Greenfield Prize Commissioned BATHING IN MOONLIGHT Announces its Cast

The Hermitage Artist Retreat is pleased to announce that its coveted Greenfield Prize Commission, play BATHING IN MOONLIGHT by Nilo Cruz, is set to premiere in Princeton, NJ this fall at McCarter Theatre Center's Roger S. Berlind Theatre. The 2014 Greenfield Prize in drama is a $30,000 commission in exchange for a new work to be presented within two years. A draft of the play was presented at a reading in Sarasota in April of 2015 as part of the Asolo Repertory Theatre's Unplugged new play festival. Since that time, the play has been in development, and the McCarter production will be the first fully-staged presentation. McCarter Theatre Center Artistic Director Emily Mann and playwright Nilo Cruz reunite for the first time since the Pulitzer Prize-winning Anna in the Tropics with this lyrical new play about falling in love and finding a place to call home. The production finds its way to the Berlind Stage with the added support of a 2016 Edgerton Foundation New Play Award and a McCarter Completion Commission.

The cast of BATHING IN MOONLIGHT is an internationally impressive pool of talent, including Frankie J. Alvarez (HBO's Looking) as Taviano; Hannia Guillen (NBC's Passions) as Marcela; and Tony Award winner Priscilla Lopez (Broadway's A Day in Hollywood/A Night in the Ukraine, A Chorus Line, In the Heights, Anna in the Tropics) as Martina.

Mexican actor Raúl Méndez makes his American stage debut as Father Monroe. Famous for his chameleon-like performances in numerous Mexican film/TV/stage roles, Méndez is fast becoming a known talent in the English-speaking world with breakout performances in Texas Rising (History Channel) as well as two Netflix Original Series, Narcos and Sense8. Completing the cast are Michael Rudko (The Audience w/ Helen Mirren on Broadway) as Bishop Andres, and Katty Samara Velasquez in her McCarter debut as Trini.

The creative/design team for BATHING IN MOONLIGHT includes scenic and lighting designer Edward Pierce, whose Broadway credits include Wicked, Billy Elliot, 9 to 5, and A Streetcar Named Desire (Dir: Emily Mann), returns to McCarter after designing for last season's American premiere of Tennessee Williams' Baby Doll. Tony Award-winning Sound Designer Darron L. West (Peter and the Starcatcher) returns to McCarter for his twelfth production, and veteran Broadway Costume Designer Jennifer Von Mayrhauserreturns for her 25th production at McCarter. Casting is by Laura Stanczyk Casting, CSA.

BATHING IN MOONLIGHT is made possible in part by funds from the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a Partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts and by funds from the National Endowment for the Arts. BATHING IN MOONLIGHT is the recipient of an Edgerton Foundation New Play Award.

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