Tony Winner David Hyde Pierce Set to Direct Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike in Los Angeles

Tony and Emmy winner David Hyde Pierce will direct Christopher Durang’s Tony-winning comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the Center Theatre Group/Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The production is set to run for a limited engagement between January 29 and March 9.

Pierce was Tony-nominated for his performance in the Broadway production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike, directed by Nicholas Martin, and will base his version of the show on the Great White Way mounting. The L.A. cast includes Tony nominees Kristine Nielsen and Shalita Grant reprising their Broadway roles, as well as Tony winner Christine Ebersole, Marc Blum, David Hull and Liesel Allen-Yeager (who served as a replacement in the Broadway production).

Inspired by the works of Chekhov, the play takes the playwright's classic characters and plotlines and transports them to modern-day Pennsylvania. Vanya and his adopted sister Sonia have lived their entire lives in their family’s farmhouse. Their sister Masha has been gallivanting around the world as a successful actress and movie star, leaving Vanya and Sonia feeling trapped and regretful. Meanwhile, their soothsayer/cleaning woman Cassandra keeps warning them about terrible things in the future, which include a sudden visit from Masha and her twenty-something boy toy Spike.

The creative team features set design by David Korins, costume design by Gabriel Berry, lighting design by David Weiner and original music and sound design by Mark Bennett.

The Broadway production starred Pierce, Nielsen and Grant alongside Sigourney Weaver, Billy Magnussen and Genevieve Angelson. Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike received six 2013 Tony nominations, taking home the coveted Best Play Award.