Casa Valentina: Patrick Page and John Cullum

Michael Ridell of the New York Post reports that Broadway veteran Patrick Page and two-time Tony Award winner John Cullum have been cast in Manhattan Theatre Club's world premiere of Casa Valentina, the play by four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein, directed by two-time Tony Award winner Joe Mantello.

Casting, creative team, and additional listings information for Casa Valentina is still to be confirmed.

Page recently starred on Broadway as 'Rufus R. Buckley,' in 'A Time to Kill.' His other Broadway credits include 'Cyrano de Bergerac,' 'Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,' 'A Man for All Seasons,' 'Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas!,' 'Julius Caesar,' 'The Lion King,' 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'The Kentucky Cycle.'

Cullum's Broadway credits include 'The Scottsboro Boys,' 'August: Osage County,' ''110 in the Shade' (Tony nomination), 'Urinetown' (Tony nomination), 'On the Twentieth Century' (Tony Award), 'Shenandoah' (Tony Award) and 'On a Clear Day You Can See Forever' (Tony nomination). Notable TV work includes "The Middle," "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "ER," "To Have & to Hold" and "Northern Exposure" (Prime-Time Emmy nomination).

The limited engagement of Casa Valentina will open at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre on 23 Apr 2014, following previews from 01 Apr 2014.

Casa Valentina is four-time Tony Award winner Harvey Fierstein's ('Kinky Boots,' 'Newsies,' 'La Cage aux Folles') first play in thirty years.

Casa Valentina: Back in 1962, most men went to the Catskill Mountains to escape the summer heat, but others took the two-hour drive to escape something else entirely: being men. Nestled in the land of dirty dancing and borscht belt comedy sat an inconspicuous bungalow colony that catered to a very special clientele: heterosexual men whose favorite pastime was dressing and acting as women. It was paradise for these men-white-collar professionals with families-to spend their weekends discreetly and safely inhabiting their chosen female alter egos. But when faced with the opportunity to become an official organization, these "self-made women" had to decide whether public recognition would help them gain a place in open society or spell their own personal disaster.

The play, based on actual events, offers a glimpse into the lives of a group of unforgettable characters as they search for acceptance and happiness in their very own Garden of Eden.

Harvey Fierstein recently said of the play,

All the guys who went up there were heterosexual transvestites. One of the interesting facts I found is that in 1975, the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality and homosexuals who cross-dress from its list of maladies. But heterosexual transvestism is still listed as a malady. It's almost as if they're saying, 'We don't expect any better of you homosexuals, but you heterosexuals should know better!'