Great Danes! Claire Joins Zac Efron in Me and Orson Welles

Claire Danes, whose "gamely impersonation" of Eliza Doolittle on the recent Broadway Pygmalion revival tanked among the critics, will join the cast of Me and Orson Welles, an adaptation of the period coming-of-age novel set in the late 1930s by Robert Kaplow. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Zac Efron (High School Musical's hearthrob for pre-teens) will play a high school student who stumbles upon the Mercury Theatre and gets discovered by its mercurial founder, Orson Welles (played by slim-resume'd Christian McKay). The kid lands a bit part in Julius Caesar, the production that catapulted Mr. Welles to the top, and "spends the next week learning about life and love." Ah how sweet. We're assuming Ms. Danes will be giving Mr. Efron some lessons in the latter, although that might be in the hands of British actress Imogen Poots, who was also recently recruited to the cast.