Award-Winning Actors Marsha Mason And James Naughton Join Westport Country Playhouse Production

WESTPORT, CT — Golden Globe winner Marsha Mason and Tony Award winner James Naughton are joining Tony Award winner Judith Ivey in a Script in Hand playreading of "The Pancake Club" at 7 p.m. on Jan. 12 at the Westport Country Playhouse, the venue announced. The new comedy, written by Charlotte Booker and directed by Mark Shanahan, Playhouse artistic director, is set in a small-town diner where a group of senior men, calling themselves The Pancake Club, regularly meet.

From the announcement:

Marsha Mason is a four-time Academy Award nominee for her starring roles in “The Goodbye Girl,” “Cinderella Liberty,” “Chapter Two,” and “Only When I Laugh.” She won two Golden Globe Awards for “The Goodbye Girl” and “Cinderella Liberty.” Other film roles have included “Blume in Love,” “Max Dugan Returns,” and “Audrey Rose.” On the Broadway stage she has starred in “The Prisoner of Second Avenue,” “The Good Doctor,” “Night of the Iguana,” “Steel Magnolias,” and “Impressionism” with Jeremy Irons. Off-Broadway she received an Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for “Little Gem,” and regional stage credits include “Watch on the Rhine” (Arena Stage), “Lost in Yonkers” (Hartford Stage), “Arms and the Man” (Old Globe), and “All’s Well That Ends Well” (Shakespeare Theatre). TV audiences have seen her on “Frasier” (Golden Globe nomination), ABC’s “The Middle,” “Grace and Frankie,” and “Madam Secretary.” As a director, Mason has helmed productions of “An Act of God,” “Steel Magnolias,” “Chapter Two,” and most recently was associate director with Jack O'Brian on Broadway's “The Roommate” with Mia Farrow and Patti LuPone. This spring she is set to direct “The Roommate” for Arizona Theatre Company. Mason appeared at Westport Country Playhouse in W. Somerset Maugham’s “The Circle” in 2011, and a reading of Michael Cristofer’s “The Whore and Mr. Moore” in 2008.

James Naughton has won two Tony Awards, for “City of Angels” and “Chicago.” He directed two plays on Broadway, Arthur Miller’s “The Price,” and “Our Town,” starring Paul Newman, which began at Westport Country Playhouse. His films include “The Glass Menagerie,” with Joanne Woodward, “The Paper Chase,” “The First Wives Club,” and “The Good Mother.” He won the MAC Award as “Best Male Vocalist” for his concert show, “Street of Dreams,” presented by Mike Nichols. Recently, he’s become an activist, working to pass Medical Aid In Dying, in Connecticut, and funding a trial to find an early diagnosis for Pancreatic Cancer. Naughton has many Westport Country Playhouse credits for performing and directing.

Also in the cast are John Hutton (Regional: The Huntington, The American Conservatory Theatre, The Globe, White Heron Theatre Co., Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey, The Hudson Valley Shakespeare Fest, more; Film: “Lincoln”; Television: “Nobel,” “Murder of a President”); John Ottavino (Westport Country Playhouse: Script in Hand playreadings; 70 professional productions including "A Doll's House" on Broadway, "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" in Leningrad; Regional: "Circle, Mirror, Transformation" - Kevin Kline Award, "Blackbird" - Cincinnati Award;); and Nicole Shalhoub (Westport Country Playhouse: “A Sherlock Carol”; NY/Off-Broadway: The Play Co “Intractable Woman,” LCT “The Clean House,” The Mint “The Fifth Column,” St. Ann’s Warehouse “Hellhouse”; TV/Film: Recurring on “Evil,” “Elementary,” “Bull,” “Madame Secretary,” “Sex & The City 2”).

Stage directions will be read by Faith Sandberg (Westport Country Playhouse: several Script in Hand playreadings; Stage: “Fun Home,” “Peter & The Starcatcher,” “Mamma Mia”; originated roles of Sophie in an adaptation of “Tom Jones,” Kitty in season one of HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”).

Kevin Jinghong Zhu is stage manager (Westport Country Playhouse “Dial M for Murder,” “Kim’s Convenience,” and several Script in Hand playreadings; Broadway: “To Kill a Mockingbird”; MFA: Yale School of Drama. bit.ly/kevinjzhu).

Tickets are $35. Two acts; one intermission.

For full details, visit: https://www.westportplayhouse.org/show/january/

The 2026 Script in Hand Playreading Series is supported by Joyce Hergenhan and the White Barn Program of the Lucille Lortel Foundation. 2026 Programming and Season Sponsor is Barbara Streicker. Media sponsors are Moffly Media and WSHU Public Radio. Westport Country Playhouse is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

The Script in Hand 2026 season continues on Mondays at 7 p.m., on February 9, March 2, May 4, June 8, September 14, October 5, and November 30; titles to be announced.

Script in Hand playreadings offer intimate storytelling as professional actors use their skills to catapult the audience’s imagination without benefit of scenery or costumes. For a video on Script in Hand, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2eWDaF-JXA

A complete schedule of Playhouse events is available at westportplayhouse.org. All play titles, artists, dates, and times are subject to change.

For Westport Country Playhouse information and tickets, visit westportplayhouse.org or call the box office at (203) 227-4177, toll-free at 1-888-927-7529. Stay connected to the Playhouse on Facebook (Westport Country Playhouse), Instagram (wcplayhouse), and YouTube (WestportPlayhouse).Westport Country Playhouse is located at 25 Powers Court, off Route 1, Westport.