Michael Cerveris & Paul Sparks to Join Mary-Louise Parker in Hedda Gabler

As he begins off-Broadway previews of Stephen Sondheim’s musical Road Show, Michael Cerveris has already signed on for a new role in the new year: The Tony-winning actor will play Jorgen Tesman opposite previously announced star Mary-Louise Parker in Roundabout Theatre Company’s Broadway revival of Hedda Gabler. Off-Broadway regular Paul Sparks has been cast as Tesman’s academic rival Ejlert Lovberg in Christopher Shinn’s new adaptation of the Henrik Ibsen classic. Hedda Gabler will begin previews on January 6, 2009, and open officially on January 25 at the American Airlines Theatre, directed by Ian Rickson The Seagull. The limited engagement is set to run through March 29.

A woman of dangerous independence restrained by a conventional marriage, Hedda Gabler indulges in a cruel game, amusing herself with the misfortune she inflicts on those around her. As Hedda struggles to balance her wild desires against her chosen life, she sets into motion a manic chain of events that bring her story to a chilling end.

Cerveris, who is set to open on November 18 in the leading role of Wilson Mizner in Road Show, is no stranger to performing in one show while rehearsing a different one: He previously appeared as Kent in the Public’s production of King Lear while preparing to play composer Kurt Weill in Love/Musik, which brought him a Tony Award nomination. A Tony winner for Sondheim’s Assassins, he was nominated for a Tony for playing the title role in the Broadway revival of Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd. Other Broadway credits include Cymbeline, Titanic and Tommy. Off-Broadway credits include Hedwig and the Angry Inch, Wintertime, Total Eclipse and Abingdon Square, as well as Passion on PBS. Cerveris can currently be seen in a recurring role in the new TV series Fringe.

Sparks appeared on Broadway in Take Me Out and has had leading roles in numerous off-Broadway productions, including Lady, Pumpgirl, American Sligo, Essential Self Defense, Finer Noble Gases, Landscape of the Body, Orange Flower Water, Bug, Blackbird, Circumference of a Squirrel, Coyote on a Fence, The Late Henry Moss, Compleat Female Stage Beauty, Man and Superman and Macbeth.

The design team for Hedda Gabler includes Hildegard Bechtler sets, Ann Roth costumes, Natasha Katz lights, John Gromada sound. Additional cast members will be announced shortly.