Bryggman, Hayden, MacGraw & Margulies Set for B'way's Festen

Larry Bryggman, Michael Hayden, Ali MacGraw and Julianna Margulies will star in the upcoming Broadway mounting of Festen. The production, directed by Rufus Norris, is set to begin performances at the Music Box Theatre on March 23.

In Festen, a beloved patriarch Bryggman, surrounded by his wife MacGraw, his daughter Margulies, his two sons one of them being Hayden and a host of family and friends, is celebrating his 60th birthday at his country home. This promises to be a very special occasion, but as the evening progresses, the man's eldest son, Christian, feels compelled to break the silence surrounding a family secret. Standing to propose a toast, he offers his father--much to the delight of the guests--an amusing yet simple choice. And so the games begin. The theatrical Festen is the result of a David Eldridge dramatization of the Danish 1998 film of the same name.

Bryggman has received Tony nominations for his work in Proof and Picnic. He has also appeared on the Great White Way in Twelve Angry Men, Prelude to a Kiss, Richard III, The Basic Training of Pavlo Hummel and Ulysses in Nighttown. His off-Broadway credits include Coriolanus, Macbeth, Hothouse, Once in a Lifetime, Proof, New England, Prelude and Liebestod, A Bad Friend, Bodies, Rest and Motion, Roulette and Romance. He received two Daytime Emmys for Best Actor for his role on As The World Turns.

Hayden received a Tony nomination for his performance in Judgment at Nuremberg. He has also appeared on Broadway in Enchanted April, Cabaret, Carousel and Henry IV. Other New York stage credits include All My Sons and Far East. He had been announced to appear in Carnival! at the Paper Mill Playhouse from March 8 through April 9, but now it seems he will have to withdraw from that engagement.

MacGraw earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role in the 1970 film Love Story. Her other film credits include Goodbye, Columbus, The Getaway, Just Tell Me What You Want and Glam. She is the author of the memoir Moving Pictures.

Margulies is probably best known for her Emmy Award-winning portrayal of Nurse Carol Hathaway on the hit drama ER. During her six seasons on the show, she was nominated for four Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series Emmys and two Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Emmys, winning one in the latter category. Margulies won a 2001 Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress for her performance in the Lincoln Center production of Ten Unknowns. She has also been seen off-Broadway in The Vagina Monologues she also appeared in the Los Angeles production of that show and Intrigue with Faye. Her other stage credits include Fefu and her Friends, The Substance of Fire, Living Expenses, Book of Names, Balm in Gilead and In the Boom Boom Room. Her film credits include A Price Above Rubies, Evelyn and Ghost Ship. She was nominated for a 2004 Golden Globe Award for her performance in the television miniseries The Grid, which had six installments on TNT.

Festen is set to officially open on the Great White Way on April 9. In addition to those previously named, the show's cast will include Diane Davis, Keith Davis, David Patrick Kelly, Stephen Kunken, Carrie Preston and C.J. Wilson. Additional casting will be announced shortly.