http://www.playbill.com/news/article/120853.htmlThree-time Tony Award nominee Kate Burton, John Pankow, Mia Barron and Jane Kaczmarek are among cast members of director Nicholas Martin's new production of John Guare's The House of Blue Leaves, to open the newly renovated Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. Previews begin Aug. 30 toward a Sept. 14 opening.
The dark comedy about American dreamers in Sunnyside, Queens, will continue through Oct. 19 in the newly refreshed Taper, which underwent a year-long $30 million renovation that audiences and actors will notice (see details below).
The cast features (in alphabetical order) Diedrich Bader (TV's "The Drew Carey Show") as Billy, Mia Barron (Lincoln Center's The Coast of Utopia) as Corrinna, Kate Burton (Broadway's Hedda Gabler, The Constant Wife) as Bananas, Angela Goethals (Broadway's Picnic, Off-Broadway's The Good Times Are Killing Me) as The Little Nun, James B. Harnagel as The M.P., James Immekus as Ronnie, Jane Kaczmarek (TV's "Malcolm in the Middle") as Bunny, James Joseph O'Neil as The White Man, John Pankow (TV's "Mad About You," Broadway's Amadeus, Twelve Angry Men) as Artie, Rusty Schwimmer as The Head Nun and Mary Kay Wulf as The Second Nun.
In The House of Blue Leaves, according to Center Theatre Group, which produces work at the Taper, the Ahmanson and the Kirk Douglas theatres in L.A., "the Pope's 1965 visit to New York City brings the hope of answered prayers and a few unexpected guests to an apartment in Sunnyside, Queens, where Artie Shaughnessy, a zookeeper, pines for a new life as a popular songwriter. His dreams of stardom are complicated by a stay-at-home wife who longs for the happiness of their salad days, a pushy mistress who is already packing her bags for Hollywood and an AWOL son with his own plans for becoming famous."
It's billed as "a heartbreakingly human comedy that explores the lengths people will go in pursuit of the American Dream."
The creative team includes set designer David Korins, costume designer Gabriel Berry, lighting designer Donald Holder and sound designer Philip G. Allen.
Music and lyrics are by John Guare with additional music and arrangements by Michael Friedman. Casting is by Erika Sellin, and the production stage manager is James T. McDermott.
I would see it for Jane just because I LOVE her in "Malcom in the Middle". And I love John Guare.
