Dawson & Lewis to Star in The Two Gentlemen of Verona in Central Park
Broadway.com has learned that Rosario Dawson and Norm Lewis are set for the Public Theater production of the musical version of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona. The show is scheduled to run at Central Park's Delacorte Theatre from August 16 through September 11.
Dawson recently completed filming the role of Mimi in the upcoming big screen adaptation of Rent. She got her start as one of the teens in Larry Clark's controversial 1995 film Kids, which she landed after being discovered on a Manhattan stoop. She has since appeared in several big budget Hollywood projects, including He Got Game, Light It Up, Sidewalks of New York, Men in Black II, The 25th Hour, Shattered Glass and Alexander. She has never appeared in a full-scale musical, but in addition to her work in Rent sang her own vocals in the film Josie and the Pussycats.
Lewis has appeared on the Great White Way in Amour, The Wild Party, Side Show, Miss Saigon, The Who's Tommy and Chicago. His off-Broadway credits include Captains Courageous, A New Brain, the Encores! mounting of Golden Boy and Dessa Rose. Among his notable regional theater credits are the National Black Arts Festival production of Dreamgirls opposite Jennifer Holliday and the Paper Mill Playhouse production of Baby.
This musical version of The Two Gentlemen of Verona utilizes an adaptation by John Guare and Mel Shapiro and features lyrics by Guare and music by Galt MacDermot. It first played at the Delacorte Theatre in 1971. That production received much critical acclaim and transferred to Broadway where it won 1972 Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.
