Henry Woronicz, Aaron Galligan-Stierle, and More Join Cast of UTAH SHAKESPEARE FESTIVAL

The Utah Shakespeare Festival recently announced the casting of the first nine actors for the 2014 season. All are familiar faces, having appeared at the Festival in the past. Actors slated to appear thus far are Henry Woronicz, Aaron Galligan-Stierle, Sara J. Griffin, Steve Wojtas, Roderick Peeples, Melinda Pfundstein, Quinn Mattfeld, Grant Goodman, and Brian Vaughn. A complete casting list will be available soon at www.bard.org.

Henry Woronicz is appearing as the rogue knight, Sir John Falstaff, in Henry IV Part One. He will also be seen as Escalus in Measure for Measure.Last year, Woronicz played the monumental role of Prospero in The Tempest. He has also directed Titus Andronicus, As You Like It, The Taming of the Shrew, and Coriolanus. As a Festival actor he's portrayed Antonio in The Merchant of Venice, Duke in Measure for Measure and title roles in Henry V, Richard III, and Macbeth.

Aaron Galligan-Stierle will take on one of the comical twin servants in The Comedy of Errors, Dromio of Syracuse. He will also be Feste in Twelfth Night.

At the Festival last season, Galligan-Stierle played Smee in Peter and the Starcatcher and Lord Evelyn Oakleigh in Anything Goes. Previous seasons he has performed in The Merchant of Venice, The 39 Steps, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Room Service and A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Sara J. Griffin will return to the Festival to play Lucy Steele in the world premiere adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. She will also play the fun and flirty Gloria in Boeing Boeing and will be in Twelfth Night.

Griffin was last seen at the Festival in The Merry Wives of Windsor and LES MISERABLES in 2012. Other Festival productions include Richard III, The Glass Menagerie, Pride and Prejudice and Much Ado about Nothing.

Steve Wojtas is appearing this year as the fierce, quick-tempered Hotspur in Henry IV, Part One and the hypocritical Angelo in Measure for Measure. He will also be in The Comedy of Errors. Wotjas portrayed Philip the Bastard in King John and Juror #5 in Twelve Angry Men last season. In 2012, he played Mortimer in Mary Stuart, Demetrius in Titus Andronicus and Nym in The Merry Wives of Windsor.

Roderick Peeples will play Sir Toby Belch in Twelfth Night and Egeon in The Comedy of Errors and will appear in Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure.

Past roles at the Festival include Juror #10 in Twelve Angry Men, Trinculo in The Tempest, and Hubert in King John in 2013; Falstaff in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Argante in Scapin, and Paulet in Mary Stuart in 2012; Friar Lawence in Romeo and Juliet, The Duke of Buckingham in Richard III, and Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2011; and Fluellen in Henry V and Duke Senior in As You Like It in 2009.

Melinda Pfundstein, who has appeared in numerous roles at the Festival, will perform this year as Olivia in Twelfth Night and Bakers Wife in Into the Woods and will also appear in Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure.

Many Festival-goers will remember Pfundstein for her acclaimed portrayals last year of Rosaline in Love's Labour's Lost and Constance in King John. She has also appeared in such roles as Fantine in LES MISERABLES, Mistress Page in The Merry Wives of Windsor, Hermione in The Winter's Tale, Margot Wendice in Dial M for Murder, Miss Jane Bennett in Pride and Prejudice, Biddy in Great Expectations, Claire Holmes in The Secret Garden, Tzeitel in Fiddler on the Roof, Roxane in Cyrano de Bergerac, Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady, Martha Jefferson in 1776, Gloria Thorpe in Damn Yankees, and many others.

Quinn Mattfeld will bring Edward Ferrars to life in Sense and Sensibility. He will also appear as Sir Andrew Aguecheek in Twelfth Night and will be in Boeing Boeing.

Last year, Mattfeld played Black Stache in Peter and the Starcatcher and King of Navarre in Love's Labour's Lost. In 2011 he played Garry Lejeune in Noises Off!, Benvolio in Romeo and Juliet, and Young Shepherd in The Winter's Tale. In 2010 he was Malcolm in Macbeth, Mr. Wickham in Pride and Prejudice, Quinn in The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (abridged); and in 2009 he was Orlando in As You Like It, Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors, and Duke of Gloucester in Henry V.

After several years away, Grant Goodman returns to the Festival to play the love-struck Orsino in Twelfth Night and Colonel Brandon in Sense and Sensibility.

Goodman was last at the Festival in 2010 when he appeared as Bassanio in The Merchant of Venice and in the title role in Macbeth. In 2008 he appeared as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew and Le Bret in Cyrano de Bergerac.

Brian Vaughn, a long-time actor at the Festival and now artistic director, will appear as the Baker in Into the Woods.

In the previous twenty years he has played over forty roles, including title roles in Hamlet, Henry V, Cyrano de Bergerac; as well as Javert, LES MISERABLES; Harold Hill, The Music Man; Leontes, The Winter's Tale; Benedick, Much Ado about Nothing; Prince Hal, Hotspur, Henry IV Part One; Richard Hannay, The 39 Steps; and Charlie, Stones in his Pockets. He has also directed Festival productions of Peter and the Starcatcher, Dial M for Murder, Greater Tuna, and A Midsummer Night's Dream (Shakespeare in the Schools).

Tickets are on sale for the Festival's 53rd season, which will run from June 23 to October 18, 2014. The eight-play season includes Shakespeare's Measure for Measure, The Comedy of Errors, Henry IV Part One, and Twelfth Night. The season will also include the world premiere adaptation of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility written by Joseph Hanreddy and J. R. Sullivan, Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods, Steven Dietz's adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes: The Final Adventure, and Boeing-Boeing by Marc Camoletti. For more information and tickets visit www.bard.org or call 1-800-PLAYTIX.

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