Tony Winner Harriet Harris and Brooks Ashmanskas Join Roundabout's Present Laughter; Complete Cast Announced

Tony Award winner Harriet Harris and Brooks Ashmanskas will join previously announced star Victor Garber in Roundabout Theatre Company's upcoming Broadway revival of Noel Coward's Present Laughter. The comedy, directed by Nicholas Martin, beings previews at the American Airlines Theatre January 2, 2010, with opening set for January 21.

In addition to Garber as Garry Essendine, Harris as Monica Reed and Ashmanskas as Roland Maule, Present Laughter will feature Lisa Banes (Rumors, Arcadia) as Liz Essendine, Nancy E. Carroll (The Rose Tattoo) as Miss Erickson, Alice Duffy (Dead End, Heartbreak House) as Lady Saltburn, Holley Fain (Frank's Home, Measure for Measure) as Daphne Stillington, Pamela Jane Gray (Orange Flower Water, Butley) as Joanna Lypiatt, James Joseph O'Neil (Look Back in Anger, The Hired Man) as Fred, Richard Poe (Cry-Baby, The Pajama Game) as Henry Lypiatt and Marc Vietor (The Moliere Comedies, Two Gentlemen of Verona) as Morris Dixon.

In Present Laughter, matinee idol Garry Essendine (Garber) sits at the center of his own universe. While Garry struggles to plan his upcoming trip to Africa, his elegant London flat is invaded by a love struck ingenue, an adulterous producer and a married seductress, not to mention Garry’s estranged wife and a crazed young playwright. Just before Garry escapes, the full extent of his misdemeanors is discovered and all hell breaks loose.

Harris' Broadway credits include Old Acquaintance, The Man Who came to Dinner, Cry-Baby and Thoroughly Modern Millie, which earned her a Tony Award. Off-Broadway credits include Jeffrey, Innocents' Crusade, Christmas on Mars, Rude Entertainment and Hamlet. On screen, she has been seen in the films Momento, Monster-in-Law, Nurse Betty and Addams Family Values, as well as the TV shows Desperate Housewives, Fraiser, Six Feet Under, The X-Files, It's all Relative and Union Square.

Ashmanskas received a Tony nomination for Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me and has appeared on Broadway in The Ritz, The Producers, Gypsy, Little Me, Dream, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying and On the Twentieth Century. Off-Broadway credits include Wise Guys, Labor Day, Songs for a New World, London Suite and It Changes Every Year.

The design team for Present Laughter includes Alexander Dodge (sets), Jane Greenwood (costumes), Rui Rita (lights) and Drew Levy (sound).