Full Casting Announced for MTC’s Come Back Little Sheba

Full casting has been announced for the Manhattan Theatre Club’s production of William Inge’s classic drama Come Back, Little Sheba at the Biltmore Theatre, beginning on January 3. The production, which will be directed by Michael Pressman, will open officially on January 24.

In addition to S Epatha Merkerson (Lola), Kevin Anderson (Doc), and Zoe Kazan (Marie), the cast will feature Joseph Adams, Chad Hoeppner, Daniel Damon Joyce, Lyle Kanouse, Brian J. Smith, Keith Randolph Smith, Brenda Wehle, and Matthew J. Williamson.

The creative team will include James Noone (sets), Jennifer von Mayrhauser (costumes), Jane Cox (lighting), Obadiah Eaves (sound), and Peter Golub (original music).

Sheba concerns Lola, a woman a caught in a stale 25-year marriage to the alcoholic Doc — a relationship that changes when the couple takes in Marie, a beautiful young boarder. The play opened on Broadway in 1950, where it ran for 190 performances and won Tony Awards for Shirley Booth as Lola and Sidney Blackmer as Doc. Booth re-created her role for the film version opposite Burt Lancaster.

Merkerson and Pressman collaborated earlier this year on a production of the play at Los Angeles’ Kirk Douglas Theatre.