Classic Stage Company Announces Cast of SUMMER AND SMOKE - Hannah Elless, Marin Ireland, and More

Classic Stage Company, under the leadership of Artistic Director John Doyle and Executive Producer Jeff Griffin, and Transport Group, under the leadership of Jack Cummings III (Artistic Director) and Lori Fineman (Executive Director), present a new production of Tennessee Williams' SUMMER AND SMOKE, directed by Jack Cummings III, Artistic Director of The Transport Group, beginning performances Friday, April 13 at CSC (136 East 13th Street) for a limited engagement through Sunday, May 20. Opening night is Thursday, May 3. The cast of SUMMER AND SMOKE will feature Glenna Brucken (Rosemary), Phillip Clark (Dr. Buchanan), Nathan Darrow (John Buchanan), Hannah Elless (Nellie Ewell), Elena Hurst (Rosa Gonzales), Marin Ireland (Alma Winemiller), Tina Johnson (Mrs. Bassett), Gerardo Rodriguez (Papa Gonzales), T. Ryder Smith (Reverend Winemiller), Ryan Spahn (Archie Kramer), Jonathan Spivey (Roger Doremus), and Barbara Walsh (Mrs. Winemiller).

Set in turn-of-the-century Mississippi, SUMMER AND SMOKE tells the story of a local minister's daughter who walks the line between piety and sensuality with the neighborhood doctor who grew up next door. SUMMER AND SMOKE premiered on Broadway in 1948. Set design is by Dane Laffrey, costume design by Kathryn Rohe, lighting design by R. Lee Kennedy and sound design by Walter Trarbach. Original music by Michael John LaChiusa. Casting by Nora Brennan Casting.

SUMMER AND SMOKE will perform Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7 pm; Fridays at 8 pm; Saturdays at 3 and 8 pm and Sundays at 3 pm. Tickets are $60 ($50 during previews). Prime seats are $125 ($75 during previews). For tickets, visit classicstage.org, call (212) 352-3101 or (866) 811-4111, or in person at the box office (136 East 13th Street).

Classic Stage Company, CSC, is committed to re-imagining classic stories for contemporary audiences. The company has been a home for New York's finest established and emerging artists to grapple with the great works of the world's repertory that speak directly to the issues of today. CSC serves an average of 35,000 audience members annually, including more than 4,000 students through its nationally recognized education programs. Productions have been cited repeatedly by all the major Off-Broadway theater awards including the Obie, Drama Desk, Outer Critics Circle, Drama League, and the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Body of Work.

Transport Group stages new works and re-imagined revivals that explore the challenges of relationships and identity in modern America. Currently headed by founder Jack Cummings III (Artistic Director) and Lori Fineman (Executive Director), TG most recently produced Eugene O'Neill's Strange Interlude starring David Greenspan. Other recent credits include Picnic & Come Back, Little Sheba: William Inge in Rep (OBIE Award wins: Jack Cummings III, Heather MacRae, Dane Laffrey), Once Upon a Mattress, I Remember Mama. TG also produces the Anne L. Bernstein Concert Series, which will feature Promises, Promises in June 2018. To learn more, visit transportgroup.org

Tennessee Williams (Author). One of America's greatest playwrights, Tennessee Williams set nearly all of his plays in his native South, often drawing heavily from his own family experience. His classic works include The Glass Menagerie, A Streetcar Named Desire, Cat On A Hot Tin Roof and The Night of the Iguana. In addition to 25 full-length plays, Williams wrote dozens of short plays and screenplays, two novels, a novella, 60 short stories, more than 100 poems and an autobiography. Among his many awards, Williams won two Pulitzer Prizes and four New York Drama Critics' Circle Awards.

Jack Cummings III (Director) CSC debut. Co-Founder and Artistic Director of Transport Group. Select Transport Group credits include Queen of the Mist; The Audience; Three Days To See; Strange Interlude; I Remember Mama; Once Upon a Mattress; Picnic; Come Back, Little Sheba; The Boys in the Band; and Our Town. Other New York credits: Terrence McNally's And Away We Go; 1,000 Words Come to Mind; and Arlington. Regional credits: Benny & Joon (The Old Globe) and I Remember Mama (Two River). Training: M.F.A. University of Virginia.

