Frog and Peach Theatre Co Presents TWELFTH NIGHT, Begins 4/21

Frog & Peach Theatre Company (now in its seventeenth season), will present William Shakespeare's romantic comedy "TWELFTH NIGHT," directed by Lynnea Benson. It will be presented at The West End Theatre (the Church of St. Paul and St. Andrew), 263 West 86th Street (between West End Avenue and Broadway). Performances will begin on Thursday, April 21 and the official opening performance will be on Sunday, April 24 at 3:00 PM. Performances will run thru Sunday, May 15.

William Shakespeare's "TWELFTH NIGHT," one of his greatest comedies concerns a brother and sister Viola and Sebastian, who are not only very close but look a great deal alike. When they're shipwrecked off the coast of Illyria, they both think the other dead. When Viola lands in this foreign country she dresses as a boy and adopts the name Cesario, becoming a trusted friend and confidante to the Count Orsino. Orsino is madly in love with the lady Olivia, who is in mourning due to her brother's recent death, which she uses as an excuse to avoid seeing the Count, whom she does not love. He sends Cesario to do his wooing, and Olivia falls in love with the disguised maiden. Things get more complicated when a moronic nobleman, Sir Andrew Aguecheek, and a self-important servant, Malvolio, get caught up in the schemes of Olivia's cousin, the fun-loving Sir Toby, who orchestrates a clever prank to make Malvolio think Olivia is madly in love with him. The happy confusion mounts when Sebastian arrives in Illyria, alive and well, perplexed to find strangers calling themselves his friend.

Director Lynnea Benson has directed over two-dozen Shakespeare productions for Frog Peach including: As You Like It (with Emmy-winner Camryn Grimes); Richard III; Hamlet (with Austin Pendleton as Claudius and The Ghost); Richard II (with Mr. Pendleton as Richard); Macbeth with Jason Kuschner in the title role; The Merchant of Venice; and King John (with Oscar nominee Catalina Sandino Moreno as Blanche). Ms. Benson is also Artistic Producer and co-founder of Frog & Peach.

The cast for "TWELFTH NIGHT" will include: Matthew Bayer (Captain/Priest), Collin Blackard (Valentine), Michael Broadhurst (Sir Andrew), Lenny Ciotti (Malvolio), Jane Cortney (Viola), Kyla D'Souza (Curio), Peter Forde (Delbert), Eric Dysart (Feste), Erick Gonzalez (Orsino), Mark Sage Hamilton (Antonio), Jonathan Marbelli (Toby Belch), Steve Mazzoccone (Fabian), Monte Nummi (Bartok), Amy Frances Quint (Olivia), and Leah Reddy (Maria).

The set design is by Peter Adams, the costumes by Jessa Raye Court, and the choreography will be by Tom Knutsen, and combat design by Marcua Watson. Ted Zurkowski has composed music for the production. Alexandra Rubin will serve as Associate Producer. The production stage manager will be Blair Hotchner.

Frog & Peach Theatre Company (www.frogandpeachtheatre.org), co-founded by Ted Zurkowski and Lynnea Benson - both Actors Studio alumni, is dedicated to staging Shakespeare's plays crafted for modern audiences (under two and a half hours) and in keeping with this approach enjoyable for audiences of all ages.

The complete performance schedule for "TWELFTH NIGHT" will be: Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3:00 p.m. beginning April 21 and running through May 15. All tickets will be $18.00. The box office number for tickets is 212-868-4444 or www.smarttix.com.

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