Patrick Riviere, who is in the midst of directing the epic drama by Stephen Adly Guirgis, about Judas's trial in a courtroom in Purgatory, is now adding the double duty of also playing The Judge and Caiaphas the Elder after several other actors had film and TV prospects come their way.
"It's a testament to the remarkable talent in this cast that everyone we are working with is so highly sought after by the best in the business," Producer Dee Smith remarked, "and frankly, I wanted Patrick in this track from the beginning so all the stars are in line as far as I see it!"The play has garnered much attention since its debut at The Public Theater in 2005 directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman. Not lost on anyone is the timing of this particular production as Lent is about to begin and the show will actually have a performance on Easter Sunday.
Riviere is currently nominated for a 2013 Pryer Award for Best Actor in a Musical for his portrayal of El Gallo in THE FANTASTICKS at The Gilbert Theatre in North Carolina. He has directed a variety of material on the East Coast over the past 20 years, but JUDAS marks his West Coast directing debut. He will be directing the West Coast Premiere of PIE Story Theatre at Casa O101 Theater this Spring and is in negotiations to direct a 75th Anniversary Production of OUR TOWN with original music this summer.
Also headlining the cast are two Harvard Theater grads: Faith Imafidon as Saint Monica and Jon Gentry as Pontius Pilot, Saint Matthew and Butch Honeywell. Faith has performed with ART, Commonwealth Shakespeare Company and Boston Playwrights' Theatre; Jon has performed with ACT, Shakespeare Santa Cruz and was in the American Premiere of THE IMAGINARY LIFE OF THE STREET SWEEPER, AUGUST G at Casa 0101 Theater.
The rest of the cast: RoBert Walters (Judas), Cooper Daniels (Jesus), Marc Erickson (Satan), Sharon Freedman (Fabiana Aziza Cunningham), Robert Paterno (Yusef El-Fayoumy), Dee Smith (Henrietta Iscariot/Mary Magdalene), Paul Nieman (Sigmund Freud/Saint Thomas), Robin McClamb (Gloria/Mother Teresa), Kevin Lino (Baliff/Simon the Zealot), John Dana Kenning (Matthias of Galilee/Saint Peter), Melissa May (Loretta/Sister Glenna).
THE LAST DAYS OF JUDAS ISCARIOT opens March 1, 2013 at The Victory Theatre (Big Theatre) in Burbank and plays Friday and Saturday evenings at 8:00PM and Sundays at 4PM through April 6th! The rest of the creative team in addition to the aforementionEd Smith and Riviere: Scenic Designer, Caley Bisson; Lighting Designer Robert Corn; Costume Designer, Jannique Mosely-Niambele; Assistant to the Design Team, Alex Reposh; and Stage Manager, Sean Sekino.
For tickets, click HERE or call 800.838.3006. More information can be found on Facebook.Videos