Peter Scolari Headed Off-Broadway in White's Lies

Stage and TV vet Peter Scolari has joined the cast of White’s Lies, a new comedy by Ben Andron. The play is scheduled to begin previews on March 8 and open on March 22 at New World Stages, directed by Bob Cline.

According to a news release, Scolari will play Alan, the best friend and law partner of lead character Joe White. Although casting for the title role has not been announced, Tom Cavanagh (Urinetown, TV’s Ed) played White in a September 2009 reading of the play that also included Elaine Stritch as his mother.

White’s Lies centers on Joe White, who’s handsome and charming, with a great career and plenty of girlfriends. His mother drops a bombshell: She’s got cancer, and her dying wish is to have a grandchild. With his bachelorhood threatened, Joe could find a nice girl to settle down and have kids with, or he could convince his bitter, angry ex-girlfriend from college—who just happens to have a daughter in her early twenties—to pretend that her daughter is his daughter. As their tangled web of lies unravels, Joe and company find themselves on a hilarious journey full of twists and turns.

Scolari, best known for starring with Tom Hanks in TV’s Bosom Buddies and playing producer Michael Harris on Newhart, has appeared on Broadway in Sly Fox and Hairspray and in the Encores! productions of Ziegfeld Follies of 1936 and Out of this World. He is one of the founding members of Colonnades Theatre Lab.

White’s Lies will be produced by Aaron Grant.