Sigourney Weaver and David Hyde Pierce to Lead Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike

As previously speculated, Sigourney Weaver will star alongside Tony winner David Hyde Pierce and Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson’s Kristine Nielsen in the New York premiere of Christopher Durang’s Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. Directed by Nicholas Martin, the new comedy will run at Lincoln Center Theater’s Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater beginning October 25, with an official opening set for November 12.

In addition to Weaver, Pierce and Nielsen, the cast includes Genevieve Angelson (Army Wives), Shalita Grant (The Merchant of Venice) and Billy Magnussen (As the World Turns). The play is presented in association with the McCarter Theatre in New Jersey, where it was commissioned and will run September 7 through October 7, prior to its New York engagement.

In Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, Durang transports characters and themes from Chekhov's work to present day Bucks County, Pennsylvania. Vanya (Pierce) and his stepsister Sonia (Nielsen) have lived their entire lives in their family’s farmhouse. While they cared for their ailing parents, their sister Masha (Weaver) has been gallivanting around the world as a successful actress and movie star, leaving Vanya and Sonia trapped and regretful. Their soothsayer/cleaning woman, Cassandra (Grant), keeps warning them about terrible things in the future, which include a sudden visit from Masha and her twenty-something boy toy Spike (Magnussen).

Weaver has appeared in four Durang shows including Beyond Therapy, Das Lusitania Songspiel, Titanic and Sex and Longing. She received a Tony nomination in 1985 for Hurlyburly and is best known for her work in the films Alien, Avatar, Working Girl, Ghostbusters and Prayers For Bobby. Pierce received a Tony Award in 2007 for Curtains and received four Emmy Awards for his role as Dr. Niles Crane on Frasier. Nielsen’s additional Broadway credits include Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Spring Awakening and A Streetcar Named Desire.