Kevin Spirtas and Tyler Maynard Join SILENCE! THE MUSICAL Today

Kevin Spirtas and Tyler Maynard are joining the cast of Off-Broadway's smash hit Silence! The Musical at today's matinee, May 4th at the Elektra Theatre. Spirtas is set to play Dr. Hannibal Lecter's nemesis Dr. Chilton, and Maynard will assume the role of the hapless Sgt. Pembry.

Kevin Spirtas appeared on Broadway in A CHORUS LINE (Mike), THE BOY FROM OZ (Standby for Hugh Jackman) and MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS (Warren Sheffield). His numerous film and TV credits include "Friends," "Married with Children," "Quantum Leap," "L.A. Heat," "Silk Stalkings," "Fired Up," APT PUPIL, DEFYING GRAVITY, GREEN PLAID SHIRT, SUBSPECIES II & III, DAREDEVIL, STRIKING RESEMBLANCE, FRIDAY THE 13TH PART VII, and "Days of Our Lives" (eight seasons as Dr. Craig Wesley). Kevin also starred as Corny Collins in the Las Vegas production of HAIRSPRAY.

Tyler Maynard was honored as Outstanding Breakthrough Actor at the 2005 Theatre World Awards for his acclaimed performance in ALTAR BOYZ. On Broadway, he appeared in MAMMA MIA!, THE LITTLE MERMAID (as Flotsam), MARY POPPINS, and ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN SEE FOREVER. Tyler's film and TV credits include "The Big C," PALINDROMES, RED DOORS, DARK HORSE, "Gravity," and "Ugly Betty."

2012's Off Broadway Alliance Award winner for Best Musical, Silence! The Musical is the unauthorized parody of THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, with book by Hunter Bell, music & lyrics by Jon and Al Kaplan, and direction & choreography by Tony Award winner Christopher Gattelli. After opening initially at Theatre 80 on July 9, 2011 to unanimous rave reviews, SILENCE! was extended numerous times by popular demand and transferred theatres twice, ultimately landing at the new Elektra Theatre in Times Square which was constructed especially for the show. SILENCE! was also selected by Time Magazine as one of 2011's Top 5 Musicals (on or Off-Broadway).

Winner of five Oscars including Best Picture, the classic film THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS follows rookie FBI agent Clarice Starling as she matches wits with the brilliant but insane cannibal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, to catch the serial killer known only as Buffalo Bill. Clarice faces her own demons while racing the clock to unlock Lecter's clues before another innocent girl is killed and skinned by Buffalo Bill. The laugh-out-loud raunchy satire, Silence! The Musical, features a singing chorus of floppy-eared lambs narrating the action as Buffalo Bill gleefully dances a hoedown while kidnapping hapless, plus-sized Catherine Martin. Even Dr. Lecter, creepy as ever, sings about the life he'd like to lead someday outside the prison walls.

With Sean McDermott (star of Broadway's MISS SAIGON, GREASE, FALSETTOS and STARLIGHT EXPRESS) as Hannibal Lecter, the cast of SILENCE! also features Laura Jordan (as Clarice Starling), David Ayers, Callan Bergmann, Howard Kaye, Sarah O'Gleby, Ronica V. Reddick, Kimberly Stern, and Natalie Joy Johnson.

Created by Jon and Al Kaplan in 2002, Silence! The Musical began as a collection of songs on the internet which immediately attracted a staggering number of fans. The Kaplans' subsequent screenplay Silence! The Musical was adapted by Hunter Bell into a live stage show, which also featured newly composed songs by the brothers. Fueled by a rabid cult following, SILENCE! shattered every box office record at the 2005 FringeNYC Festival, winning the award for Best Musical. SILENCE! met with further success in London and Los Angeles, where the production received three L.A. Drama Critics Circle Awards.

SILENCE! The Musical has hosted an unusually large number of celebrity attendees including Jodie Foster, Matt Bomer (twice), Joan Rivers, Perez Hilton, Kelly Ripa, Jonathan Demme, James Earl Jones, Josh Groban, Rachel Dratch, Justin Kirk, T.R. Knight, Jonathan Groff, Andy Dick, Ben Schwartz, Richard Kind, Corbin Bleu, Lisa Lampanelli, Willie Garson, Neil Simon, Steven Pasquale, Lindsey Shaw, Erin Cummings, Jeremy Jordan, Mario Cantone, David LaChapelle, Stephen Schwartz, Linus Roache, Alec Mapa, Christine Lakin, Christian Campbell, James Lapine, Chad Allen, Heather Matarazzo, John Kander, Will Swenson, Chita Rivera, Danny Burstein, Georgia Engel, Barrett Foa, Vicki Lewis, John Billingsley, Tovah Feldshuh, and Stephen Flaherty.

Produced by Theater Mogul, Silence! The Musical runs 90 minutes with no intermission and the playing schedule is Saturdays at 2 & 7 PM and Sundays at 5 PM at the Elektra Theatre, 669 Eighth Avenue (at 42nd St.) Tickets are available by calling 212-352-3101 or through www.SilenceTheMusical.com.

Photo Credits: Walter McBride