Theater News

Dan Butler to Replace Larry Pine in Beast at NYTW

Dan Butler
Dan Butler

Dan Butler will replace previously announced cast member Larry Pine in New York Theatre Workshop’s production of Michael Weller’s Beast. Directed by Jo Bonney, the production is scheduled to run August 29-October 12, with an official opening on September 15. According to a press statement, Pine “recently suffered from a detached retina and has been advised by his doctor that he needs time to recuperate from the injury.”

The play concerns two Iraqi War veterans who make their way home from Germany to Crawford, Texas, where they meet up with the Commander-in-Chief. The cast will also include Raul Aranas, Jeremy Bobb, Lisa Joyce, Logan Marshall-Green, Eileen Rivera, and Corey Stoll. The creative team includes Eugene Lee (sets), Colleen Werthmann (costumes), David Lander (lighting), David Van Tieghem (sound), and Tal Yarden (video).

Butler — who will play the roles of the Commander-in-Chief, "GW," and Captain Adler — previously appeared at NYTW in Domino and Emerald City. He received a Drama Desk nomination for his solo show, The Only Thing Worse You Could Have Told Me…, and additional stage credits include Twentieth Century on Broadway, and The Lisbon Traviata. He is best known for playing Bob ‘Bulldog’ Briscoe on TV’s Frasier.

Weller’s plays include Moonchildren, Loose Ends, and Spoils of War; his newest work, Fifty Words, will be produced this fall by MCC Theater. His screenplays include Hair and Ragtime. Bonney has previously directed All That I Will Ever Be and The Seven at NYTW.

The NYTW season will continue as acclaimed director Peter Brook helms C.I.C.T./ Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord’s production of The Grand Inquisitor, to be co-presented by Theatre for a New Audience, October 22-November 23, and Things of Dry Hours by Naomi Wallace, directed by Ruben Santiago-Hudson, to be presented in Spring 2009. NYTW will also present the inaugural season of its Off Again series of concert versions of notable off-Broadway musicals.

For more information, visit www.nytw.org.

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Beast

Closed: October 12, 2008