Glenna Brucken (Rosemary) CSC and Transport Group debut. Regional: Wondrous Strange (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Rose in Dancing at Lughnasa (Tantrum Theatre). Educational: Lady Macbeth in Macbeth, Anna in The Baltimore Waltz (Ohio University). Training: '15-'16 Apprentice Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville; BFA, Ohio University. glennabrucken.com

Phillip Clark (Dr. John Buchanan, Sr.). CSC and Transport Group debut. Broadway: Come Back, Little Sheba; Fifth of July. Off-Broadway: Omnium Gatherum, A Last Dance for Sybil, The Director, Romeo & Juliet (Lucille Lortel Theatre), The Boys in the Band. Regional Theatre: Actors Theatre of Louisville (Humana Festival), Old Globe, Mark Taper Forum, Huntington, Cleveland Play House, Portland Center Stage, Studio Arena.

Nathan Darrow (John Buchanan) CSC and Transport Group debut.Recent work on stage includes Richard III (Old Vic, BAM), Hamlet (Heart of America Shakespeare Festival), Long Day's Journey Into Night (Arena Stage), and Five Mile Lake (McCarter). Film/TV: "House of Cards" (Netflix), "Billions" (Showtime), The Wizard of Lies (HBO), "Gotham" (FOX), "Preacher" (AMC), "Rectify" (Sundance), "Godless" (Netflix), "Quantico" (ABC), "Bull" (CBS). He trained as an actor at the University of Evansville and NYU. He is a member of The Actors Center.

Hannah Elless (Nellie Ewell) was born in Hinsdale, IL. CSC debut. Transport Group: Come Back, Little Sheba; Picnic. Broadway: Margo Crawford in Bright Star, Godspell. Off-Broadway: The Other Josh Cohen. Regional: Ophelia in Hamlet, Aricia in Phaedra, Katherine in Henry V, Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Elise McKenna in Somewhere in Time, Joon in Benny & Joon (Craig Noel Nominee). Film: The Lake Effect, Nora Ephron Goes to Prison. Television: "The Deuce," "Glee."

Elena Hurst (Rosa Gonzalez) is originally from Dallas, TX. CSC and Transport Group debut. Other: Vowed & Wowed (Workshop Theater Co), LULU (Dickson Place), Andalé, Raul (Spain, France). Film: Home:__, Pottersville, The End of Mara, My Soul to Take (dir. Wes Craven). Television: Elementary, Homeland, The Blacklist, Blue Bloods, Gossip Girl. Training: RTF, The University of Texas at Austin; Atlantic Acting School.

Marin Ireland (Alma Winemiller) Transport Group debut. CSC: Three Sisters, Savannah Bay. Broadway: Big Knife, After Miss Julie, reasons to be pretty (Tony nom, Theatre World Award). Selected Off-Broadway: Marie Antoinette, Blasted (Soho Rep), Maple and Vine (Playwrights Horizons), In the Wake, The Ruby Sunrise (Public), Lie of the Mind (New Group); Cyclone (Obie Award; Studio Dante), Far Away (NYTW), The Harlequin Studies (Signature), On the Exhale (Drama Desk nom, Solo Performance, Roundabout), Ironbound (Drama Desk nom, Rattlestick, Geffen Playhouse), Kill Floor (LCT3). Other: 4.48 Psychosis (Royal Court US tour), Troilus & Cressida (Wooster Group/RSC). Film: The Family Fang, Glass Chin (Independent Spirit Award nomination), 28 Hotel Rooms, Flint, Sparrows Dance, The Irishman, others. TV: "Sneaky Pete," "The Slap", "Masters of Sex," "Girls," "The Divide," "Homeland", "Mildred Pierce", others.

