Kelly McGillis And Julia Duffy Lead The Cast Of THE LITTLE FOXES At Pasadena Playhouse, Opens 5/22

Pasadena Playhouse (Sheldon Epps, Artistic Director, Ken Novice, Interim Managing Director, Tom Ware, Producing Director) today announced full casting for the upcoming production of Lillian Hellman’s The Little Foxes, which began rehearsals this week.  Dámaso Rodriguez (Pasadena Playhouse Associate Artistic Director), who directed Pasadena Playhouse’s critically-acclaimed production of Orson’s Shadow, directs a cast of ten led by Kelly McGillis as Regina Giddens (Top Gun and Broadway’s Hedda Gabler) and Julia Duffy as Birdie Hubbard (CBS’s “Newhart”).  Preview performances begin May 22 at Pasadena Playhouse (39 South El Molino Avenue, Pasadena).

"Damaso has brought together a tremendously exciting cast for our production of Lillian Hellman's great American classic.  I am especially happy to welcome Kelly McGillis to the stage of the Playhouse, and I know that she will follow a long line of notable actresses who have brought tremendous theatrical excitement to the plum role of Regina,” said Pasadena Playhouse Artistic Director Sheldon Epps.  “I look forward to watching the dynamic fireworks that this wonderful group of actors will bring to this terrific play."

The cast of ten led by McGillis and Duffy also include: Yvette Cason as Addie (Pasadena Playhouse’s Ray Charles Live and the original Broadway Company of Dreamgirls), Cleavant Derricks as Cal (Pasadena Playhouse’s Stormy Weather and the original Broadway Company of Dreamgirls – Tony Award for Best Featured  Actor in a Musical), Shawn Lee as Leo Hubbard (Furious Theatre Company’s US Drag), Geoff Pierson as Horace Giddens (Broadway’s Trick of the Trade opposite George C. Scott), Tom Schmid as William Marshall (Pasadena Playhouse’s I Do, I Do! and Broadway’s Annie Get Your Gun), Marc Singer as Oscar Hubbard (The Taming of the Shrew – LADCC Award), Rachel Sondag as Alexandra Giddens (Serendipity Theatre Company’s girl, 20), and Steve Vinovich as Benjamin Hubbard (The Original Broadway Company of Lost in Yonkers and Reprise’s Babes in Arms).

Greed knows no time or place is an adage that holds true in 2009 as much as it did in 1900. In The Little Foxes, Hellman masterfully crafts a tale of family politics and corporate greed that is at once dizzyingly deceptive while being devilishly fun. The Hubbards can only be described as ravenous - a family with an uncanny ability to manipulate each other in ways that rival the mega-corporations of today.

“Our production will not be a traditionally realistic one.  I'm struck by how this play couldn't be any more timely – like it was written last week!  We'll stick to the setting:  1900, Demopolis, Alabama but I want to strip it of some of its ‘wealth,’ literally,” said director Dámaso Rodriguez.  “I’m intrigued by the sense of menace in Hellman’s characters, and how they (and all of us) are genetically coded to grasp for all they can.  Which makes the Hubbard's backstabbing behavior more troubling and timely:  it's not a matter of ‘Good vs. Evil,’ but ‘Survival of the Fittest’ – this is who we are."

Joining the creative team with Dámaso Rodriguez are Gary Wissmann (scenic design), Mary Vogt (costume design), Dan Jenkins (lighting design), Michael Hooker (sound design), Joel Goldes (dialect coach), Michael Donovan (casting), Lea Chazin (production stage manager) and Hethyr Verhoef (assistant stage manager).

The Little Foxes is presented by arrangement with Graham Agency, New York.  The production originally opened on Broadway in 1939 at the National Theatre and starred Tallulah Bankhead as Regina Giddens.

The Little Foxes plays at the Pasadena Playhouse, 39 South El Molino Avenue in Pasadena. Performances begin May 22 and play through June 28, with the official press opening on Friday, May 29. Performance schedule is Tuesday through Friday at 8:00 p.m.; Saturday at 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.; and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.  Schedule notes:  There will be no performances on Saturday, May 23 at 4:00 p.m.; Tuesday, May 26 at 8:00 p.m.; Wednesday, June 3 at 8:00 p.m.; and Wednesday, June 10 at 8:00 p.m. There will be one matinee performance on Wednesday, June 10 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets range from $32.00 - $67.00.  Tickets are available by calling the Pasadena Playhouse at 626-356-7529 by visiting the Pasadena Playhouse Box Office, open from 12:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. daily excluding holidays and online at www.Pasadenaplayhouse.org.  Group Sales (15 or more) are available by calling 800-378-7021.