(© Joseph Marzullo/Retna)
Kevin Chamberlin, Rosie Perez, and Brooks Ashmanskas will star in the Roundabout Theatre Company’s revival of Terrence McNally’s 1975 comedy The Ritz, to play Studio 54, September 14-December 2. The production, to be directed by Tony Award winner Joe Mantello, will officially open on October 11.
The design team will include Scott Pask (sets) and William Ivey Long (costumes), and Peggy Eisenhauer and Jules Fiisher (lighting). Additional members of the cast will be announced shortly.
An over-the-top comedy, The Ritz is a set in a Manhattan gay bathhouse, where Gaetano Proclo goes to hide from a mobster with unexpected results. The original Broadway production starred Jack Weston, Jerry Stiller, and Rita Moreno (who won a Tony Award), all of whom reprised their roles in the 1976 film version.
Chamberlin, who will play Gaetano, received Tony Award nominations for his roles in Seussical and Dirty Blonde. His other New York stage credits include My Favorite Year, Triumph of Love, and the recent City Center Encores! production Stairway to Paradise. He is currently appearing in the Lifetime Television series State of Mind.
Perez, who will play Googie Gomez, previously appeared on Broadway in McNally’s Frankie and Johnny in the Claire de Lune. Her other stage credits include Reckless, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot, and The Vagina Monologues. She received an Oscar nomination for her work in Fearless and an Emmy Award nomination for In Living Color.
Ashmanskas, who will play Chris, received a 2007 Tony Award nomination for his work in Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me. His previous Broadway credits include The Producers, Gypsy, and Little Me. He is currently starring opposite Victor Garber in the Huntington Theatre’s production of Present Laughter.
McNally is currently represented on Broadway by Deuce and received a Drama Desk nomination earlier this year for Some Men. Mantello is currently represented on Broadway by Wicked and received Tony Awards for his direction of Assassins and Take Me Out.
