| ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS TO LEAD INDUSTRY READING OF MOLIÈRE’S “TARTUFFE” | |
| Last Edit: Official_Press_Release 11:06 am EST 11/08/24 | |
| Posted by: Official_Press_Release 10:50 am EST 11/08/24 | |
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| ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS TO LEAD INDUSTRY READING OF MOLIÈRE'S "TARTUFFE" FEATURING JORDAN FISHER JESSIE SHELTON BRYONHA MARIE & MORE IN A NEW TRANSLATION BY RANJIT BOLT, OBE DIRECTED BY KEATON WOODEN MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11 New York, NY (November 7, 2024) – It was announced today that Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award winner André De Shields (Hadestown, The Wiz, CATS the Jellicle Ball) will star as the title character in an upcoming reading of Molière's Tartuffe. In a new 100-minute translation and adaptation by Ranjit Bolt, OBE, Tartuffe will be directed by Keaton Wooden and will receive an industry reading on Monday, November 11th at Sunlight Studios (321 West 44th Street). Alongside De Shields, the cast of Tartuffe features Hannah Beck as Cleante, Phoebe Dunn ("The Looming Tower") as Dorine, Jordan Fisher (Hamilton, Dear Evan Hansen, Sweeney Todd, Hadestown) as Damis, Chris Hahn as Orgon, Charlie Lubeck ("The Glee Project") as Valere, Bryonha Marie (Our Town, Intimate Apparel – the Opera) as Elmire, Jason O'Connell (Sense and Sensibility, Happy Birthday Wanda June) as MME Pernelle, and Jessie Shelton (Hadestown) as Mariane. The reading will feature music accompaniment by Dan Pardo (Sack Lunch Bunch). In Orgon's household, the scheming Tartuffe, disguised as a pious priest, aims to steal his fortune, home, and even his daughter—or wife. While Orgon is blinded by Tartuffe's charade, his family and loved ones - including a saucy maid, clever sister, fiery son, two weepy lovers, and a wife who enjoys a good flirt - devise a plan to expose the fraud. Ranjit Bolt's lively translation of Tartuffe brings Molière's classic comedy to life with modern wit, capturing timeless themes of hypocrisy, power, and human folly. "When you take a step back, a fraud is incredibly easy to spot. But up close - it is nearly impossible. Above all else Tartuffe shows what it feels like to be on the outside witnessing others being pulled like puppets on a string by their own devotion. And in the vein of the greatest farces, we see the truth when it is revealed to be as absurd as it really is. Tartuffe is a play that is the exact embodiment of our time," said director and producer Keaton Wooden. Tartuffe is produced by Keaton Wooden & The Tall Order Company (Kenneth Chamberlain w/ EP Morgan Freeman), Max Adler (Trial of the Chicago 7) and Eámonn Wrighstrone; and Executive Produced by Tony-winner Jonathan Demar (Hadestown, Stereophonic, Merrily We Roll Along) BIOGRAPHIES RANJIT BOLT (Translator/Adaptor). Born in Manchester in 1959, Ranjit Bolt was educated at Perse School and at Balliol College, Oxford. He worked as an investment analyst and advisor for eight years, before concentrating on theatre translation from the end of 1990. Ranjit Bolt's acclaimed translations for the theatre include works by Molière, Seneca, Sophocles, Corneille, Beaumarchais, Brecht, Goldoni and Zorilla. He was awarded an OBE for his services to literature in 2003 and has been produced at The Royal National Theatre in London, Stratford, England, Stratford Ontario and many other theatres in England and North America. ANDRÉ DE SHIELDS (Tartuffe) is the creator of a canon of majestic theatre art. His bonafides include Tony, Grammy, Emmy, Jeff and AUDELCO Awards for such iconic roles as the title character in The Wiz, the Viper in Ain't Misbehavin', Jester in Play On!, Noah "Horse" T. Simmons in The Full Monty and the universally acclaimed Hermes, Messenger to the Gods in Hadestown and Old Deuteronomy in CATS: The Jellicle Ball. Check it out: Theatre as a way of life is finite and—to a certain extent—satisfying; theatre, as a way to life, is infinite and wholly fulfilling. UBUNTU! JORDAN FISHER (Damis) is an actor, singer-songwriter, producer, and gamer whose work has spanned from TV to music, Broadway and film. Jordan is currently starring as 'Orpheus' in Broadway's Tony Award-winning musical Hadestown. He can be seen in Netflix's Work It and To All the Boys I've Loved Before sequel, The CW's "The Flash", and HBO's Naked Mole Rat Gets Dressed: The Underground Rock Experience. Most recently, Jordan played 'Anthony' in Broadway's hit revival of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, starred in and produced Netflix's Hello, Goodbye, and Everything In Between and was one of the voices of 