LaTanya Richardson Jackson & More Set for Shakespeare in the Park's The Taming of the Shrew

Tony nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson and more have been tapped for the Public Theater’s Shakespeare in the Park production of The Taming of the Shrew. As previously reported, Tony nominee Phyllida Lloyd will direct the all-female incarnation, starring Cush Jumbo and Janet McTeer. In honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death, they will begin performances on May 24 and officially open on June 14 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park.

Joining Richardson Jackson (A Raisin in the Sun) as Baptista will be Candy Buckley (Cabaret) as Vincentio, Donna Lynne Champlin (Billy Elliot) as Hortensio, Rosa Gilmore (Uncle Vanya) as Lucentio, Teresa Avia Lim (Awake and Sing) as Biondello, Adrienne C. Moore (Milk Like Sugar) as Tranio, Anne L. Nathan (It Shoulda Been You) as Pedant, Gayle Rankin (Cabaret) as Bianca, Judy Gold (25 Questions for a Jewish Mother) as Gremio and Stacey Sargeant (Eclipsed) as Grumio. The ensemble will include Pearl Rhein, Leenya Rideout and Jackie Sanders.

Lovely Bianca is the prize to be won by all the men looking to land themselves a wealthy wife. But the competitors will first have to marry off Bianca’s clever, fiery older sister, Katherina, who may just outsmart them all. Shakespeare’s original screwball comedy shows the lengths men will go to for their legacy, what women will do to break free and the outrageous things we all do for the human heart.

The Taming of the Shrew will feature set and costume design by Mark Thompson, lighting design by Robert Wierzel, sound design by Mark Menard and music composition by Sam Davis.

The production is scheduled to run through June 26.