Perez, Chamberlin to Star in Broadway Revival of McNally's The Ritz

Roundabout Theatre Company will kick off its 2007-2008 season at Studio 54 with a revival of Terrence McNally's comedy The Ritz, starring Rosie Perez Googie Gomez and Kevin Chamberlin Gaetano Proclo, directed by Joe Mantello. The show will begin previews on September 14 and open on October 11, playing a limited engagement through December 2.

The Ritz is an over-the-top comedy that takes place in a bathhouse in Manhattan. When Gaetano Proclo needs to hide from mobster Carmine Vespucci, he escapes to the Ritz. When Gaetano realizes the Ritz is a gay bathhouse and not a Turkish bath, he pretends to be a big-time Broadway producer to keep suspicions low. When Carmine locates Gaetano, wild, manic mayhem ensues.

The Ritz premiered on Broadway in January 1975 at the Longacre Theatre and played for 398 performances, closing January 4, 1976. After closing, it was made into a feature film starring Broadway leading players Jack Weston Gaetano, Rita Moreno Googie and Jerry Stiller Carmine. The cast for Mantello's revival will also include Tony nominee Brooks Ashmanskas Martin Short: Fame Becomes Me, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying as Chris. Additional casting will be announced shortly.

Perez has appeared on stage in Frankie and Johnny in the Clair de Lune, Reckless, References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot which garnered her a Theatre World Award, The Vagina Monologues and A Midsummer Night's Dream. On screen, she was nominated for a Golden Globe and Academy Award for her role in Fearless and starred in Human Nature, King of the Jungle, Riding in Cars With Boys, The 24 Hour Woman, The Road to El Dorado, Do the Right Thing, White Men Can't Jump, Untamed Heart, It Could Happen to You, Somebody to Love and the upcoming Pineapple Express and The Take. Perez recently received critical acclaim for her directorial debut, Yo Soy Boricua Pa'que Tu Lo Sepas!, a documentary which celebrates Puerto Rican pride. She was nominated for an Emmy Award for directing and choreographing the Fly Girls in In Living Color.

Chamberlin received Tony nominations for Dirty Blonde and Seussical and has appeared on Broadway in Chicago, My Favorite Year, Abe Lincoln In Illinois and Triumph of Love. His credits at City Center's Encores series include the recent Stairway to Paradise, Zeigfeld Follies of 1936 and One Touch of Venus. Off-Broadway credits include As Thousands Cheer, Smoke on the Mountain and Juno. In Los Angeles, he appeared in Reprise's Merrily We Roll Along, Assassins, Company, Applause and most recently directed Baby and Working. Currently, Kevin is costarring with Lili Taylor in the new Lifetime TV series State of Mind.

The design team for The Ritz includes Scott Pask sets and William Ivey Long costumes.