For Immediate Release: April 15, 2005
Media Contact: Keith Powell, Contemporary Stage Company, 302.658.7897 x3855

Jasmine Guy, the star of TV's "A Different World" and "Dead Like Me", will join previously announced Keith David in Contemporary Stage Company's production of "The Fourposter" this summer. Producing Artistic Director Keith Powell directs.

"Jasmine Guy is ideal casting for this play," says Powell. "Agnes is a character who is beautiful, smart, sophisticated, and funny. We must fall in love with her the instant we see her. All those things describe Jasmine perfectly!"

Guy will join Tony and Emmy nominee Keith David in the revival of the Tony Award winning classic comedy that will reset the play to Harlem during the renaissance. Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy made the roles famous in the original 1952 Broadway production. The designers are Robert Pyzocha (sets), David Rigler (costumes), Mark O'Maley (lights), and Marc Gwinn (sound).

The brainchild of Mr. Powell, the 25-year-old black actor/producer, Contemporary Stage Company is a multicultural summer theater company located in The Baby Grand Theater at The Grand Opera House in downtown Wilmington, Delaware. CSC's mission is to produce and promote plays representing the full spectrum of many cultures, often colorblind casting where appropriate. Last summer, Lynn Redgrave appeared in CSC's inaugural production of "Collected Stories", winning the Barrymore Award for Best Actress in a Play.

This summer, Contemporary Stage's season will see two mainstage productions and a season bonus production. The mainstage season begins with "Restoring The Sun", a new work by Pulitzer Prize finalist Joe Sutton. The production features Tony Award Winner Richard Easton and will be directed by Kent Paul. The season concludes with "The Fourposter" by Jan de Hartog. In addition, CSC will present "30 Plays In 60 Minutes" by the Neo-Futurists, an audience-interactive bonus production that promises to be a crowd-pleaser.

"Restoring The Sun" will run from June 1st through June 12th. "The Fourposter" will run from July 6th through July 17th. Both plays will perform Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7pm, Fridays and Saturdays at 8pm, and Saturdays and Sundays at 2pm. "30 Plays In 60 Minutes" will perform from June 17th through June 26th, Fridays and Saturdays at 7pm and 9pm and Sundays at 2pm.

Season subscription are on sale now, and can be purchased by calling 1-800-37-GRAND. Subscription prices are: $46 for first week performances of all three shows, $61 for second week performances of all three shows. Subscribers get first priority seating for every show. $7 student rush tickets will be available the day of the performances.

ABOUT JASMINE GUY
Jasmine Guy began her career as a dancer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She moved to acting and television with her star-making role as snooty Southern belle Whitley Gilbert in "The Cosby Show" spin-off "A Different World." She won six consecutive NAACP Image Awards for her portrayal of Whitley, directing and writing for the series as well. Most recently, Guy starred in the Showtime series "Dead Like Me" with Mandy Patinkin.

Her other television credits include "Melrose Place," "NYPD Blue," "Touched by an Angel," "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air," "Living Single" and "Any Day Now." She also starred in the Telefilms "Stompin' at the Savoy," Alex Haley's "Queen," "The Boy Who Painted Christ Black," and Showtime's "Anne Rice's The Feast Of All Saints".

Guy's first feature film, Spike Lee's "School Daze," led to many movie opportunities, including "Harlem Nights," "Diamond Men," "Guinevere" and "Kla$h." On stage, she played the role of Velma Kelly in the hit Broadway revival of "Chicago" and appeared in the Broadway productions of "Leader of the Pack" and "The Wiz." Off-Broadway, she charmed audiences in the '60s revue of "Beehive," and toured Europe in a sizzling production of "Bubbling Brown Sugar."

She has written the book "Evolution of a Revolutionary; Conversations with Afeni Shakur," published by Atria, a division of Simon and Schuster.

ABOUT KEITH DAVID
Actor, singer, and voice actor Keith David has spent much of his career on the stage, but also frequently works in feature films and on television. A native of New York City, David first performed as a child, singing in the All Borough Chorus and later attended the prestigious High School of Performing Arts.

Shortly after graduating from Juilliard, where he studied voice and theater, David landed a role in a production of "Coriolanus" at Joseph Papp's Public Theater opposite Christopher Walken. David made his Broadway debut in Edward Albee's "The Lady From Dubuque" and, two years later, had his first film role in John Carpenter's "The Thing".

He would not appear in another feature film until he played King in Oliver Stone's "Platoon" in 1986. In between, David alternated between stage and television work. He appeared in five films in 1988, including Clint Eastwood's "Bird", where he gave a memorable performance as jazz sax player Buster Franklin. In 1992, David showed his considerable skill as a singer and dancer and won a Tony nomination for starring in the musical "Jelly's Last Jam", opposite Gregory Hines.

David's film career really picked up in the mid-'90s, with roles ranging from a gunslinger in Sam Raimi's "The Quick and The Dead" to a New York cop in Spike Lee's "Clockers" to an amputee who owns a pool parlor in "Dead Presidents". In 1998, David had a brief but memorable role as Cameron Diaz's boisterous stepfather in the Farrelly brother's zany "There's Something About Mary". He is also well known to animation fans for his voice work in, among other projects, Disney's "Gargoyles", HBO's "Spawn", and the English-dubbed version of the Japanese-animated film "Princess Mononoke".

ABOUT KEITH POWELL
Keith Powell attended St. Mark's High School in Wilmington before getting his Bachelor of Fine Arts degree at New York University's Tisch School Of The Arts. Producing credits include New York productions of "The Mouse That Roared," "Enter Pissarro," "Indra & Agni Collide," and a workshop of "Kidding Jane" with Ellen McLaughlin and William Charles Mitchell.

Mr. Powell is the resident director for Equalogy, a professional touring company promoting social change, for which he directed two plays by August Schulenberg, "Four Hearts Changing" and "One Night." His other directing credits include "Dutchman," "Quality of Silence," "The Visit," and "Enter Pissarro."

As an actor, Mr. Powell has appeared in numerous national network commercials, including a spokesperson spot for Starburst television and radio. Theater credits include "Romeo & Juliet" (The Shakespeare Theatre, Washington, DC ), "Kidding Jane" (Portland Stage Company), "Macbeth" (Pittsburgh Public Theater), "As Bees In Honey Drown" (Hangar Theater, Ithaca, NY), and "The French" (HB Playwrights Foundation, NYC) among others.

Mr. Powell appeared on "The Guiding Light", "Law & Order" and recently played in a guest lead role on "Law & Order: Criminal Intent."

Recent Delaware honors include Delaware Today's "40 Most Successful Delawareans Under 40", and an award donated to The Delaware English Speaking Union Shakespeare Competition. He is a member of Actors Equity Association and The Screen Actors Guild and splits his time between New York City and New Castle.

ABOUT CONTEMPORARY STAGE COMPANY
Contemporary Stage Company is the area's only summer professional Equity theater company. Boasting a unique mission, CSC is dedicated to building bridges between the many cultures of our community by producing contemporary classics with multicultural casts, or plays that specifically focus on cultural diversity. Under the leadership of Producing Artistic Director Keith Powell, CSC brings plays and artists from around the world to The Baby Grand Theater (at The Grand Opera House) every year.

For more information, contact Keith Powell at keith@contemporarystage.org or at 302-658-7897 ext. 3855.

Contemporary Stage Company receives generous support from Amtrak, AstraZeneca, Buccini/Pollin Group, Delaware Division Of The Arts, The Grand Opera House, HBO, JP Morgan Chase, and MBNA.

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