Broadway veteran and Tony Award nominee Michael McGrath will join The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival portraying the role of John Adams in 1776, announced Producing Artistic Director Patrick Mulcahy. "Michael will be a terrific addition to our company. He is a first-rate actor and brings all the right energies for Adams: determination, fierceness, humor, and when needed, sensitivity and humility."

Nominated for a Tony Award and Drama Desk Award for Best Featured Actor in a musical for Spamalot, McGrath won a Theatre World Award in 1996 for Swinging on a Star. Also featured in Little Me, Anything Goes and Wonderful Town, he was most recently seen on Broadway in Is He Dead.

Directed by PSF Associate Artistic Director Dennis Razze, 1776 features a set design by resident designer Will Neuert, costume design by Broadway designer Sam Fleming, lighting design by Eric Haugen, and sound design by Matt Given. 1776 features music and lyrics by Sherman Edwards, with a book by Peter Stone.

The Pennsylvania Shakespeare Festival at DeSales University is a professional company and the official Shakespeare festival of the Commonwealth. The 2009 summer season features: The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) June 3 - June 28; the Tony Award winning musical 1776, June 17 - July 5; A Midsummer Night's Dream, July 8 - August 2; Antony and Cleopatra, July 15 - August 2, Cinderella, May 29 - August 1, Shakespeare for Kids, July 22 - August 1 and The Green Show, June 3 - August 1.

For information, contact: 610.282.WILL or www.pashakespeare.org.