Gingold Theatrical Group
Announces the Cast for the Mainstage Production of
Shaw's Caesar and Cleopatra
Adapted & Directed by David Staller
Brenda Braxton, Rajesh Bose, Robert Cuccioli, Dan Domingues, Claybourne Elder, Jonathan Hadley, and Teresa Avia Lim
Will Star in This New Adaptation of Shaw’s Beloved Comedy
Limited Off-Broadway Engagement Begins Tuesday September 3rd at Theatre Row
Opening Night Set for Sunday September 24th
Tickets on Sale August 1st!
Gingold Theatrical Group (David Staller, Artistic Director) is proud to announce the cast for a rare revival of Shaw’s beloved almost historical comedy Caesar and Cleopatra, which will begin a limited Off-Broadway engagement on Tuesday September 3rd at Theatre Row (410 West 42nd Street, between 9th and 10th Avenues) and continue through October 12th only. Opening Night is set for Sunday September 24th.
Artistic Director David Staller directs a cast that will feature Brenda Braxton (Broadway: Chicago, Smokey Joe's Café - Tony Award nomination, Jelly's Last Jam, Cats, Legs Diamond) as Ftatateeta, Rajesh Bose (Henry VI, The Seagull – NAATCO, Pygmalion - Bedlam) as Pothinus, Robert Cuccioli (Broadway: Jekyll & Hyde - Tony Award nomination, Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark, Les Miserables) as Caesar, Dan Domingues (Wild Goose Dreams - Public Theater; The Undertaking - The Civilians; To The Bone - Cherry Lane; The Jammer, The Cherry Orchard - Atlantic Theater) as Apolldorus, Claybourne Elder (Broadway - Torch Song, Sunday in the Park with George, Bonnie & Clyde; Benny & Joon - Paper Mill; Allegro – CSC; One Arm- New Group;Giant, Road Show - Public Theater) as Rufio, Jonathan Hadley (Broadway: Jersey Boys; Finian's Rainbow - Irish Rep; A Class Act – MTC; The Bodyguard The Musical, Into the Woods - National Tours; Widowers' Houses – GTG/TACT, Rothschild & Sons - York Theatre) as Britannus, and Teresa Avia Lim (Junk - Lincoln Center Theater; The Moors - Playwrights Realm; The Taming of the Shrew - Public Theater/Delacorte, Awake and Sing! - NAATCO) as Cleopatra. The design team will include Brian Prather, scenic design; Tracy Christensen, costumes; Jamie Roderick, lighting; and Frederick Kennedy, sound.
One of Shaw’s most famous and least known plays, this remarkable comedy of epic proportions hasn’t been given a full NYC production in over 40 years! As an early attempt to craft a theatrical relationship that evolved into the Eliza/Higgins partnership of Shaw’sPygmalion, this highly entertaining play from 1898 boldly addresses women’s rights, sexual roles, empowering the disenfranchised, having the courage to define the self in the face of social and societal rigid expectations, being an active and contributive member of the community, and even the dangers of Imperialist Colonization. Shaw reminds us that we’re all immigrants seeking to make our way in the world!
Inspired by the artistry and activism of George Bernard Shaw, the Gingold Theatrical Group creates theatre and theatre-related programs that promote Shaw’s humanitarian ideals including universal human rights, the freedom of thought and speech, and the equality of all living beings. Programs include full Off-Broadway productions as part of the Shaw New York annual festival, the Project Shaw monthly reading series, outreach and education programs, as well as the cultivation of new plays through GTG’s Speakers’ Corner writers’ group. All of GTG’s programming is designed to inspire lively discussion and peaceful activism with issues related to human rights, the freedom of speech, and individual liberty. This was the purpose behind all of Shaw’s work and why GTG chose him as the guide toward helping create a more tolerant and inclusive world through the exploration of the Arts.
Founded in 2006 by David Staller, GTG has carved a permanent niche for the work of George Bernard Shaw within the social and cultural life of New York City, and, through the Project Shaw reading series made history in 2009 as the first company ever to present performances of every one of Shaw's 65 plays (including full-length works, one-acts and sketches). GTG brings together performers, critics, students, academics and the general public with the opportunity to explore and perform Shaw’s work and to create new work based on the values that Shaw championed. Through performances, symposiums, educational programs, new play development, and outreach, GTG encourages all people to rejoice in the possibilities of the future.
Gingold Theatrical Group's Project Shaw made history in 2009 as the first company ever to present performances of every one of Shaw's 65 plays (including full-length works, one-acts and sketches). Since 2013, they also present works by writers who share Shaw’s activist socio-political views embracing human rights and free speech, including work by Chekhov, Ibsen, Elizabeth Robins, Rachel Crothers, Pinero, Wilde, Barrie, and Harley Granville-Barker. The 14th season of Project Shaw will continue with continue with Scintillating Shaw Symposium with an international panel on September 23, Shaw’s Arms and the Manon October 28th, followed by The Play’s The Thing by Ferenc Molnar on November 18th, ending the season with I’ll Leave It To You by Noel Coward on December 16th.[*] All the plays in this series will be presented in a concert-reading format at the Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theater at Symphony Space, 2537 Broadway at 95th Street. Tickets are $35 and are available by phone 212/864-5400 or online at symphonyspace.org. Special reserved VIP seating available for $50 by contacting the Gingold office 212/355-7823 or email info@gingoldgroup.org. Symphony Space’s Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre space is completely accessible.
Last season’s Off-Broadway engagement of Shaw’s Heartbreak House caused Terry Teachout in the The Wall Street Journal to declare, “Mr. Staller has taken on Heartbreak House, one of Shaw’s most challenging plays, with altogether extraordinary results. Every gesture lands with the utmost potency, and the climactic convulsion that is the play’s final scene sweeps away the bubbly comedy and leaves you, as Shaw intended, in shock. Mr. Staller has given us a uniquely satisfying production of this great but hard-to-stage play. This is one of the finest Shaw stagings of the past decade. Do not miss it.” In his year end recap, Mr. Teachout named Heartbreak House Best Classical Production of the year: “David Staller’s conceptual staging of George Bernard Shaw’s Heartbreak House, produced off Broadway by the Gingold Theatrical Group, was the best thing Mr. Staller has given us to date—which is saying something.”
Performances for Caesar & Cleopatra will be Tuesday through Thursday evenings at 7:30pm, Friday & Saturday evenings at 8pm, and matinees Saturday 2pm & Sunday at 3pm, with one special 2pm matinee Wednesday October 9th. All performances will take place at Theater Row (410 West 42nd Street between 9th and Dyer Avenues). The performance will run 2 hours 30 minutes, including intermission.
Tickets for Caesar & Cleopatra, which will go on sale August 1st, will be $69 (including theater restoration fee) and can be purchased online at Telecharge.com, by phone at 212-239-6200 or in person at the Theatre Row Box Office.
For more information about Caesar & Cleopatra or any of the programs at Gingold Theatrical Group, call 212/355-7823, email info@gingoldgroup.org, or visit www.gingoldgroup.org online.
[*] All titles are subject to change.