Raúl Esparza (Orsino)
Esparza is still hot from his scene-stealing turn opposite Jeremy Piven in Speed-the-Plow; he’ll make the sometimes thankless role of Duke Orsino memorable.
Daniel Sullivan (director)
America’s go-to director for Pulitzer-caliber new drama (Rabbit Hole, Proof, Dinner with Friends), Sullivan is also the secret behind any success this Twelfth Night might have.
Audra McDonald (Olivia)
We’ve seen this multiple-Tony winner sing classics, break in new, difficult musicals and act the hell out of straight drama. Shakespeare? A walk in the park.
Hamish Linklater (Sir Andrew Aguecheek)
From the Michael Cera school of awkward comedy, this lean, deadpan thespian is sure to surprise us with sneak-attack line readings.
Julie White (Maria)
The woman can get laughs with a raised eyebrow or a perfectly calibrated double take. Comic genius and sex appeal in one zany package.
Anne Hathaway (Viola)
She’s the celebrity draw but no tyro: She appeared in the 2002 Encores! production of Carnival and won the Clarence Derwent Award for it.
David Pittu (Feste)
Dry yet goofy in his sense of humor, character imp Pittu manages to marry melancholy and daffiness; we look forward to his sad clown.
Michael Cumpsty (Malvolio)
Need a seasoned actor to bring golden pipes, an erect bearing and square-jawed good looks to your classic? Cumpsty’s your man.
Jay O. Sanders (Sir Toby Belch)
We loved him two summers ago as blustery Bottom in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and now Sanders returns to bombast his verse as the drunken knight.
Twelfth Night, Shakespeare’s delicious comedy about a shipwrecked, cross-dressed heroine and a snobby butler, is at the Delacorte Theater through July 12.