James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad to Star in West End Revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof

James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad are set to star in the West End revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. The actors, who recently portrayed the roles of Big Daddy and Big Mama on Broadway, will be joined by Adrian Lester as Brick. Performances will begin in December 1, directed by Debbie Allen.

Prior to starring as Big Mama, Rashad will star as Violet Weston in the Tony-winning Broadway production of August: Osage County. She won a Best Actress Tony Award for her performance in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun and received a Tony nomination for August Wilson's Gem of the Ocean. Other Broadway credits include Jelly's Last Jam, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls and The Wiz. Off-Broadway, she played the title role in Bernarda Alba and appeared in The Story, Helen, Blue, The Vagina Monologues and Everybody's Ruby. A two-time Emmy nominee, she is best known as Clair Huxtable in The Cosby Show.

Jones won Best Actor Tony Awards for August Wilson's Fences and for The Great White Hope and was nominated for a Tony for his performance in the revival of On Golden Pond. His many Broadway credits include Master Harold and the Boys, Othello, A Lesson from Aloes, Paul Robeson, Of Mice and Men and The Iceman Cometh. Off-Broadway and in Central Park, he has starred in productions of King Lear, The Cherry Orchard, Hamlet, Boesman and Lena, Troilus and Cressida, Coriolanus, Baal and The Blood Knot.

Lester is best known for playing con-artist Mickey Bricks on Hustle. His stage work includes an Olivier Award-winning performance in Company, Hamlet, Henry V and As You Like It. On film, he's been seen in Primary Colors and Love's Labour's Lost.

Set in a plantation house in Mississippi, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof tells the story of the rivalries and misunderstandings that tear apart a family as it gathers for the 65th birthday of its patriarch, Big Daddy. The Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, directed by Allen and starring Jones and Rashad, opened at the Broadhurst Theatre in February 2008 and ran through June 22. The Broadway revival also starred Terrence Howard as Brick and Anika Noni Rose as Maggie.

No casting for the role of Maggie in the West End production has been announced.