Sean Cullen To Sub For Injured Bruce Dow In Stratford Fest's 'FORUM'

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival announces that Seán Cullen will be stepping in to assume the role of Pseudolus in the current production of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
Bruce Dow, who was originally cast in the role and has had audiences rolling in the aisles since previews began, has had to withdraw from the 2009 season because of an injury that has caused him to miss some recent performances. In order to fully heal, he needs an extended period of recovery.

"Bruce Dow gave a celebrated performance as Pseudolus that was a joy to all of us that worked on the production," says Artistic Director Des McAnuff. "We are relieved to learn that Bruce should make a speedy recovery and I look forward to having Bruce back next season.

"I welcome the highly accomplished Seán Cullen in to occupy Bruce's role at centre stage where he'll be surrounded by our extraordinarily talented and supportive troupe of players."

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has been extremely well received and will continue its run through to November 1. Mr. Cullen will assume the role onstage in early September.

"Bruce has made an enormous contribution to the Festival in the ten seasons that he has been with us - from Sancho Panza to Nicely Nicely to the Emcee in Cabaret last year," says General Director Antoni Cimolino. "This is a setback but we look forward to his return. He is deeply loved by our audiences and will be missed during his recovery."

The Festival extends sincere thanks to Randy Ganne for his excellent understudy performances when Mr. Dow was unable to perform. Seán Cullen is a multiple award-winning comedian/actor/writer/producer who has been performing for the past 20 years. He has done numerous feature films, written the awardwinning Hamish X trilogy for young adults and played Max Bialystock in the Canadian production of The Producers.

Mr. Cullen began his career with Corky and the Juice Pigs, a group that toured extensively around the world, becoming fixtures at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, the Edinburgh Fringe and Montreal's Just for Laughs festival. Mr. Cullen starred in his own CBC TV series, The Seán Cullen Show and appeared on shows such as NBC's The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and CBS's The Ellen Degeneres Show and The Late Late Show. Last year he was a finalist on NBC's Last Comic
Standing.

Time magazine labeled him the "vanguard of comedy's next generation." He recently released his second CD I AM A Human Man and his fourth novel for young adults, published by Penguin, entitled The Prince of Neither Here Nor There. Mr. Cullen has won three Gemini Awards for his work on television and three Canadian Comedy Awards for film and live performance.

To purchase tickets to A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and other productions, call the box office at 1.800.567.1600 or order online by visiting stratfordshakespearefestival.com.

The Stratford Shakespeare Festival's 2009 season runs until November 1, featuring Macbeth; West Side Story; Cyrano de Bergerac; A Midsummer Night's Dream; The Importance of Being Earnest; Julius Caesar; A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum; Three Sisters; Bartholomew Fair; Ever Yours, Oscar; Phèdre; The Trespassers; Rice Boy; and Zastrozzi.

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