Is He Dead?
Lyceum Theatre
Previews Began: November 8, 2007
Opening Night: December 9, 2007
Closing Night: March 9, 2008
Playwright: Mark Twain
Adaptation: David Ives
Inspired by the posthumous bidding war that broke out between the United States and France over Jean-Francois Millet’s painting “The Angelus,” a fast-paced comedy about a group of poor artists who stage the death of their mentor to drive up the price of his paintings. In order for the scheme to succeed, the artists hatch various hilarious plots involving cross-dressing, a full-scale fake funeral, lovers’ deceptions and much more.
CAST
OPENING NIGHT
Norbert Leo Butz Jean-François Millet
Widow Daisy Tillou
Jenn Gambatese Marie Leroux
Michael McGrath Agamemnon Buckner
Bridget Regan Cecile Leroux
Tom Alan Robbins Hans von Bismarck
Byron Jennings Bastien André
John McMartin Papa Leroux
Jeremy Bobb Phelim O’Shaughnessy
Marylouise Burke Madame Caron
Patricia Conolly Madame Bathilde
David Pittu Basil Thorpe
Claude Rivière
Charlie
The King of France
Understudies: Sheffield Chastain (Jean-François Millet/Agamemnon Buckne/Phelim O’Shaughnessy/Basil Thorpe), Wilbur Edwin Henry (Papa Leroux/Bastien André/Hans von Bismarck), Liv Rooth (Marie Leroux/Cecile Leroux), Peggy J. Scott (Madame Caron/Madame Bathilde)