Harner To Replace Cromer In Off-Bdwy's OUR TOWN 8/25, Bennett, Dame, Schultz & Beiler To Join

The producers of the critically acclaimed Off-Broadway production of' Thornton Wilder's Our Town, have announced that Obie Award-winner Jason Butler Harner will assume the central role of 'Stage Manager' in David Cromer's staging of Wilder's timeless play. Beginning Tuesday, August 25th, Mr. Harner will succeed Mr. Cromer who departs the company to begin rehearsals for his Broadway directorial debut this fall with Neil Simon's Brighton Beach Memoirs and Broadway Bound.

Jason Butler Harner has been heralded for his stage roles including Ivan Turgenev in the multi-Tony award-winning Tom Stoppard play, The Coast of Utopia (Lincoln Center Theatre) and Tesman in Hedda Gabler, opposite Elizabeth Marvel (New York Theatre Workshop), He also appeared in The Gingerbread House by Mark Schultz (the stageFarm), opposite Bobby Cannavale and Sarah Paulson; as A.E. Housman in the American premiere of The Invention of Love at ACT (opposite James Cromwell); as Trofimov in The Cherry Orchard, opposite Annette Bening and Alfred Molina (Mark Taper Forum); as Tom Wingfield in The Glass Menagerie, opposite Sally Field (The Kennedy Center); and as Barnett in Beth Henley's Pulitzer Prize-winning Crimes of the Heart, opposite Amy Ryan (Second Stage Theatre). He was recently seen in the Oscar nominated Clint Eastwood film Changeling opposite Angeline Jolie, as well as in this summer's blockbuster The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3, and in the HBO mini-series "John Adams."

Also joining the cast of Our Town are Susan Bennett as Mrs. Soames, Nathan Dame as Sam Craig, and Armand Schultz as Doc Gibbs. Jeremy Beiler will assume the role of Simon Stimson.

The complete cast includes (in alphabetical order) Rob Beitzel as Howie Newsome, Kati Brazda as Mrs. Webb, George Demas as Constable Warren, Jennifer Grace as Emily, Wilbur Edwin Henry as Professor Willard, Adam Hinkle as Joe Crowell, Ronete Levenson as Rebecca Gibbs, James McMenamin as George, Ken Marks as Editor Webb, Seamus Mulcahy as Wally Webb, Lori Myers as Mrs. Gibbs, Jay Russell as Joe Stoddard, Armand Schultz as Doc Gibbs, and Jason Yachanin as Si Crowell.

David Cromer's critically acclaimed staging of Thornton Wilder's Our Town began performances February 17th and opened to rave reviews on February 26th at the downtown venue whose space has been completely redesigned for this production. Tickets are now on sale through January 31, 2010.

Our Town is produced by Scott Morfee, Jean Doumanian, Tom Wirtshafter, Ted Snowdon, Eagle Productions, Dena Hammerstein/Pam Pariseau, The Weinstein Company, and Burnt Umber Productions.

The performance schedule for Our Town is as follows: Tuesday - Friday at 7:30 p.m., Saturday at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m. & 7:30 p.m. Tickets are priced at $69 & $49.50 and are available through SmartTix (212) 868.4444, www.smarttix.com, or at the Barrow Street Theatre box office (open at 1 p.m. daily). Student tickets at $20 are available on the day of performance only at the box office.

Barrow Street Theatre is located at 27 Barrow Street at 7th Avenue South in the heart of Greenwich Village. Nearby subway stops are the 1 at Christopher Street (walk 1 block South on 7th Avenue to Barrow) and the A, C, E, B, D, F and V at West 4th (walk West on 4th Street, left on Barrow).

Jason Butler Harner ('Stage Manager') Broadway: Ivan Turgenev in the multi-Tony award winning The Coast of Utopia. A frequent presence on and off-Broadway, noteworthy performances include The Paris Letter (Roundabout Theatre, Drama Desk nomination), the award winning Orange Flower Water (EDGE Theatre), Observe the Sons of Ulster (Lincoln Center), Five Flights (Rattlestick), The Ruby Sunrise (The Public), Juno and the Paycock (Roundabout), An Experiment with an Air Pump (MTC), Crimes of the Heart (2nd Stage), Macbeth (The Public with Angela Bassett and Alec Baldwin) and in the controversial production of Hedda Gabler at New York Theatre Workshop for which both he and Elizabeth Marvel earned Obie Awards. Regionally, he garnered attention in The Glass Menagerie at the Kennedy Center (opposite Sally Field), the American premiere of The Invention of Love at ACT (opposite James Cromwell), The Cherry Orchard at Mark Taper Forum (opposite Annette Bening, Alfred Molina, and Sarah Paulson), Hamlet at Dallas Theatre Center, as well as in productions at Seattle Rep, Yale Rep, the Huntington, Williamstown Theatre Festival, the Berkshire Theatre Festival, American Conservatory Theatre, and others. He was recently seen in the Oscar nominated Clint Eastwood film Changeling opposite Angeline Jolie, as well as in this summer's blockbuster The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3. Other films include The Good Shepherd, NEXT, New Orleans Mon Amour, and the upcoming releases of The Extra Man with Kevin Kline and Paul Dano, The Irishman with Ray Stevenson, Christopher Walken and Linda Cardellini, and Letters to the Big Man, co-starring Lily Rabe. On television, he was seen in HBO's award winning mini-series "John Adams", as well as on "Fringe," "The Good Wife," "The Closer," "Moonlight," and all things "Law and Order." Harner earned an MFA from New York University's Graduate Acting Program.

Jeremy Beiler (Simon Stimson) Off-Broadway credits include Foggy Bottom, War in Paramus (Abingdon), and Orson's Shadow (Barrow Street). Chicago/Regional include work at Steppenwolf, and Madison Rep. Television credits include "New Amsterdam" (FOX), "The Black Donnelly's" (NBC), and "Conviction" (NBC). Jeremy stars in and co-created the mockumentary web series "Michael Stahl-David: Behind the Star" (Sony Pictures).

Susan Bennett (Mrs. Soames) Off-Broadway credits include Orson's Shadow (Barrow Street Theatre/Planetearth Partners), Levittown (Cliplight Theater at St. Clement's), Crime and Punishment (59 E 59 Theaters), and Beautiful Thing (Cherry Lane Theater). Regionally she has appeared in The Glass Menagerie (Kansas City Repertory), The Dazzle, (Steppenwolf Theater Company), Long Day's Journey Into Night (The Goodman Theater), among others. Television includes "Law & Order" and "Rescue Me."

Nathan Dame (Sam Craig) Off-Broadway credits include Three Sisters (Classical Theatre of Harlem), Gerda's Lieutenant (workshop--Tectonic Theatre Project), The Hand That Feeds You (HorseTRADE), and Stalk Me, Baby (At Hand Theatre). Regionally as Mercutio in Romeo and Juliet (Ivanhoe Productions, Chicago), Othello (Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, CA), and BASH (AAT, Utah state premiere). BA Weber State University.

Armand Schultz (Doc Gibbs) Broadway credits include Frost/Nixon, The Herbal Bed, A View From the Bridge, and The Secret Rapture. Off-Broadway he was seen in The House in Town, Stuff Happens, King Lear, Richard III, Titus Andronicus, Coriolanus, Y2K, Seeking the Geniuses, Sight Unseen, Cyrano de Bergerac, and The Spitfire Grill. Film credits include Cold Souls, The Messenger, Burn After Reading, The Happening, and Vanilla Sky.

For more information, visit ourtownoffbroadway.com and barrowstreettheatre.com.

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