Fil-Am stars with Steve Carrell in Broadway’s ‘Uncle Vanya’

Obie Award-winning Filipino American theater artist Mia Katigbak will star in the Broadway production of “Uncle Vanya” with Steve Carrell. CONTRIBUTED

NEW YORK — Filipino American actor Mia Katigbak will join celebrity actor Steve Carrell in his Broadway debut as he plays the title character in Anton Chekhov’s classic “Uncle Vanya.”

Katigbak is an Obie Award winner for her performance in “Awake and Sing” staged by the National Asian American Theatre Company (NAATCO), of which she is the cofounder and artistic director. (Her company is celebrating its 35th anniversary next year.)

READ about Mia Katigbak discussing NAATCO’s 25^th anniversary

She has extensive theater credits in New York and some of her television credits include “How to Get Away With Murder” (ABC), “The Sinner” (USA), “Chicago PD” (NBC), “The Mysteries of Laura” (NBC) and “The Family” (ABC).

Fil-Am actor Spencer Donovan Jones is also part of the cast playing the part of the neighbor.

Star studded cast

Carrell is known for his role as Michael Scott on the television mockumentary series “The Office.” He was nominated for an Oscar for his work on the film “Foxcatcher.”

Steve Carrell (right) and wife, Nancy, arrive at the 24th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. FILE PHOTO (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)

In the play, Sonia and her uncle Vanya have devoted their lives to managing the family farm in isolation, but when her ailing father and his charismatic wife move in, their lives are upended. In the heat of the summer, the wrong people fall in love, desires and resentments erupt, and the family is forced to reckon with the ghosts of their unlived lives.

Katigbak will be playing Marina, the household nurse.

The starry cast of “Uncle Vanya” includes Alison Pill (“Star Trek: Picard”) as Sonia.

Alfred Molina (Dr. Octopus in “Spider-Man: No Way Home”) will play the ailing father and Anika Noni Rose (voice of Tiana in Disney’s “Princess and the Frog” and Hulu’s “Little Fires Everywhere”) will play the wife.

They will be joined by William Jackson Harper (“The Good Place”) and Jayne Houdyshell (Hulu’s “Only Murders in the Building” and Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women”).

This production is using a new translation of the play by Heidi Schreck, who is known for her one-person play, “What the Constitution Means to Me,” which is available to watch on Amazon.

Mia Katigbak

In New York, Katigbak has acted with Ma-Yi Theater (originally founded as a Filipino American theater company and has since evolved into an Asian American theater company), New York Theatre Workshop, New Georges, Transport Group, among others.

READ about Ma-Yi Theater winning an Obie Award

Regionally, she has worked with Yale Repertory, Long Wharf, TheaterWorks (Hartford, CT), TheatreSquared (Fayetteville, AR) and Humana Festival at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, among others.

Her many recognitions include a Drama Desk Special Award, an Otto René Castillo Award for Political Theatre,  New York Independent Theater Award for Artistic Achievement and a Lilly Award for Trailblazing.

She was also a founding director of the Consortium of Asian American Theaters and Artists, serving as president of its first board.

“Uncle Vanya” is running at the Vivian Beaumont Theater at the Lincoln Center. It is currently in previews. It will have its opening night on April 24, 2024.

Walter Ang is the author of Barangay to Broadway: Filipino American Theater. Available at Amazon, Bookshop and other online booksellers.