Annaleigh Ashford, Jayne Houdyshell & More to Join Angela Lansbury in The Importance of Being Earnest Benefit

Roundabout Theatre Company has compiled a talent-packed cast for its upcoming one-night benefit staging of Oscar Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest. The previously announced performance, starring five-time Tony winner Angela Lansbury as Lady Bracknell, will take place at the American Airlines Theatre on November 18 at 7:30pm.

New to the cast are Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford (Sunday in the Park with George) as Cecily Cardew, Tony winner Jayne Houdyshell (The Music Man) as Miss Prism, Tony winner John Glover (Waiting for Godot) as Reverend Canon Chasuble, Tony nominee Daniel Davis (Noises Off) as Lane, Simon Jones (Farinelli and the King) as Merriman and Tom Rhoads (Guys and Dolls) as Algernon Moncrieff, with real-life couple Hamish Linklater (The Pain of My Belligerence) and Tony nominee Lily Rabe (The Merchant of Venice) appearing as onstage couple John Worthing and Gwendolen Fairfax.

The Importance of Being Earnest is a comedy of mistaken identity which ridicules codes of propriety and etiquette. Dashing men-about-town John Worthing (Linklater) and Algernon Moncrieff (Rhoads) pursue fair ladies Gwendolen Fairfax (Rabe) and Cecily Cardew (Ashford). Matters are complicated by the imaginary characters invented by both men to cover their on-the-sly activities—not to mention the disapproval of Gwendolen’s mother, the formidable Lady Bracknell (Lansbury).

Michael Wilson will direct the one-night event.