Ferland, Kudisch, Luker, Von Essen, et al. Set for Shaw Project’s Fanny’s First Play

Danielle Ferland, Jonathan Freeman, Cynthia Harris, George S. Irving, Marc Kudisch, Rebecca Luker, and Max von Essen will star in The Shaw Project‘s staged reading of Fanny’s First Play at 7pm on Monday, February 27 at the Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South). Also set to participate in the reading are theater journalists Howard Kissel, Robert Osborne, Patrick Pacheco, and Michael Riedel.

First presented in 1911, Shaw’s play concerns Fanny O’Dowd, who has written a controversial play. As a birthday present, her father has arranged for critics and audiences to attend the premiere.

The Shaw Project will feature monthly readings of the playwright’s works over the next two years. Among the shows scheduled to be read in 2006 are Heartbreak House, You Never Can Tell, and Misalliance. Michael Cerveris, Veanne Cox, Olympia Dukakis, Patti LuPone, and Marian Seldes are among the actors who have agreed to participate in the series.