Gore Vidal's The Best Man: further cast announced

Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Candice Bergen, five time Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury, Tony and Emmy Award winner John Larroquette and Academy Award nominee Michael Mckean will join the previously announced James Earl Jones in the Spring 2012 Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man.

The Best Man will open on Broadway on 1 Apr 2012, following previews from 6 Mar 2012, at a venue to be announced.

A play about power, ambition, political secrets, ruthlessness and the race for the presidency, The Best Man will be directed by Michael Wilson, who directed the Off-Broadway production of Horton Foote's 'The Orphans Home Cycle Part I,II and III' at The Signature Theatre Company as well as 'Dividing The Estate' on Broadway.

The Best Man will make its return to Broadway in its first major revival since its run on Broadway in Sep 2000. Jeffrey Richards, Jerry Frankel, Michael B. Rothfeld (Eagle Productions), and Darren Bagert (Infinity Stages), the producers of that production, have reunited to present the upcoming revival.

The Best Man was Vidal's second play following his comedy 'Visit to a Small Planet.'

The play premiered on Broadway in March of 1960 and was nominated for 6 Tony Awards including Best Play. Melvyn Douglas, portraying candidate 'William Russell,' a former secretary of state, won the Tony Award for outstanding actor.

Bios:

Candice Bergen previously appeared on Broadway in the mid-1980s in Hurlyburly by David Rabe. She is best known for starring in two TV series; as the title character on "Murphy Brown" (1988-1998), for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on "Boston Legal" (2004-2008), for which she was nominated for two Emmys, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She made her motion picture debut in 1966's The Group and went on to star in a number of major films throughout the mid-1960s to early 1980s such as The Sand Pebbles, Carnal Knowledge, The Wind and the Lion, Gandhi and Rich and Famous, and received an Academy Award nomination for her role in Starting Over. Her later career includes roles in Miss Congeniality and Sweet Home Alabama, as well as a series arc on "House."

Angela Lansbury is as an award-winning stage actor in New York and London. Most recently, she appeared as 'Madame Armfeldt' in the 2009 revival of 'A Little Night Music,' and before that as 'Madame Arcati' in the 2009 revival of Noël Coward's B'lithe Spirit,' for which she won her fifth Tony Award. She performed in 2006 in Terrence McNally's 'Deuce,' for which she was also nominated for a Tony Award. She made her Broadway debut in 1957 as 'Bert Lahr's wife' in H'otel Paradiso.' In 1960, she returned to Broadway as Joan Plowright's mother in the season's most acclaimed drama, 'A Taste of Honey,' by Shelagh Delaney. A year later, she starred in her first musical, 'Anyone Can Whistle.' Lansbury returned to Broadway in 1966 in 'Mame,' for which she won her first Tony Award. She received others as the 'Madwoman of Chaillot' in 'Dear World' (1968), as 'Mama Rose' in the 1974 revival of 'Gypsy' and as 'Mrs. Lovett' in 'Sweeney Todd' (1979). From 1984-1996 she starred as Jessica Fletcher, mystery-writing amateur sleuth, on "Murder, She Wrote," the longest-running detective drama series in the history of television, a role that won her four Golden Globe Awards.

John Larroquette is currently starring as 'J.B. Biggley' in 'How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,' a performance that won him a 2011 Tony Award. He was previously seen in the Off-Broadway production of 'Oliver Parker!' written by Elizabeth Meriwether. Past stage appearances include Neil Simon's 'Oscar and Felix: A New Look at The Odd Couple' at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles and 'Happy Jack' written by two-time BAFTA winner John Godber. Larroquette is a five-time Emmy Award-winning actor, best known as "Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding" on NBC's "Night Court," which earned him four Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He won his fifth Emmy Award for a guest-starring role on "The Practice." His film credits include "Stripes," Oliver Stone's "JFK," "Richie Rich" and "Tune in Tomorrow."

Michael McKean, who currently stars in The Public Theater's production of 'King Lear', as appeared on Broadway in 'Superior Donuts,' 'The Homecoming,' 'The Pajama Game,' 'Hairspray' and 'Accomplice.' TV credits: "Laverne & Shirley," "Dream On," "Sessions," "Tracy Takes On," "Saturday Night Live," "Primetime Glick," "Friends," "The X Files," "The Simpsons," "Law & Order," "Alias," "Boston Legal," "The Unit," etc. Films include "This Is Spinal Tap," "The Big Picture" (co-wrote both), "Clue," "Coneheads," "The Brady Bunch Movie," "True Crime," "Jack," "Best in Show," "A Mighty Wind," "For Your Consideration," "Whatever Works" and many more.