Hartford Stage Announces Cast and Creative Team For Shakespeare's The Comedy of Errors

HARTFORD, CT — DECEMBER 27, 2016 — Hartford Stage Artistic Director Darko Tresnjak and Managing Director Michael Stotts announced today the creative team and cast — a lively ensemble of actors, singers, dancers, musicians and acrobats — for William Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, a musical extravaganza directed by Tresnjak and choreographed by Peggy Hickey. The show plays January 12 to February 12.

Generous production support for The Comedy Errors is provided by The Richard P. Garmany Fund at The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and The Hartford.

Tresnjak sets The Comedy of Errors on a sun-kissed island off the coast of Greece in 1965. The production will feature both international songs from the era and exotic dance numbers. The Bard’s zaniest comedy, in which two sets of twins separated at birth find themselves in the same city on the same day, leads to a string of mistaken identities, over-the-top slapstick and false accusations.

Tresnjak’s Hartford Stage credits include the musical Anastasia, due to open on Broadway in April; A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (winner of four 2014 Tony Awards, including Best Direction of a Musical for Tresnjak), currently in the second year of its national tour; Rear Window; Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet. Other recent credits include The Killer (2014 Obie Award for Direction) at Theatre for a New Audience and The Ghosts of Versailles and Macbeth at LA Opera.

The cast includes Jolly Abraham (Coram Boy on Broadway) as Adriana; Brendan Averett (Kiss Me, Kate at Hartford Stage) as Angelo; Louis Butelli (Sleep No More with Punchdrunk) as Sailor/Balthazar/Old Lady; Paula Leggett Chase (Bye Bye Birdie on Broadway) as Courtesan; Michael Elich (Party People at The Public Theater) as Duke Solinar/ Dr. Pinch; Ryan-James Hatanaka (King Lear for Shakespeare in the Park) as Antipholus of Ephesus; Tara Heal (Saturday Night Fever national tour) as Luce/Fortune Teller; Mahira Kakkar (Clive at The New Group) as Luciana; Matthew Macca (Mouth Open, Eyes Closed at Boston University) as Dromio of Ephesus; Kalob Martinez (Peter and the Starcatcher at CT Repertory) as Officer; Johanna Morrison (A Christmas Carol—A Ghost Story of Christmas at Hartford Stage) as Aemilia/Abbess; Alan Schmuckler (Nikolai and the Others at Lincoln Center) as Dromio of Syracuse; Noble Shropshire (Macbeth at Hartford Stage) as Aegeon; and Tyler Lansing Weaks (Macbeth at Lincoln Center) as Antipholus of Syracuse.

The ensemble includes the musicians Alexander Sovronsky, also Music Director, (Cyrano de Bergerac on Broadway) and Louis Tucci (Buddy: the Buddy Holly Story on Broadway). The ensemble also consists of Lauren Bricca, Jamaal Fields-Green, Daisy Infantas, Evan McReddie, Monica Owen and Tyler Pisani.

Hickey’s credits include A Gentleman’s Guide to Love and Murder (Tony Award nomination), Anastasia, Kiss Me, Kate, all originally at Hartford Stage, and most recently, Wonderful Town at LA Opera.

Also on the creative team: Set Designer Tresnjak (sets for Macbeth, Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet at Hartford Stage); Costume Design by Fabio Toblini (Hamlet and Kiss Me, Kate at Hartford Stage); Lighting Design by Matthew Richards (Romeo & Juliet and Hamlet at Hartford Stage); and Sound Designer Jane Shaw (La Dispute, Macbeth and Romeo & Juliet at Hartford Stage). Tom Watson of the Metropolitan Opera will design the wigs. Fiona Kyle will serve as Dramaturg.

Robyn M. Zalewski (Romeo & Juliet, Private Lives at Hartford Stage) will serve as Production Stage Manager with Maria Tejada as Assistant Stage Manager (A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare Theatre Company).

Sponsors

The Presenting Sponsors are The Richard P. Garmany Fund at The Hartford Foundation for Public Giving and The Hartford. The Production Sponsors are The Edward C. & Ann T. Roberts Foundation and The Cheryl Chase and Stuart Bear Foundation.

The Comedy of Errors is part of Shakespeare for a New Generation, a national program of the National Endowment for the Arts in partnership with Arts Midwest.

The Producers for The Comedy of Errors are Jill Adams & William Knight. The Assisting Production Sponsors are Federman, Lally & Remis and Hinckley Allen.

The 2016-17 Season also is sponsored by the Greater Hartford Arts Council and the Connecticut Department of Economic and Community Development.

Special Dates

Previews begin at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, January 12
Opening Night: 8 p.m. Friday, January 20
Closes: 2 p.m. Sunday, February 12

Tickets & Performances

Tue, Wed, Thu, Sun at 7:30 p.m.—Fri, Sat at 8 p.m.—Sat, Sun at 2 p.m.
Wed matinee at 2 p.m. on January 25 only

Weekly schedules vary. For details, visit www.hartfordstage.org. 

Tickets for all shows start at $25. Student tickets: $20. For group discounts (10 or more), contact Theresa MacNaughton at 860-520-7114.

For all other tickets, please call the Hartford Stage box office at 860-527-5151 or visit www.hartfordstage.org.

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Special Events

Sunday Afternoon Discussion, January 22

Enjoy a lecture from artists and scholars connected with the production immediately following the 2 p.m. matinee. Free

AfterWords Discussion
Tuesday, January 24 & Wednesdays, January 25 and February 1

Join members of the cast and our Artistic staff for a free discussion, immediately following select 7:30 p.m. performances on Tuesday or the 2 p.m. Wednesday matinee.

Open Captioned Performances
Sunday, January 29, 2 p.m. & 7:30 p.m.

For patrons who are deaf or have hearing loss — free service with admission

Audio Described Performance
Saturday, February 4, 2 p.m.

For patrons who are blind or have low vision — free service with admission