WESTPORT–Hollywood legend Tom Hanks will join Wendie Malick and Tony Shaloub at tonight’s play reading at the Westport Country Playhouse.

The cast will read Portrait of a Woman in Repose, a play that “explores themes of art, memory, survival and the enduring effort to restore what has been lost,” the Playhouse said in a press release.

The reading begins at 7 p.m.; the performance is sold out.

“For nearly a century, Westport Country Playhouse has welcomed legendary performers to our historic theatre, and we’re enormously proud to continue that tradition with Tom Hanks, Wendie Malick, and Tony Shalhoub taking the stage,” said Mark Shanahan, Playhouse artistic director. “Our 100th Script in Hand reading is a milestone to celebrate, and how fortunate we are to do so with these three beloved and renowned stars of stage and screen. There is something truly magical about artists of this caliber choosing to come to the Playhouse to do what they love best: tell a great story. I look forward to seeing these remarkable actors bring Nicky Glossman’s beautiful play to life under James Glossman’s expert direction, as we mark 20 years of a reading series that has become a hallmark of the Playhouse experience. We’ll all be talking about this one for a long time to come!”

Set during the French restoration, after the fall of Napoleon Bonaparte, Portrait of a Woman in Repose depicts three people, brought together by an art conservation job, who must reckon with the past and the new world in which they find themselves.

Hanks is one of only two actors to have won back-to-back Best Actor Oscars, with his wins for Philadelphia in 1993 and Forrest Gump in 1994 (The other actor is Spencer Tracy).

Malick is known for her television roles as Nina Van Horn on Just Shoot Me! Victoria Chase on Hot in Cleveland and, most recently, Dr. Julie Barham on Apple TV+’s Shrinking. Her films include The American President, Racing Stripes, Adventureland and 7000 Miles.

Shalhoub, a Tony Award, Golden Globe Award, and four-time Emmy Award-winning actor, may be best known for playing the obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk, but he has a wide-ranging resume. In addition to film and television work, he has starred on Broadway in The Band’s Visit, and Arthur Miller’s The Price.

Westport Country Playhouse

25 Powers Court, Westport, Connecticut 06880

www.westportplayhouse.org

^{_{The Westport Country Playhouse is a non-profit that produces theater from playwrights, actors, directors, and designers of all backgrounds, while entertaining audiences and exploring human and societal issues along the way. Image Robert Benson.}}