4*Town in Disney and Pixar's Oscar nominated animated film, Turning Red, which gained recognition for its smash hit, "Nobody Like U." His additional accomplishments include being the first Black actor to portray the title character of 'Evan' in Broadway's Tony Award-winning Dear Evan Hansen and 'Mark' in Fox's Emmy nominated Rent: Live, as well as being named a breakout star by MTV and People Magazine for Fox's Emmy-winning broadcast Grease Live! Jordan has collaborated with Lin-Manuel Miranda, performing a duet with him for Disney's Moana soundtrack, as well as joining the cast of the Tony Award-winning musical, Hamilton. Jordan is also an avid gamer and commentated for the 2019 Fortnite World Cup. JESSIE SHELTON (Mariane) is a multi-disciplinary artist based in NYC with over two decades of experience in theater and performance. Some of her favorites include Futurity at Ars Nova/Soho Rep, 36 Questions; the podcast musical where she starred opposite Jonathan Groff, Hadestown at NYTW, Conflict at The Mint, Skin Of Our Teeth at TFANA and Doubt at Theatre Aspen, as well as playing the role of Dawn in the 1st Nat'l Tour of Waitress. In the past year, she has recorded a dozen audiobooks for the Library of Congress and can currently be seen onstage 8 times a week as a Fate in Hadestown on Broadway (reprising the role she originated Off-Broadway). Carnegie Mellon Musical Theater alum. JASON O'CONNELL (MME Pernelle). Off-Broadway: Judgment Day (Park Avenue Armory), Pride and Prejudice (Primary Stages), Happy Birthday, Wanda June (Wheelhouse Theater), Sense and Sensibility (Bedlam), Becomes A Woman (The Mint), A Midsummer Night's Dream (The Pearl), The Seagull (Bedlam), The Saintliness of Margery Kempe (The Duke on 42nd St), and Jason's own solo show, The Dork Knight (Abingdon Theatre Company, Cherry Lane Theatre, and Joe's Pub, among others). NYIT Award - Outstanding Lead Actor (Phoenix Theatre Ensemble's Don Juan in Hell). Regional: Old Globe, Syracuse Stage, Hartford Stage, Two River Theater, Cape Playhouse, Hudson Valley Shakespeare, Kansas City Rep, Arkansas Rep, American Players Theatre, Florida Studio Theatre, Delaware Theatre Company, Great Lakes Theater, among others. TV: Search Party, Law & Order: SVU, Law & Order: Criminal Intent. Currently appearing Off-Broadway in The Light and the Dark (Primary Stages at 59E59). Up next: The Odyssey (American Repertory Theatre, Feb/March 2025). BRYONHA MARIE (Elmire) Broadway: Prince of Broadway; After Midnight; Book of Mormon; The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess (Tony Award Best Revival); Ragtime. Off Broadway/NY: A Commercial Jingle for Regina Comet (DR2), Promenade (Encores); Candide (Carnegie Hall); NY Philharmonic's Showboat and Sweeney Todd (Beggar Woman); Ragtime @ Lincoln Center; NAMT. National Tours: Falsettos (Dr. Charlotte). Concert: New York Philharmonic, Carnegie Hall, San Diego Symphony, St. Louis Symphony, Philadelphia Orchestra, Jacksonville Symphony, Kansas City Symphony. Regional: Sweeney Todd (Signature), Sister Act (MUNY), Life After (Goodman-Jeff Award Nom), DAVE (Arena Stage-Helen Hayes Nom), Sound of Music (MUNY), The Gershwin's Porgy & Bess (ART); Ragtime (Kennedy Center); Civil War (Networks); HAIR (Sacramento Music Circus); Dreamgirls (NSMT), Little Shop of Horrors (BTG), and many more! Television: "How to Die Alone" (Hulu), SpongeBob Musical LIVE; "Madame Secretary"; Showboat and Sweeney Todd LIVE @ Lincoln Center for PBS (Emmy); 66th/68th Annual Tony Awards; "The Today Show". CHARLIE LUBECK (Valere) is a multi-hyphenate performer, singer-songwriter and composer. At certain times, he can be found at the apex of the Williamsburg Bridge, shaking a fist at god. In other moments, he has been a part of official Sundance selection GHOSTLIGHT, "The Glee Project", Ragtime, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Into the Woods, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Macbeth. Berklee College of Music alumni in Mixing and Mastering, and Primary Composition for BAFTA-winner Lucy and Mammoth Film Festival award-winner The Last Bell. HANNAH BECK (Cleante) is an award-winning New York based actress and creative. Film (partial): Paramnesia, a new thriller, What Tomorrow Brings, Empty Bed, The Fifth of January (opposite Romano Orzari), Through Open Doors, a dark comedy that earned her two Best Actress Awards and multiple nominations. She also stars in the soon-to-be released Meltdown, a period feature. Select theater: Masha in Lucy Caldwell's Irish Three Sisters (US premiere), Roberta in Danny and The Deep Blue Sea directed by Helen Hayes-nominated Peter Allas, Miriam in Goldberg's Kaddish (North American premiere) directed