Raul Esparza, Audra McDonald and More Join Anne Hathaway in Twelfth Night

Michael Cumpsty, Raul Esparza, Hamish Linklater, Audra McDonald, David Pittu and Jay O. Sanders are set to join the previously announced Anne Hathaway in Twelfth Night at Central Park's Delacorte Theatre. The play, directed by Daniel Sullivan, officially opens on June 25 and will play through July 12.

Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s cross-dressing comedy about mistaken identity and the romantic adventures of Viola Hathaway and her identical twin brother Sebastian, had its first production at the Public in 1958, directed by founder Joseph Papp and starring Maria Tucci, William Windom and Peter Bogdanovich.  

Cumpsty will play Malvolio. He most recently appeared on Broadway in the Roundabout’s revival of Sunday in the Park with George and appeared at the Public in productions of Shakespeare’s Timon of Athens, All’s Well That Ends Well, Hamlet, Cymbeline, The Winter’s Tale, King John, and Romeo and Juliet. He recently starred in the Classic Stage Company productions of Hamlet for which he won an OBIE and Richard II.

Esparza will take on the role of Orsino. He was seen previously this season on Broadway Speed-the-Plow. Additional credits include The Homecoming, Company and Taboo, all of which earned him Tony Award nominations. Off-Broadway, he gave an OBIE award-winning performance in tick, tick…BOOM! He played the Public in The Normal Heart.

Linklater will play Sir Andrew Aguecheek. He has appeared for four seasons as Matthew in the hit CBS comedy The New Adventures of Old Christine. His numerous theater credits include Hamlet opposite Liev Schreiber and Love’s Fire at the Public, Daniel Sullivan’s Hamlet at San Diego’s Old Globe, as well as off-Broadway’s The Busy World Is Hushed, Recent Tragic Events, Good Thing and The Chemistry of Change.

McDonald will play Olivia. She has won Tony Awards for her performances in Carousel, Master Class, Ragtime, and A Raisin in the Sun and earned nominations for Marie Christine and 110 in the Shade on Broadway. Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Lincoln Center’s starry Henry IV. McDonald currently stars on TV’s Private Practice.

Pittu will play Feste. His Broadway credits include The Coast of Utopia, Is He Dead? and LoveMusik the latter two earned him Tony Award nominations. His numerous off-Broadway credits include the recent What’s That Smell? The Music of Jacob Sterling, which he co-wrote and directed, and the Public’s Stuff Happens.

Sanders, who will appear as Sir Toby Belch, has appeared on Broadway in Pygmalion, Saint Joan, and The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, among others. He is a Public Theater regular, having first appeared in 1976’s Henry V before returning for Measure for Measure, King John, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hamlet and Stuff Happens.

Twelfth Night will be followed by Shakespeare in the Park’s second production, Euripides’ The Bacchae, translated by Nicholas Rudall, directed by JoAnne Akalaitis and featuring original music by Philip Glass. It runs from August 11 through August 30.

Additional casting for Twelfth Night will be announced at a later time.