The Best Man announces three more cast members

Jefferson Mays, Dakin Matthews and Donna Hanover have joined the cast of the 2012 Broadway revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man, opening at the Gerald Schoenfeld Theatre on 1 Apr 20122, following previews from 6 Mar 2012.

They join the previously announced Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Oscar, Emmy and Tony Award winner James Earl Jones (Arthur Hockstader), Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Candice Bergen (Alice Russell), five time Tony Award winner Angela Lansbury (Mrs. Gamadge), Tony and Emmy Award winner John Larroquette (William Russell), and Academy Award nominee Michael Mckean (Dick Jensen) and Emmy Award winner Eric McCormack.

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 creative team will feature Tony Award winning scenic designer Derek McLane (33 Variations), Tony Award winning lighting designer Kenneth Posner (The Coast of Utopia, Part 2 - Shipwreck) and five-time Tony Award nominated costume designer Ann Roth (The Book of Mormon).

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:

Jefferson Mays won a 2004 Tony Award for Best Actor in a Play when he made his Broadway debut in the one-man show 'I Am My Own Wife.' He has also appeared on Broadway in 'Journey's End' and 'Pygmalion. Mays can currently be seen in starring in the Off-Broadway premiere of 'Blood and Gifts.' Film and television include "How to Lose Friends and Alienate People," "Alfie," "The Notorious Bettie Page," "Kinsey," "Memoirs of My Nervous Illness," "The Big Brass Ring," "Cousin Bette," "Liberty!" and "The Closer."

Dakin Matthews' Broadway credits: 'A Man For All Seasons,' Julius Caeser (Dramaturg), and 'Henry IV.' Off-Broadway: 'Measure for Measure,' 'All's Well that Ends Well,' 'Freedomland,' 'The Lower Depths,' 'Women Beware Women,' 'The Hostage' and 'The School for Scandal.' TV credits include "Desperate Housewives," "General Hospital," "The King of Queens," "Gilmore Girls," "Jack & Bobby," "Soul Man," "The Jeff Foxworthy Show," "The Office," "Drexell's Class," "Down Home" and "My Two Dads."

Donna Hanover is making her Broadway debut. With the The Best Man she is reunited with director Michael Wilson after having last appeared off-Broadway in Spring 2011 in Christopher Shinn's 'Picked' at the Vineyard Theatre. Film credits include "The People vs. Larry Flynt," "Keeping the Faith," "Superstar," "Ransom," "Celebrity," "The Dream Team," "Noel," "Interview" and "Running on Empty." On television, she has appeared on the FX series "Louie" as well as "Law & Order," "Family Law," "Ally McBeal," "The Practice," "Sex and the City" and "Rescue Me."