by Emmy nominated Keaton Wooden. She also runs Domani Productions, a film and theater production company, with husband Sean. PHOEBE DUNN (Dorine) is a NY based actor, producer and writer. She has appeared in network television shows such as "The Looming Tower" (Hulu), "Almost Family" (Fox), "FBI Most Wanted" (CBS), "New Amsterdam" (NBC), and "Dead Ringers" (Amazon). Phoebe has also appeared off Broadway in plays by Susan Soon He Stanton and Jaclyn Backhaus. Her short film RED, which she wrote, produced and starred in, screened at numerous film festivals, including Cinequest, LAFemme and Blackbird. Phoebe made her directing debut this year with her second short and is in development for her first feature. Phoebe is a graduate of the Juilliard School of Drama (Group 42) and a company member of Divine Riot. CHRIS HAHN (Orgon). Founder of and actor within Belongership Theatre based in Wisconsin, with credits including Shepard's The God Of Hell, and Sedaris' The Book Of Liz. KEATON WOODEN (Director/Producer) is a Rhodes and Emmy nominated writer, composer, director, and social impact producer best known for the award-winning musicals Albert Cashier, Hills on Fire, and the social justice film Kenneth Chamberlain with EP Morgan Freeman. In theater and film, he was named Finalist for the Relentless Award from the American Playwriting Foundation, the Kleban Prize for Musical Theater, was a Grenada Artist in Residence at UC Davis, and has raised millions for socially conscious art around the US. He currently has projects in development with the team from Beautiful, the Carole King Musical, television series with the Producer of Crazy Heart and Trial of the Chicago 7. MAX ADLER (Producer) is most recognized for his breakout role as Dave Karofsky, the slushy throwing homophobic bully on Ryan Murphy's hit series "Glee" and as the fire-throwing villain turned heroic sidekick Jaco Birch, on the CW's "The Flash" which he played for three seasons. Adler is also widely recognized for his multi-season arc on the Peabody Award Winning Series "Switched at Birth," where he played tank, the class clown frat boy who found himself at the center of a college sexual assault scandal. Adler has guest appeared in a multitude of other television series including "The Big Bang Theory", "The Rookie", "Mom", "911", and "Shameless", among many others. On the film side, Adler starred in the film Mope, a shockingly true story which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, and has worked with many acclaimed directors such as Woody Allen in Cafe Society, Clint Eastwood in Sully and Aaron Sorkin in the Oscar nominated film, The Trial of the Chicago 7. EÁMONN WRIGHTSTONE (Producer) is a producer and director based in NYC. With a start in award-winning social justice organizing and photography, Eámonn transitioned to film, attending a 4-year program at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts on a full tuition and board scholarship. At the age of 20, he began producing for a queer-based reality television production company, Daddy TV, and fell in love with production management. By 24, Eámonn has directed 5 shorts of his own and produced 2 music videos, 3 live events, 7 short films, and 9 competition and scripted reality television shows. Eámonn recently began producing for theater, helping bring River Knight's Gray Whale off-off Broadway this summer, and he is excited to be producing Keaton Wooden's take on Tartuffe starring André De Shields. Eámonn most recently co-produced and assistant directed Ise White's Untold Valor, a WW2 film about Comanche code talkers. He is excited to begin work on Moriah Nejadeh's Untitled this winter, a short-form documentation of her time as a queer individual in the troubled teen industry. JONATHAN DEMAR (Executive Producer) is a Tony-winning producer based in New York City. This past season, Jonathan won Tony Awards as a co-producer for Stereophonic, Merrily We Roll Along, and Appropriate. His other co-producing credits include Swept Away, Hadestown (Tony Award), An Enemy of the People, Gutenberg! The Musical!, The Cottage, Funny Girl, POTUS, Be More Chill (Off-Broadway & London), Love Letters, and The Velocity of Autumn. Off-Broadway credits include This Beautiful Future (Cherry Lane Theater), Fairycakes (Greenwich House Theater), The Saintliness of Margery Kempe (The Duke on 42nd Street), and Church & State (New World Stages). In the West End and UK, his credits include Amélie (UK Tour), Dolly Parton's 9 to 5 (Savoy Theater and UK Tour), and Gypsy starring Imelda Staunton with Seaview Productions (Savoy Theater). BA Emory University. |
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