Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino Set for Roundabout’s Revival of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer

Blythe Danner and Carla Gugino will star in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Tennessee Williams’ Suddenly Last Summer, October 20-January 21 at the Laura Pels Theatre. The production, to be directed by Mark Brokaw, will officially open on November 15. Additional casting and creative personnel will be announced at a later date.

Suddenly Last Summer focuses on the battle of wills between Violet Venable, a powerful widow, and Catharine, a troubled young woman who witnessed the brutal death of Mrs. Venable’s homosexual son Sebastian. The play was first seen Off-Broadway in 1958 as part of a double bill with In The Garden District. In 1995, it was part of the Broadway production Garden District, starring Elizabeth Ashley and Jordan Baker. Its greatest claim to fame is the 1959 film version, with a screenplay by Williams and Gore Vidal, starring Katharine Hepburn, Elizabeth Taylor, and Montgomery Clift. A 1993 television remake starred Maggie Smith, Natasha Richardson, and Rob Lowe.

Danner, who will play Mrs. Venable, won a Tony Award for her performance in Butterflies are Free and received nominations for her work in A Streetcar Named Desire, Betrayal, and Follies. Her many film credits include 1776, The Prince of Tides, and The Great Santini. Danner is an Emmy Award nominee this year for Huff and Will & Grace; she made Emmy history last year for receiving three separate nominations for the TV film Back When We Were Grownups, her recurring role on Will & Grace, and Huff, for which she won the statuette. Gugino, who will play Catharine, appeared on Broadway as Maggie in the Roundabout’s production of After the Fall. Among her many film and television credits are Spy Kids, Karen Sisco, Spin City, and Threshold.

The Roundabout’s Laura Pels season will continue with Patrick Marber’s Howard Katz, set to star Alfred Molina and to be directed by Doug Hughes, February 2-April 29. The third offering will be Brian Friel’s The Home Place, directed by Joe Dowling. It will premiere in the summer of 2007.

For more information, call 212-719-1300 or visit www.roundabouttheatre.org.