Cybill Shepherd, Kristin Davis, John Stamos & Elizabeth Ashley Set For The Best Man

Cybill Shepherd, Kristin Davis, John Stamos and Elizabeth Ashley have been tapped to star in the Broadway revival of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man. Shepherd, Davis and Stamos will join the production July 10, while Ashley begins performances July 24. Shepherd will succeed Candice Bergen as Alice Russell, Davis will replace Kerry Butler as Mabel Cantwell and Stamos will succeed Eric McCormack as Senator Joseph Cantwell. Ashley will replace Angela Lansbury as Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge. The Best Man is set to play a limited engagement through September 9 at the Schoenfeld Theatre.

Original cast members John Larroquette, James Earl Jones and Jefferson Mays will continue their run in the production, along with Mark Blum, who replaced original cast member Michael McKean after the actor was struck by a car and suffered a broken leg. Set at the national convention, The Best Man is the story of two political candidates (Stamos and Larroquette) who are both fighting for their party’s nomination for president, and must decide whether to smear their respective opponent's reputation or fight fair.

Shepherd will make her Broadway debut in The Best Man. Her film and TV credits include The Client List, Taxi Driver, The Heartbreak Kid, Hot in Cleveland and Psych. Stamos has appeared on Broadway in Bye Bye Birdie, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, Cabaret and Nine. His film and TV appearances include Full House, ER and the ABC television adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun.

Davis, best known for her portrayal of Charlotte on TV’s Sex and the City, will make her Broadway debut in The Best Man. Ashley earned a Tony for Take Her, She’s Mine and Tony nominations for Barefoot in the Park and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Her additional Broadway credits include Dividing the Estate, Enchanted April, August: Osage County, Agnes of God, and Caesar and Cleopatra. Ashley previously played the role of Mrs. Sue-Ellen Gamadge in the 2000 Broadway revival of The Best Man.