Deborah Rush Joins Broadway Cast of Blithe Spirit

Tony nominee Deborah Rush will play Mrs. Bradman in the forthcoming Broadway revival of Noel Coward’s Blithe Spirit, joining previously announced stars Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole, Rupert Everett, Jayne Atkinson and Simon Jones. The production will begin performances on February 26, 2009, at the Shubert Theatre, directed by Michael Blakemore. No opening night has been set.

First produced in 1941, Blithe Spirit centers on author Charles Condomine Everett, who hires an eccentric medium, Madame Arkati Lansbury, to perform a seance at his house party in order to find material for an expose he's writing. Unbeknownest to him, she winds up summoning the spirit of his first wife, Elvira Ebersole, who is out to seek revenge on her former husband.

Rush received a 1984 Tony nomination for Noises Off directed by Blakemore and has appeared on Broadway in Absurd Person Singular, Hay Fever, The Sisters Rosensweig and Dance With Me. Other New York theater credits include The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, Alice in Wonderland and several Shakespeare in the Park productions. Her film credits include the upcoming Julie and Julia, You’re Got Mail, Purple Rose of Cairo, and Strangers with Candy.