda Gabler will play Tuesday through Saturday evening at 8:00 p.m. with Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 2:00 p.m.

BIOGRAPHIES:
Mary-Louise Parker (Mrs. Hedda Gabler). Broadway: Reckless (Tony Nomination); Proof (Tony, Drama Desk, Outer Critics, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, Obie, T. Schreiber, New York Magazine Awards); Prelude to a Kiss (Tony, Drama Desk Nominations; Theatre World, Clarence Derwent Awards); Bus Stop. Off-Broadway: Dead Man's Cell Phone; How I Learned to Drive (Obie, Lucille Lortel Awards; Outer Critics Circle Nomination); Communicating Doors; Four Dogs and a Bone; The Art of Success; Babylon Gardens; Co-founder: Edge Theater. Film: The Spiderwick Chronicles; The Assassination of Jesse James; Fried Green Tomatoes; Grand Canyon; Boys on the Side; The Client; Naked in New York; Bullets Over Broadway; Longtime Companion; Pipe Dream; Red Dragon; Romance and Cigarettes; Saved!; The Five Senses (Genie Nomination); and others. TV: Golden Globe, SAG, and two-time Emmy Nominee for "Weeds" for which she won a Golden Globe, Satellite Award; "Angels in America" (Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, SAG Nomination); "Robber Bride" (Emmy Nomination; Gemini Award); "The West Wing" (Emmy Nomination); "Sugartime"; " A Place for Annie"; "Saint Maybe" and others. Her work is archived at Boston University.

Michael Cerveris (Jorgen Tesman). Currently: Road Show (at the Public Theatre). Broadway: Cymbeline, LoveMusik (Tony Award Nomination), Sweeney Todd (Tony Award Nomination), Assassins (Tony Award), Titanic, Tommy. London West End: Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Off-Broadway: King Lear, an oak tree, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Wintertime, Total Eclipse, Abingdon Square, The Games (BAM), Passion (PBS). Regional: Richard II, Much Ado About Nothing, Romeo & Juliet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, Measure for Measure, Tooth of Crime, Sondheim: Anyone Can Whistle, Sunday in the Park with George, A Little Night Music. Film: Cirque Du Freak (2009), The Mexican. TV: Currently: Fringe. Toured with Bob Mould, Pete Townshend.

Paul Sparks (Ejlert Lovborg). Broadway: Take Me Out. Off-Broadway: Lady, Pumpgirl, American Sligo, Essential Self Defense (2007 Drama Desk nomination), Finer Noble Gases (Best Actor 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival), Landscape of the Body, Orange Flower Water (2005 Drama Desk nomination), Bug, Blackbird (2004 Drama Desk nom), Circumference of a Squirrel, Coyote on a Fence (2000 Drama Desk nom), The Late Henry Moss, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Man and Superman, MacBeth. TV: "Brotherhood", "Law and Order", "Law and Order: SVU", "Law and Order: Criminal Intent", "Third Watch", "Trinity", "Guiding Light". Film: The Missing Person, Blackbird, Deception, First Person Singular, The Treatment, Headspace, Doris, Afterschool and Synecdoche, New York, upcoming: Untitled Nicole Holofcener Project, Edge of Darkness . Member of Actor's Equity.

PETER STORMARE (Judge Brack). Swedish-born actor/director Peter Stormare has been working non-stop as of late. Stormare recently wrapped production on feature films: The Killing Room with Chloe Sevigny, Straight Edge, Insanitarium for Screen Gems, and Horsemen for Mandate Pictures. He can be seen opposite Willem Dafoe in Anamorph and Witless Protection with Larry the Cable Guy which were both released this year. He also starred in Premonition with Sandra Bullock, Unknown, The Brothers Grimm opposite Matt Damon, Constantine with Keanu Reeves and Birth with Nicole Kidman. Stormare starred as "John Abruzzi" on the first season of the hit Fox television drama "Prison Break" executive produced by Brett Ratner. He can last be seen on the small screen in memorable guest appearances on "CSI" and "Monk". Other past television credits include the CBS telefilm "Hitler: The Rise of Evil", "Watching Ellie" and guest appearances on "Joey" and "Seinfeld". Stormare has consistently worked with exceptional directors throughout his career. He appeared in Penny Marshall's Awakenings, Steven Spielberg's Minority Report and The Lost World: Jurassic Park, the Coen brothers' Fargo and The Big Lebowski, Joel Schumacher's 8MM and Michael Bay for Bad Boys II and Armageddon. Other work includes Lars Van Trier's Dancer in the Dark, Lasse Hallstom's Chocolat, Wim Wenders' Million Dollar Hotel, Jonas Akerlund's Spun, John Woo's Windtalkers, and Kevin Donovan's The Tuxedo. He began his acting career in his native land at the Royal National Theater of Sweden under the direction of the legendary Ingmar Bergman where he performed leading roles in Long Day's Journey Into Night, Miss Julie, King Lear and Hamlet.

LOIS MARKLE (Berte). Broadway includes: True West, The Grapes of Wrath, Something Old, Something New, A Warm Body, Calculated Risk. Off-Broadway: Curse of the Starving Class, After the Prize, I Am a Camera, The Middle Ages, Measure for Measure and more. National Tours include: Three Tall Women, Present Laughter, After the Fall. TV includes: "Law & Order", "The Sopranos", "Sex & the City", "One Life to Live".

