Leland Crooke, Cheryl David and More to Lead GHOST-WRITER at International City Theatre

Leland Crooke, Cheryl David and Paige Lindsey White have been cast in the West Coast premiere of Ghost-Writer by Michael Hollinger, opening August 24 at International City Theatre under the direction of caryn desai[sic].

In Ghost-Writer, acclaimed novelist Franklin Woolsey has died. But his devoted secretary remains poised at her typewriter—waiting to channel the words that will complete his masterpiece. This ghost story of literary proportions questions where we draw the line between fact and fiction, between this life and beyond. Hollinger’s intimate spine-tingler is the recipient of The Edgerton Foundation New American Plays Award.

Leland Crooke (Franklin Woolsey) was last seen at La Mirada Theatre as Selsdon Mowbray in Noises Off, and, earlier in the year, at Ensemble Theatre Company of Santa Barbara as the Old Actor in The Fantasticks. In Los Angeles he has appeared at the Odyssey Theatre as Georg Friedrich Kaufmann in Bach at Leipzig. He also starred as Wilhelm Furtwangler in Taking Sides, for which he received a Garland Award as well as Los Angeles Drama Critics Circle and Ovation nominations. He created the role of Dandy in the Olivier Award-nominated 900 Oneonta, winning a Garland Award and an LA Weekly Award for Best Actor. He also appeared in the New York production at Circle Rep, and the London production at the Old Vic and the West End’s Ambassadors Theatre. Leland starred in all 13 episodes of the short lived FOX series Key West and has had recurring roles on Alias, Charmed, Angel, Melrose Place and Star Trek Deep Space Nine.

Cheryl David (Vivian Woolsey) was last seen at ICT as Gertrude Stein in Loving/Repeating: A Musical of Gertrude Stein. Since then, she starred in Mark Harelick’s critically acclaimed The Immigrant: The Musical, and, prior to that, playEd Roy Cohn’s mother in Hunger–In Bed with Roy Cohn at The Odyssey Theatre. She originated the roles of both mothers in Jewtopia onstage in New York and Los Angeles, and will be seen in the soon-to-be released Jewtopia: The Movie. Additional credits include award-winning roles in the West Coast premieres of James Sherman’s From Door to Door and Sarah/Sarah; originating the role of Aunt Rita in the comedy The Boychick Affair in Los Angeles and New York; and starring as Barbara in the world premiere of the musical, Is This Anyway to Start A Marriage? Favorite television appearances include: Entourage and Nip/Tuck and the pilot for I Can Do It, a new sitcom.

Paige Lindsey White (Myra Babbage) is a member of Los Angeles Theater Ensemble, Ensemble Studio Theatre LA and The Actors’ Gang. Most recently, she was Sister/Woman in the Sundress in The Theatre @ Boston Court's world premiere production of The Children. Other favorite roles include Beth in Wounded, Anna in The Good Prisoner, and Marguerite in Trog and Clay (in both Los Angeles and Edinburgh). She toured internationally with the Actors’ Gang in The Trial of the Catonsville Nine. Television credits include Shameless, Days of Our Lives andTV Funhouse.

Ghost-Writer will run Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays @ 8 pm and Sundays @ 2 pm, August 24 through September 16. Tickets are $37 on Thursdays, and $44 on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, except opening night which is $55 and includes a reception with the actors following the performance. Preview performances take place on Tuesday, August 21; Wednesday, August 22; and Thursday, August 23 @ 8 pm. Preview tickets are $29.

International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 300 E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. For reservations and information, call the ICT Box Office at (562) 436-4610 or go to www.InternationalCityTheatre.org.

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