Boyd Gaines, Andrew Veenstra, Sierra Boggess Star in 'Age of Innocence'

Andrew Veenstra will portray the conflicted romantic Newland Archer in the world premiere adaptation of Edith Wharton's Pulitzer-Prize winning novel "The Age of Innocence" at Hartford Stage.

The production, staged by Doug Hughes and adapted by Douglas McGrath, will also feature four-time Tony Award recipient Boyd Gaines as The Old Gentleman, Sierra Boggess as Countess Ellen Olenska and Helen Cespedes as May Welland.

The show will run April 5 to May 6.

"The Age of Innocence" is set during the Gilded Age in New York, and centers on the courtly young gentleman lawyer Newland Archer torn between love and honor; his traditional and demure fiancée May; and the free-spirited Countess Ellen Olenska, who has come home from Europe, tainted by scandal.

Veenstra played the lead role of Albert Narracott in the first U.S. tour of the Tony Award-winning play War Horse. He starred as John Wilkes Booth in the world premiere of the off-Broadway production of "An Error of the Moon" and as Hamlet at the Lincoln Center Theater. He was in the world premiere of David Ives’ The Heir Apparent" with the Shakespeare Theatre Company in Washington, D.C. .

McGrath received a Tony Award nomination forms book of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. His first film as a writer and director was his adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, starring Gwyneth Paltrow. He co-wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated film Bullets Over Broadway, which transferred to Broadway as a Tony Award-nominated musical. McGrath’s other films include his adaptation of Charles Dickens’ Nicholas Nickleby, Infamous, and the HBO documentary His Way.

Hughes received the 2005 Tony Award for play direction for his staging of direction of "Doubt." He also received a Tony Award nomination for the play "Frozen," (not to be confused with the Disney musical of the same namer.) Other New York directing credits for Hughes, a former artistic director of New Haven's Long Wharf Theatre, include Ayad Akhtar’s "Junk," the Puliutzer Prize-Winning "Wit" (which premiered at Long Wharf during his tewniure), "Red," and "Down the Garden Paths.: Hughes has been the Associate Artistic Director of the Manhattan Theatre Club and Director of Artistic Planning of the Guthrie Theater. As Resident Director of the Roundabout Theatre, Hughes directed "The Big Knife" in 2013 and "Mrs. Warren’s Profession" in 2010.

Gaines' credits include "The Heidi Chronicles" (Best Featured Actor in a Play – 1989), "She Loves Me" (Best Actor in a Musical – 1994), "Contact" (Best Featured Actor in a Musical – 2000), and "Gypsy" (Best Featured Actor in a Musical – 2008). He most recently appeared in the Broadway production of the play "An Enemy of the People." His many television and film credits include "The Good Wife,"" L.A. Law," "One Day at a Time," "Fame," "The Sure Thing" and "Heartbreak Ridge."

Boggess had the title role in the Broadway musical "The Little Mermaid." She is also known for her portrayal of Christine Daaé in numerous productions of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s "The Phantom of the Opera." She began her career in the ensemble and as understudy for Cosette on the U.S. national tour of "Les Miserables." Boggess also appeared in the musical "Princesses" at Goodspeed Musical's Norma Terris Theatre.

Cespedes' credits include the off-Broadway production of "A Picture of Autumn" at The Mint Theatre and a staged reading of "The Rose Tattoo" at The Acting Company, directed by Hughes. She appeared in the Stephen Soderbergh HBO series T"he Knick."

Also in the cast are:

Darrie Lawrence (The Humans, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; The Killing of Sister George, The Actors Company Theatre-TACT) as Mrs. Manson Mingott; Deirdre Madigan (After the Night and the Music, Broadway; And a Nightingale Sang, Westport Country Playhouse) as Mrs. Welland, Mrs. Van Der Luyden and Florist; Haviland Morris (Bad Dates, Long Wharf Theatre; Arcadia; Broadway; film Sixteen Candles) as Mrs. Archer; Josh Salt (Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Broadway; Pride and Prejudice, Center Stage) as Thorley, Riviere and Dallas; Tony Ward (The Front Page and The Audience on Broadway) as Mr. Van Der Luyden, Larry Lefferts and Letterblair; and Nick Wyman (Catch Me if You Can and A Tale of Two Cities on Broadway) as Julius Beaufort, Sillerton Jackson and Mr. Hickey.

Sara Norton, Daniel Owens, Sara Schwab and Alessandro Gian Viviano, students from The Hartt School at the University of Hartford, are cast in the Ensemble.