Ana Reeder (Mrs. Thea Elvsted). New York Theatre: Top Girls, Sight Unseen (Broadway), Living Room in Africa (Edge Theatre Company), The Wooden Breeks (MCC), Hedda Gabler (New York Theatre Workshop), Small Tragedy (Playwrights Horizons, Obie award), Humble Boy, An Experiment with an Air Pump (MTC), The Time of the Cuckoo (Lincoln Center), Some Voices (The New Group), Killers and Other Family (Rattlestick Theatre), Maid (Lincoln Center Festival), Fire Eater, Suicide Weather (New York Stage & Film), Macbeth (The Public), Henry VIII (Delacourt Theatre). Sag Harbor: The Lady in Question, Night Season (Bay St. Theatre). London: The Distance from Here (Almeida Theatre). Boston: Carol Mulroney (Huntington Theatre Co.). Washington D.C.: The Tempest (The Shakespeare Theatre). TV: "Law & Order," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "Katie Joplin," "The Jury," "Kidnapped." Film: Diary of a City Priest, Acts of Worship (Independent Spirit Award Nomination for Best Actress, Best Actress award Santa Barbara Film Festival), Marie and Bruce and No Country for Old Men. BA: Middlebury College, MFA: NYU.

Helen Carey (Miss Juliane Tesman) made her Roundabout Broadway debut in London Assurance (Tony nomination and the Theater World Award). Also at Roundabout: Pygmalion, Hotel Suites, Give Me Your Answer, Do! At The Abbey Theatre, Dublin: All My Sons (Irish Times nom.). Regional: Shakespeare Theater, Wash., DC., Antony and Cleopatra, Macbeth; Arena Stage, Wash., DC., Noises Off (Helen Hayes nom.); Guthrie Theater: Death of a Salesman, Cherry Orchard. Films: 21 (MARCH 2008), Little Children, The Emperor's Club, Black Knight. TV: "House," "Brotherhood," "Without a Trace," "Law & Order," "Seinfeld." Fox Foundation Fellow and an AEA member.

Henrik Ibsen (Playwright). (1828 -1906) In addition to Hedda Gabler, his plays include A Doll's House, Ghosts, An Enemy of the People, The Lady from the Sea, Peer Gynt, Pillars of Society, The Wild Duck, Rosmersholm, The Master Builder, Little Eyolf, John Gabriel Borkman and When We Dead Awaken.

Christopher Shinn (Adaptation) was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and lives in New York. His plays have been premiered by the Royal Court, Lincoln Center, Manhattan Theatre Club, Playwrights Horizons, the Vineyard Theatre, South Coast Rep, and Soho Theatre, and later seen around the world. He is a winner of an OBIE in Playwriting, and a Guggenheim Fellowship in Playwriting. He has received grants from the NEA/TCG Residency Program and the Peter S. Reed Foundation, and he is recipient of the Robert S. Chesley Award. He teaches playwriting at the New School for Drama.

Ian Rickson (Director) was Artistic Director at the Royal Court from 1998 to 2006, during which time he directed The Seagull (currently on Broadway), Krapp's Last Tape, The Winterling, Alice Trilogy, The Sweetest Swing in Baseball, Fallout, The Night Heron, Boy Gets Girl, Mouth to Mouth (also in the West End), Dublin Carol, The Weir (Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, Jerwood Theatre Downstairs, in the West End and on Broadway), The Lights, Pale Horse and Mojo (also at the Steppenwolf Theatre, Chicago), Ashes & Sand, Some Voices, Killers and Wildfire. Other theatre includes The Day I Stood Still at the National Theatre.

Roundabout Theatre Company is one of the country's leading not-for-profit theatres. The company contributes invaluably to New York's cultural life by staging the highest quality revivals of classic plays and musicals as well as new plays by established writers. Roundabout consistently partners great artists with great works to bring a fresh and exciting interpretation that makes each production relevant and important to today's audiences.

Roundabout Theatre Company currently produces at three permanent homes each of which is designed specifically to enhance the needs of the Roundabout's mission. Off-Broadway, the Harold and Miriam Steinberg Center for Theatre, which houses the Laura Pels Theatre and Black Box Theatre, with its simple sophisticated design is perfectly suited to showcasing new plays. The grandeur of its Broadway home on 42nd Street, American Airlines Theatre, sets the ideal stage for the classics. Roundabout's Studio 54 provides an exciting and intimate Broadway venue for its musical and special event productions. Together these three distinctive venues serve to enhance the work on each of its stages.

American Airlines is the official airline of Roundabout Theatre Company. Roundabout productions are made possible, in part, with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, the National Endowment for the Arts; and the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation. American Express is the 2008-2009 season sponsor of the Roundabout Theatre Company. The Westin New York is the official hotel of Roundabout Theatre Company.

Roundabout Theatre Company's 2008-2009 season also includes Robert Bolt's A Man for All Seasons, starring Frank Langella, directed by Doug Hughes; Rodgers & Hart's Pal Joey, starring Stockard Channing, Christian Hoff & Martha Plimpton, directed by Joe Mantello; David Rabe's Streamers, directed by Scott Ellis; Steven Levenson's The Language of Trees, directed by Alex Timbers; Lisa Loomer's Distracted featuring Cynthia Nixon, directed by Mark Brokaw; Christopher Hampton's The Philanthropist, starring Matthew Broderick, directed by David Grindley and Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot, starring Bill Irwin & Nathan Lane, directed by Anthony Page. Roundabout's sold out production of The 39 Steps transferred to the Cort Theatre on April 29th, 2008.

www.roundabouttheatre.org

Photo: Walter McBride / Retna Ltd.