Cariani and Goldsberry Join Company of Two Gentlemen of Verona

Tony nominated actor John Cariani and One Life to Live's Reneé Elise Goldsberry have joined the cast of the Public Theater production of the musical version of William Shakespeare's The Two Gentlemen of Verona. They will appear alongside previously announced cast members David Costabile, Rosario Dawson, Oscar Isaac, Megan Lawrence, Norm Lewis and Paolo Montalban, a production spokesperson confirmed to Broadway.com.

Cariani, who will play the servant Speed in Two Gentlemen of Verona, received the Outer Critics Circle Award and was nominated for a Tony Award for his Broadway debut in Fiddler on the Roof. Cariani has appeared off-Broadway in It's My Party… and Modern Orthodox. He has a recurring role on Law & Order playing a forensic specialist. Cariani is also a playwright whose latest work, Almost, Maine, was a big hit for the Portland Stage Company last summer and is eyeing an off-Broadway bow later this season.

Goldsberry is best known for her current role as defense attorney Evangeline Williamson on One Life to Live. She appeared on Broadway as Nala in The Lion King. Her other theatrical credits include a national tour of Dreamgirls and productions of Abyssinia and Paper Moon. She has a solo album entitled Everything But the Kitchen Sink which she co-wrote and produced with accomplished bassist and music producer Andreas Geck. In Verona, she will play Sylvia, the daughter of the Duke who Proteus Isaac and Valetine Lewis both fall in love with.

This musical version of The Two Gentlemen of Verona utilizes an adaptation by John Guare and Mel Shapiro and features lyrics by Guare and music by Galt MacDermot. It first played at the Delacorte Theatre in 1971. That production received much critical acclaim and transferred to Broadway where it won 1972 Tony Awards for Best Musical and Best Book of a Musical.

Kathleen Marshall is set to direct and choreograph this production at the Delacorte. Keith David, who was previously expected to appear, has opted instead to accept a film role.