Bristol Riverside Theatre to Continue Season with Neil Simon's RUMORS

Bristol Riverside Theatre continues the 2015-2016 Season with the Neil Simon farce Rumors, running March 22-April 17. Directed by Keith Baker, the ensemble cast features Bruce Graham, Leonard Haas, Eleanor Handley, Valerie Leonard, Sean Thompson, Jo Twiss, Danny Vaccaro, Jessica Wagner, and Paul Weagraff.

Previews begin Tuesday, March 22 with opening night on Thursday, March 24. Performances run Wednesday through Sunday until April 17. Tickets start at $32, with discounts for students, groups and military personnel. Tickets are available by visiting brtstage.org or calling the box office at 215-785-0100. Bristol Riverside Theatre is located at 120 Radcliffe Street in Bristol, PA.

Hilarity abounds as guests arrive at the New York City Deputy Mayor's townhouse to find the host has shot himself (though it's only a flesh wound), his wife is missing, and there isn't any food! The party guests are desperate to hush up the scandal, if that's what it is, that surrounds their unseen host. As the confusion and miscommunication mount, the evening soon spins out of control in this non-stop laugh-out-loud Neil Simon farce.

Keith Baker (Director) has directed more than 40 productions for BRT including Lost in Yonkers and Ragtime (nominated for nine Barrymore Awards)last season, Gypsy starring Tovah Feldshuh, Chicago (nominated for six Barrymore Awards), The Balkan Women (winner of a Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play), The Dresser (nominated for a Barrymore Award for Best Director of a Play) and Dear World (nominated for three Barrymore Awards). As an actor he starred in BRT's 2012-2013 season productions of Deathtrap and Inherit the Wind and also appeared in productions of Barrymore, A Raw Space, Old Wicked Songs, Defiance, Proof, Hamlet, A Little Night Music, Arsenic and Old Lace, and A Moon for the Misbegotten. Baker has been nominated eleven times for the prestigious Carbonell Awards, for which he was twice the recipient for Best Actor. Prior to coming to BRT, Baker was Artistic Director for the Kentucky Shakespeare Festival and the Florida Repertory Theatre. Baker appeared earlier this season in Mountain: The Journey of Justice Douglas and The Language Archive.

Bruce Graham (Ernie Cusak) has been seen at BRT in Lost in Yonkers and Laughter on the 23rd Floor. Well-known as a prolific playwright whose works have been nominated for multiple Barrymore Awards, he has performed at New City Stage in Hurlyburly, Delaware Theatre Company/Act Two Playhouse's co-production of Time Stands Still and his own Any Given Monday, and Brat Productions in Haunted Poe. Other regional credits include productions at Pittsburgh Playhouse, Long Wharf Theatre, Theatre-By-The Grove, and Keystone Rep.

Leonard Haas (Lenny Ganz) last appeared at BRT in The Little Prince in 2011 and subsequently toured with the production to an Off-Broadway run at the New Victory Theatre. Other productions at BRT include the title roles of The Dresser (for which he garnered a Barrymore Best Actor nomination) and Hamlet. He has been performing in the Philadelphia region for over 25 years, getting his start at People's Light, where he has acted in over 30 productions as a member of their Resident Company of Artists. He received a Barrymore Award for his work in The Fantasticks at People's Light & Theatre Company, and additional Barrymore Award nominations for The Invention of Love at The Wilma Theater and All My Sons and A Midsummer Night's Dream, both at Arden Theatre Company. He is now a member of a touring production of Jo Strømgren Kompani's "A Doll's House", having performed at the Philadelphia Fringe Festival, and in Oslo, Norway.

Eleanor Handley (Claire Ganz) was seen last season in BRT's production of Lost in Yonkers, which earned her a Barrymore Award nomination. She has starred in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, Much Ado About Nothing, and Comedy of Errors at Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival, and King Lear, The Three Musketeers, Troilus and Cressida, and Twelfth Night, all at Hudson Valley Shakespeare. She has been featured on television in Unforgettable, Royal Pains and As The World Turns, and has just wrapped on filming "Outcall" with The Sopranos' Federico Castelluccio.

Valerie Leonard (Chris Gorman) has appeared in the Broadway or national tour productions of An Ideal Husband, The Odd Couple, and Lend Me A Tenor. Regionally she has been a frequent guest at Olney Theatre, Arena Stage, Signature Theatre, and she has been featured at Missouri Repertory Theatre, American Conservatory Theatre, McCarter Theatre, and George Street Playhouse. She last appeared at BRT in Jake's Women.

Sean Thompson (Glenn Cooper) comes to BRT following a performance in The Last Romance at Arvada Center where he won Best Supporting Actor in a Drama from Theatre Colorado. In addition to productions at Signature Theatre, he has appeared locally in several productions at Walnut Street Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, and Media Theatre, as well as at The Wilma Theater and Flashpoint Theatre Company.

Jo Twiss (Cookie Cusak) just finished appearing at BRT in The Language Archive. Other BRT productions include last season's runaway hit Always...Patsy Cline, Pride and Prejudice, Up, which earned her a BroadwayWorld.com nomination for Best Actress, as well as Deathtrap, Steel Magnolias, The Spitfire Grill, and Mrs. Bob Cratchit's Wild Christmas Binge. She starred in Rabbit Hole at both Pittsburgh Public Theatre and Hartford's Theatre Works and in The Travels of Angelica at Cincinnati in the Park. On Broadway she appeared as Big Mamma in Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, a role she reprised in St. Louis and Cincinnati where she won an Acclaim Award for her performance.

Danny Vaccaro (Ken Gorman) has been seen at BRT in Lost in Yonkers, Tuesdays with Morrie and Little Shop of Horrors. He appeared on Broadway in La Cage Aux Folles and starred in the national tour of The Diary of Anne Frank. Regional credits include several productions at Barter theatre including leading roles in Sweeney Todd, Singin' in the Rain, and The Last Five Years, as well as productions at Goodman Theatre, Fulton Opera House and the Walnut Street Theatre.

Jessica Wagner (Cassie Cooper) returns to BRT where she was featured earlier this season in Bus Stop and starred last year in the title role of Always...Patsy Cline. She has starred in numerous productions at Forestburgh Playhouse including The Sound of Music, Spamalot and Avenue Q, and in My Fair Lady at Ocean State Theatre Company. She has been featured in cabaret performances at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Town Hall and Joe's Pub at The Public Theatre.

Paul Weagraff (Office Welch) returns to BRT, where he has appeared as Henry Ford in Ragtime and George Weber/Ensemble in Gypsy. Other recent regional theater performances include Assassins, Bonnie & Clyde: The Musical, The Graduate, and Reverend Moore Footloose, all at the Eagle Theatre; The Addams Family at Media Theatre; Xanadu with Mazeppa Productions; and The Light in the Piazza at Villanova Theatre. Since 1997 he has worked at the Delaware Division of the Arts, as Arts in Education Coordinator, Deputy Director and, for the last ten years, as Division Director.

Since 1986, BRT has brought consistently acclaimed professional theatre to Bucks County and maintains a long-term commitment to finding and developing new plays. The theatre is the recipient of 81 Barrymore Award nominations for Excellence in Theatre, given annually by Theatre Philadelphia. In addition to its mainstage productions, the theatre serves as a cultural hub for the community, with such programs as children's theatre, community concerts and exhibitions of local visual arts. Currently under the direction of Artistic Director Keith Baker, Founding Director Susan D. Atkinson, and Managing Director Jameson Gilpatrick, BRT is currently in its 29th season. For information, visit www.brtstage.org.

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