Photo Flash: Euan Morton & More Star in TheatreWorks' BEING EARNEST World Premiere, Beginning Tonight

TheatreWorks, the nationally acclaimed theatre of Silicon Valley, presents BEING EARNEST, the "Wilde" new musical from Tony Award-nominated composer/lyricist Paul Gordon (TheatreWorks' hits Emma, Daddy Long Legs, and Broadway's Jane Eyre) and Grammy and Emmy-nominated composer Jay Gruska. A hit at TheatreWorks' 2012 New Works Festival, this lively and lyrical adaptation of The Importance of Being Earnest resets Oscar Wilde's comic masterpiece in 1965 London's swingin' Carnaby Street. BEING EARNEST, helmed by TheatreWorks Artistic Director Robert Kelley, plays at TheatreWorks at the Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts tonight, April 3 - 28, 2013 (press opening April 6). Scroll down for a look at the cast!

In the midst of a London buzzing with mod fashion, new music, and evolving ideas of morality, handsome, witty young friends Jack Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff each find themselves adopting the pseudonym "Ernest" for various complicated reasons. When the two women they court both confess to loving the name as much as the man, and all four unexpectedly meet at Worthing's country home under the disapproving eye of Lady Bracknell, one of theatre's most sharp-tongued dowagers, a wild comedy of romance and mistaken identities ensues. Infused with Paul Gordon and Jay Gruska's infectious score, new musical BEING EARNEST maintains all the elements of Oscar Wilde's much-loved comedy - including the infamous handbag - while adding a modern twist and the signature charm TheatreWorks audiences have grown to expect from Gordon's work.

TheatreWorks has assembled a phenomenal cast for this World Premiere, many of whom will reprise their roles from the staged reading of BEING EARNEST in last summer's New Works Festival. Hayden Tee, returning as the mischievous "Jack Worthing," has appeared in productions with ALLIANCE THEATRE (Into the Woods), Pittsburgh CLO (Camelot), Opera Australia (My Fair Lady), and New Zealand's Court Theatre (Kiss Me, Kate), and starred as Marius in the 20th anniversary West End production of Les Miserables. Riley Krull, seen around the Bay Area in productions at Magic Theatre (Another Way Home), 42nd Street Moon (Sugar), and Diablo Theatre Company (Legally Blonde), returns as the innocent "Cecily Cardew." Once again, the role of the stern "Lady Bracknell" will be played by Maureen McVerry, whose credits include Learned Ladies of Park Ave and Into the Woods at TheatreWorks and roles at American Conservatory Theater, Aurora Theatre Company, San Jose Repertory Theatre, Marin Theatre Company, and Magic Theatre. Diana Torres Koss, who has been seen at TheatreWorks in Sweeney Todd (Mrs. Lovett), Jane Eyre, Merrily We Roll Along, and many others, will reprise her role as Cecily's tutor "Miss Prism." Brian Herndon, who created the role of "Mr. Elton" in TheatreWorks' World Premiere of Paul Gordon's Emma and continued on with the production to The Repertory Theatre of St. Louis and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park, and has appeared in roles with Marin Theatre Company, Aurora Theatre Company, and The San Francisco Shakespeare Festival, returns as "Dr. Chausable" and "Lane."

TheatreWorks also welcomes Mindy Lym as the lovely "Gwendolyn Fairfax." Lym created the role of "Jane Fairfax" in TheatreWorks' World Premiere of Paul Gordon's Emma and has starred as "Eliza Doolittle" in My Fair Lady (Foothill Music Theatre), "Natalie/Ed" in All Shook Up (Center REPertory Company), "Eva Peron" in Evita (Contra Costa Musical Theatre, Shellie Award for Best Actress), and "Christine Colgate" in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Broadway by the Bay). Euan Morton, who originated the role of "Boy George" in the musical Taboo (Olivier and Tony Award nominations, Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut), and has gone on to star on Broadway (Sondheim on Sondheim, Cyrano de Bergerac, Taboo), Off-Broadway (Leaves of Glass, Howard Katz), in several West End productions, and at regional theatres including Ford's Theatre in Washington, DC, Hartford Stage, and Berkeley Repertory Theatre, will make his TheatreWorks debut in BEING EARNEST as "Algernon Moncrieff."

The production runs at Mountain View Center for the Performing Arts, located at 500 Castro St., Mountain View, Calif. For tickets ($23-$73) and information the public may call (650) 463-1960 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

Photo Credit: Tracy Martin

Lady Bracknell (Maureen McVerry, center) is horrified by the antics of Jack Worthing (Hayden Tee, left) and her daughter Gwendolyn (Mindy Lym, right).

Much to the disapproval of Lady Bracknell (Maureen McVerry, center), (l-r) Gwendolyn (Mindy Lym), Jack (Hayden Tee), Algernon (Euan Morton), and Cecily (Riley Krull) are swept up by the mod fashion and romance of 1965.

Algernon Moncrieff (Euan Morton) masquerades as "wicked brother Earnest" to woo Cecily Cardew (Riley Krull).

Lady Bracknell (Maureen McVerry) and her daughter Gwendolyn (Mindy Lym) clash over Gwendolyn's modern ideas.

Lady Bracknell (Maureen McVerry) and her daughter Gwendolyn (Mindy Lym) clash over Gwendolyn's modern ideas.