Tina Johnson (Mrs. Bassett) CSC debut. Transport Group: BABY in Concert. Broadway: State Fair, Damn Yankees, She Loves Me, South Pacific, Festival, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. Off Broadway: Anna Christie, Into the Woods, The Skin of Our Teeth (Delacorte - Public Theatre); Christina Alberta's Father (Vineyard); Blue Plate Special (MTC); Just So, Personals, Angry Housewives, Anne of Green Gables. National Tours: 42nd Street, Footloose, Radio City Christmas Spectacular (Mrs. Claus). TV: "Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt", "Law & Order: SVU", "Murphy Brown", "Empty Nest", "Newhart", "Texas". Films: Saving Face, Fireflies, Aquarium.

Gerardo Rodriguez (Papa Gonzales) was born in Texas. CSC and Transport Group debut. Off-Broadway: Neighbors: A Fair Trade...(INTAR), Se Llama Christina (INTAR), To the Bone (Cherry Lane), La Ruta (Working Theater), Lucy Loves Me (INTAR), Dramatis Personae (Playwrights Realm). Regional: It Can't Happen Here (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), Seven Spots... (Cincinnati Playhouse), Elemeno Pea (Humana), Chad Deity (Mixed Blood). Film: The Artist's Wife, Blind, Cruzando. Television: "Elementary", "Blue Bloods", "Search Party", "The Black List", "Person of Interest", "Law & Order".

T. Ryder Smith (Reverend Winemiller) CSC and Transport Group debut. Broadway: Oslo; War Horse; Equus. NY theatre: world premieres of works by Richard Foreman, Sarah Ruhl, David Greenspan, Anne Washburn, Katori Hall, Christina Masciotti. Regional Theatre: Yael Farber's Salome, Paul Chan's Waiting for Godot. Drama Desk Nomination, Outstanding Solo Performance, Underneath the Lintel; Drama Desk award, Outstanding Ensemble, the 3-actor Lebensraum; Obie award, Outstanding Ensemble, Oslo. TV: Blacklist, Elementary, White Collar, Nurse Jackie, The Abolitionists, Law and Order SVU; Brainscan; series The Venture Brothers; Bioshock videogames.

Ryan Spahn (Archie Kramer) CSC and Transport Group debut. Off Broadway: Daniel's Husband (Primary Stages), Exit Strategy (Primary Stages), Gloria (Pulitzer Prize finalist, Vineyard Theatre). Regional: Shakespeare Theatre Company, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Goodman Theatre, Penguin Rep, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Actors Theatre of Louisville. Film: Woven (LA Film Festival premiere, co-writer), He's Way More Famous Than You (Slamdance Film Festival premiere, co-writer), Grantham & Rose (Cleveland International Film Festival, writer). Education: The Juilliard School and Interlochen Arts Academy.

Jonathan Spivey (Roger Doremus) CSC and Transport Group debut. Broadway: The Front Page, Act One (Lincoln Center, televised for PBS). Selected regional: Arcadia (Yale Rep), Picasso at the Lapin Agile (Long Wharf), Born Yesterday (Maltz Jupiter), Death of a Salesman, The Tempest, Amadeus, Richard III (Old Globe), His Girl Friday, Man of La Mancha (Barrington Stage), Baskerville (Syracuse Stage), Souvenir, Cyrano de Bergerac (Virginia Rep), The Other Josh Cohen (Geva Theatre), Dogpark (Milwaukee Rep). MFA: Old Globe/University of San Diego.

Barbara Walsh (Mrs. Winemiller) CSC debut. Transport Group: Three Days to See, Normal. Broadway: Falsettos (Tony, Drama Desk, Drama League noms, LA Ovation Award), Company (Drama Desk, Drama League noms.) Hairspray, Big, Ragtime (Chicago company), Blood Brothers, Nine, Rock n Roll (the First 5000 Years). Off Broadway: First Daughter Suite (Public Theatre). Regional: Master Class (Paper Mill Playhouse), Carrie (Studio Theatre, Helen Hayes Award). Film/TV: Life With Mikey, Company (PBS), Law and Order, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, All My Children, One Life To Live.

For further information on Classic Stage Company, call 212-677-4210, visit the theatre in person at 136 East 13th Street, or go to www.classicstage.org.