Now this is one act we’ve gotta see! Tony winners Andrea Martin and Chuck Cooper, Broadway vet Matthew Saldivar and more complete the star-studded cast of Act One, a new play written and directed by Tony winner James Lapine. Based on iconic writer/director Moss Hart’s autobiography, the Lincoln Center Theater production features previously announced Tony nominees Tony Shalhoub and Santino Fontana, who will both play Hart in varying stages of his life. Act One begins performances March 20, with opening night set for April 17 at the Vivian Beaumont Theater.
In addition to Shalhoub, Fontana, Martin and Cooper, Act One will feature Bill Army (Old Jews Telling Jokes), Will Brill (Tribes), Laurel Casillo (Evil Things), Steven Kaplan (The Exonerated), Will LeBow (Nocturne), Mimi Lieber (Brooklyn Boy), Charlotte Maier (The Columnist), Deborah Offner (The Maids), Matthew Schechter (Richard III), Bob Stillman (Grey Gardens) and Amy Warren (August: Osage County).
Martin won Tony Awards for My Favorite Year and Pippin, and garnered additional nominations for Candide and Oklahoma! Her notable film and TV credits include SCTV, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Wag the Dog and The Producers. She will star on the forthcoming NBC series Working the Engels.
Cooper won a Tony Award for The Life. His many Broadway credits include Romeo and Juliet, Finian’s Rainbow, Lennon, Caroline, or Change, The Life, Chicago, Getting Away With Murder, Passion, Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me and Amen Corner. His off-Broadway credits include The Piano Lesson and Choir Boy.
Saldivar’s Broadway credits include A Streetcar Named Desire, Peter and the Starcatcher, Grease and The Wedding Singer. He has appeared off-Broadway in All in the Timing, The Toxic Avenger, Sea of Tranquility, Julius Caesar, The Alchemist, June Moon, Spread Eagle and Timon of Athens.
Act One chronicles Moss’ impoverished childhood and his determined struggle to escape poverty and forge a career in the theater. This path led to his collaboration with George S. Kaufman and their first great success, Once in a Lifetime. The production will feature set design by Beowulf Boritt, costume design by Jane Greenwood, lighting design by Ken Billington, sound design by Dan Moses Schreier and original music by Louis Rosen.