News Release
Madison Repertory Theatre proudly presents Broadway star
André De Shields as the irascible Sheridan Whiteside in
its holiday production, The Man Who Came to Dinner. The Rep
brings this classic American comedy to stage for a limited run
of five performances December 11, 12 and 13 at the Wisconsin
Union Theater, 800 Langdon Street in Madison.
As Christmas 1939 approaches in Mesalia, Ohio, it appears
that radio icon Sheridan Whiteside will stay on indefinitely as
the house guest of Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Stanley. The acerbic Mr.
Whiteside found his celebrated wit no match for a bit of ice
outside the Stanley home, where he fell and sustained injuries
that forced him to cancel a string of speaking engagements and
personal appearances.
Mr. Whiteside has made himself quite at home, much to his
hosts‚ mounting distress. Telephone calls, cables and
outrageous visitors from around the world are flooding the once
tranquil Stanley home, as are a ceaseless stream of gifts,
including a family of penguins, an octopus and a collection of
10,000 cockroaches˜all intended to usher the great man
toward a full and speedy recovery. For the Stanleys, this will
certainly be a holiday season to remember.
In 1969 André De Shields starred in The Fantasticks,
Madison Rep‚s very first production. Now, having made his
mark on Broadway, he returns to Madison to take the lead role
in the Rep‚s holiday production The Man Who Came to
Dinner. De Shields graduated from the University of
Wisconsin-Madison in 1970 and began his professional career in
the Chicago production of Hair. Since then, he has had a long
and successful career as an actor, director and educator. He is
best known for having created the title role in the Broadway
musical The Wiz in 1975. His recent role in the Broadway
musical Play On! earned him 1997 Tony, Drama Desk and FANY
Award nominations for Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a
Musical. On November 9 he won a Joseph Jefferson Award for his
performance in the Goodman Theater‚s production of Play
On! in Chicago.
De Shields won an Emmy Award for his performance in the NBC
television special presentation of Ain‚t Misbehavin‚,
the role he created in the 1978 Fats Waller musical at the
Manhattan Theatre Club and on Broadway, and in the 1988
revival. Currently, he is performing the recurring role of the
Rev. Calvin Dansby on the popular CBS daytime drama As The
World Turns. Other television credits include Another World,
Law and Order and Cosby. Movie credits include Extreme
Measures, Prison and I Dream of Jeannie ˜ 15 Years Later.
Last Spring De Shields was seen by Madison audiences at the
Wisconsin Union Theater on tour with the Chamber Music Society
of Lincoln Center as Narrator for Igor Stravinsky's L'Histoire
du Soldat and Wynton Marsalis‚ A Fiddler's Tale.
Other Madison favorites among the cast are Angela Iannone
(Maria Callas in Master Class) as Lorainne Sheldon; Michael
McAssey, (Hugh Butternut in Triple Espresso) as Banjo; and Bill
Lutes (concert pianist and Music Director of Wisconsin Public
Radio) as Beverly Carlton. Rep artistic director, D. Scott
Glasser will direct the cast of 26 actors.
The design team for The Man Who Came to Dinner includes Mary
Waldhart and Scott Rott (costumes); Kristopher Steege (set),
Jack Sayre and Caleb Pourchot (sound), John Tees (lights),
Meghan Gauger (production stage manager) and Evelyn Matten
(stage manager).
The Man Who Came to Dinner is funded in part by grants from
the Shubert Foundation, the Wisconsin Arts Board with funds
from the State of Wisconsin and the Dane County Cultural
Affairs Commission with additional support from the Madison
Community Foundation and the Shubert Foundation. The Rep is
grateful to WISC-TV3, the corporate sponsor of this
production.
# # # #
THE CAST
Paul Bentzen - Mr. Stanley
Drew Brhel - Dr. Bradley
Michael Brown - Professor Metz/Plainclothes Man
André De Shields - Sheridan Whiteside
Patrick Fernan - Convict2/Radio Man 2/Expressman
Angela Iannone - Lorraine
Margaret Ingraham - Mrs. Stanley
Judy Kimball - Miss Preen
Pat King - Harriet Stanley
Terry Kiss Frank - Sarah
Steven Koehler - Bert Jefferson
Bill Lutes - Beverly Carlton
Michael McAssey - Banjo
Lance Marsh - Convict 1/Westcott/Deputy 1
David J.P. Neuser - Convict3/Sandy
Karen Prager - Mrs. McCutcheon
Jennifer Rupp - Maggie
Dustin Strong - Richard
M. Scott Taulman - Baker/Radio Man 1/Deputy 2
Molly Weyers - June
Patricia Whitely - Mrs. Dexter
THE ARTISTIC TEAM
Director - D. Scott Glasser
Set Designer - Kristopher Steege
Costume Designer - Mary Waldhart and Scott Rött
Lighting Designer - John Tees III
Sound Designer - Jack Sayre
Production Stage Manager - Evelyn Matten
