South Florida's artistic directors do compete for the services of actors they like working with, and increasingly they find find some stage veterans unavailable due to shooting schedules for made-in-Miami TV shows like Burn Notice and Magic City. Those realities may factor into some early -- and exciting -- casting news.
At GableStage in Coral Gables, Joseph Adler is getting ready to open his production of Lynn Nottage's Ruinedon Sept. 8, but he has already picked the duo who will star in David Ives' Venus in FurNov. 10-Dec. 9. Matthew William Chizever plays a playwright auditioning actresses for his stage adaptation of Leopold von Sacher-Masoch's 19th century erotic novel; Betsy Graver is the young actress who turns out to be just right for the part.
Plantation's Mosaic Theatre is opening its season Sept. 20-Oct. 14 with Nikolai Gogol's Diary of a Madman, adapted by David Holman along with Neil Armfield and Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush. Ken Clement gets the dazzling role of Russian civil servant Poprischin, a man driven crazy and delusional by bureaucracy.
In West Palm Beach, Palm Beach Dramaworks has announced some key casting for its entire season, which begins Oct. 12-Nov. 11 with Erin Joy Schmidt and Brian Wallace starring in Lanford Wilson's Talley's Folly. Edward Albee's searing drama A Delicate Balance, which runs Dec. 7-Jan. 6, will star Broadway (and Albee) veteran Maureen Anderman, along with Carbonell Award winners Angie Radosh and Dennis Creaghan. Ethan Henry gets the lead role in Lorraine Hansberry's A Raisin in the Sun, running Feb. 1-March 3. The infinitely watchable Colin McPhillamy will star in Eugene Ionesco's absurdist classic Exit the King March 29-April 28. Julie Rowe and Margery Lowe close out the season May 24-June 23 with Brian Friel's Tony Award-winning Dancing at Lughnasa.
Don't know about you, but the prospect of seeing these actors at work makes me eager for the season to start.
(Photos of Betsy Graver and Matthew William Chizever in Venus in Fur and Ken Clement by George Schiavone; photo of Angie Radosh, Dennis Creaghan and Maureen Anderman in A Delicate Balance by Alicia Donelan)
