Judy McLane and Tony Winner Daisy Eagan to Star in Wit
North Carolina Theatre has announced that Judy McLane (Mamma Mia!) will star in its upcoming production of Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play Wit. McLane will play Vivan Bearing, Ph.D, with Tony winner Daisy Eagan (The Secret Garden) taking on the featured role of Susie Monahan, R.N., B.S.N.
McLane is best known for her 11-year run in the Broadway production of Mamma Mia!, playing Tanya for seven and a half years and starring as Donna for the show's final three and a half years. Eagan holds the distinction of being the youngest actress ever to win a Tony Award, earning the honor in 1991 at 11 years old for her featured performance in The Secret Garden. She recently performed the role of Martha in the Manhattan Concert Productions mounting of The Secret Garden at David Geffen Hall.
Directed by Kate Galvin, the cast of Wit also features Jo Ann Cunningham (The King and I) as E.M. Ashford, D.Phil; Dirk Lumbard (Chitty Chitty Bang Bang) as Harvey Kelekian, M.D. and Mr. Bearing; and Logan James Hall as Jason Posner, M.D., along with Jess Barbour, Matthew Hager, Christopher J. Helton, and Maggie Lea.
The one-act play, which earned the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1999, follows Vivan Bearing, a brilliant professor who becomes a student of life as she undergoes experimental treatment for cancer. The 2012 Broadway production starred Cynthia Nixon, who earned a Tony nomination for her performance.
The North Carolina Theatre production will run from April 29-May 8 in the AJ Fletcher Opera Theater at the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.
