Andre Braugher, Lily Rabe Join Hamlet in Central Park; Hair Cast Set

The Public Theater announced that Emmy Award winner Andre Braugher will play Claudius and Drama Desk nominee Lily Rabe will play Ophelia in Hamlet, the first production of Shakespeare in the Park's 2008 summer season at the Delacorte Theatre, joining previously announced stars Michael Stuhlbarg Hamlet and Richard Easton Polonius. Shakespeare's timeless tale of murder, betrayal and madness will begin previews on May 27 and run through June 29, directed by the Public's artistic director Oskar Eustis.

The Public also released a partial cast list for the second production of 2008, Hair, which will include 24 cast members from last summer's successful concert version of the classic love-rock musical. As previously reported, the cast of Hair will be led by Jonathan Groff Spring Awakening and Will Swenson 110 in the Shade. Directed by Diane Paulus, Hair will begin previews on July 22 and run through August 17.

Returning cast members will include Ato Blankson-Wood Tribe, Steel Burkhardt Tribe, Allison Case Crissy, Lauren Elder Tribe, Jonathan Groff Claude, Allison Guinn Tribe, Anthony Hollock Tribe, Kaitlin Kiyan Tribe, Andrew Kober Father/Margaret Mead, Megan Lawrence Mother, Nicole Lewis White Boys Trio / Tribe, Patina Renea Miller Dionne, John M. Moauro Tribe, Darius Nichols Hud, Brandon Pearson Tribe, Megan Reinking Black Boys Trio / Tribe, Paris Remillard Tribe, Bryce Ryness Woof, Saycon Sengbloh White Boys Trio / Tribe, Maya Sharpe Tribe, Kacie Sheik Jeanie, Theo Stockman Tribe, Will Swenson Berger, and Tommar Wilson Tribe.

In Hamlet, Prince Hamlet's Stuhlbarg world is shattered when the ghost of his recently deceased father, the King, reveals he was murdered by his own brother, Claudius Braugher, who has since assumed the throne and married Hamlet's mother. Tortured in the afterlife, the King implores young Hamlet to avenge his death. With this ominous final request, Hamlet is pushed into a dangerous spiral of melancholy and apparent madness, devastating his love, Ophelia Rabe, and alarming her protective father Polonius Easton.

Braugher's Shakespearian credits include Henry V, Richard II, Twelfth Night, Measure for Measure and Much Ado About Nothing. TV credits include Murder in Mississippi, The Tuskegee Airmen, Passing Glory, and his Emmy Award-winning performance as Detective Frank Pembleton on the series Homicide. Best-known film roles include Glory, Primal Fear, City of Angels, Frequency and Poseidon.

Rabe is currently playing Babe Magrath in the Roundabout Theater Company's off-Broadway production of Crimes of the Heart. Her Broadway credits include Heartbreak House and Steel Magnolias, for which she received a Drama Desk nomination. Off-Broadway, she appeared in Colder Than Here.