FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DAVID HYDE PIERCE TO DIRECT CHRISTOPHER DURANG’s
TONY-WINNING FARCE “VANYA AND SONIA AND MASHA AND SPIKE”
AT THE CENTER THEATRE GROUP/MARK TAPER FORUM
Shalita Grant and Kristine Nielsen Will Reprise Their Tony-Nominated Performances
Joined by Mark Blum, Christine Ebersole, David Hull and Liesel Allen Yeager
January 29 through March 9, 2014
Tony and Emmy Award-winning actor David Hyde Pierce will return to the hysterically
funny and affecting new play “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike,” this time directing the
play which earned him his most recent Tony nomination. Christopher Durang’s Tony-winning
farce will be performed at the Center Theatre Group / Mark Taper Forum, January 29 through
March 9, 2014, and will feature two Tony-nominated members of the Broadway cast.
Pierce will base this production on the work of Nicholas Martin who directed the
Broadway production. Martin had been previously announced to direct the Los Angeles
production but was forced to withdraw due to scheduling conflicts.
The cast features (in alphabetical order) Mark Blum (Obie Award-winner for “Gus and
Al”), Christine Ebersole (Tony Award for “Grey Gardens” and “42nd Street”), Shalita Grant
(Tony nomination for “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike”), David Hull (“Wicked” and
“The Book of Mormon”), Kristine Nielsen (Tony nomination for “Vanya and Sonia and Masha
and Spike”) and Liesel Allen Yeager (reprising the role she played on Broadway).
“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” features sets by David Korins, costumes by
Gabriel Berry, lighting by David Weiner, and original music and sound design by Mark Bennett.
The production stage manager is David S. Franklin.
Set in 21st century Bucks County, Pennsylvania, with hints of 19th century Russia,
“Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” is a riotous comedy with the Chekhovian set-up of a
middle-aged Vanya and his stepsister, Sonia, who live together in their ancestral farmhouse,
complete with a pond and a cherry orchard. Their normally quiet existence is thrown into
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Cast and Director Set for “Vanya and Sonia and Mash and Spike” at the Taper – 2
upheaval by the surprise visit from their glamorous, movie-star sibling, Masha, and her 20something boyfriend, Spike, the unlikely prophecies of their cleaning lady and an all too
important costume party.
“The terrifically kooky . . .” new comedy “. . . is entirely, indisputably, oh-no-he-didn’t
classic Durang,” said Melissa Rose Bernardo of Entertainment Weekly. Elizabeth Vincentelli of
the New York Post said, “Few Chekhov-inspired shows make you laugh out loud, and repeatedly
at that. In fact there’s probably just one such rare bird on the planet: Christopher Durang’s
riotous ‘Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike.’ ”
As a performer, David Hyde Pierce won the 2007 Tony Award (Best Actor in a Musical)
for his performance in “Curtains,” a performance he premiered at the CTG / Ahmanson Theatre.
Also with CTG, Pierce performed in Terrence McNally’s “It’s Only a Play” presented at the
Doolittle Theatre in 1992. David received a Tony nomination for his performance in “Vanya and
Sonia and Masha and Spike” and a special Isabelle Stevenson Tony Award in 2010 for his work
with the Alzheimer’s Association. On television, Pierce is best known for his multiple Emmy
and SAG Award-winning role as Niles on TV’s iconic comedy “Frasier.” His film credits
include “Little Man Tate,” “Sleepless in Seattle,” “Nixon,” “Down With Love,” and the
Sundance Film Festival Selection, “The Perfect Host.” His directing credits include a gangsterthemed “The Importance of Being Earnest” at the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and the world
premiere of Brian Hargrove and Barbara Anselmi’s new musical “It Shoulda Been You” at the
George Street Playhouse.
Christopher Durang’s plays include “The Idiots Karamazov” (co-authored with Albert
Innaurato), “A History of the American Film” (Tony Award nomination), “Sister Mary Ignatius
Explains It All for You” (Obie Award), “Beyond Therapy” (off- and on Broadway), “Baby with
the Bathwater,” “The Marriage of Bette and Boo” (Obie Award), “Laughing Wild,” “For Whom
the Southern Belle Tolls,” “Betty’s Summer Vacation” (Obie Award), “Miss Witherspoon”
(2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist), “Why Torture is Wrong, and the People Who Love Them,”
“Cabaret: Das Lusitania Songspiel” co-authored and performed by Sigourney Weaver and
Durang (Drama Desk nominations for both performers), “Chris Durang and Dawne” (Bistro
Award for Durang and cohorts John Augustine and Sherry Anderson). He won the Harvard Arts
Medal, the PEN/Laura Pels Award for a Master American Dramatist, and was recently inducted
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Cast and Director Set for “Vanya and Sonia and Mash and Spike” at the Taper – 3
into the Theater Hall of Fame. For 18 years he and Marsha Norman have been co-chairs of the
Juilliard Playwriting Program. He is a member of the Dramatists Guild Council.
Tickets for “Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike” will go on sale December 2 and are
currently by subscription only by calling (213) 972-4444 or visiting online at
www.CenterTheatreGroup.org. Tickets range from $20 - $70 (ticket prices are subject to
change). Individual ticket sales begin in December. The Mark Taper Forum is located at the
Music Center, 135 N. Grand Avenue in Downtown L.A. 90012.
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November 14, 2013