LOS ANGELES -- Alan Alda, Victor Garber and Alfred Molina will recreate their original Broadway roles in Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning Art when it starts performances Jan. 15, 1999 at the UCLA/James A. Doolittle Theatre in Hollywood. The show has its press night Jan. 18 and an official opening Jan. 19, for a run scheduled through March 14, 1999.
Directed by Matthew Warchus and translated by Christopher Hampton, the play deals with three friends and how their friendship is affected when one of them buys an all-white, modern art painting.
Alda's stage credits include Jake's Women and The Apple Tree. Garber starred in Arcadia and Lend Me A Tenor and Off-Broadway's Assassins. Molina played the garrulous husband in Molly Sweeney.
Art opened on Broadway March 1, 1998 to rave reviews and continues to play at the Royale Theatre. The current New York cast includes Judd Hirsch, Joe Morton and George Wendt.
For tickets to the L.A. production call TeleCharge at (800) 447-7400. *
In other Art news, Michael Gross, Zach Grenier and Colin Stinton continue to star as the bickering trio in the Chicago production of Reza's hit, running (at least) through the first weekend in April 1999, according to a box office spokesperson. Performances began Sept. 17 for the Sept. 27, 1998 opening.
The Windy City mounting was the first U.S. production of the comedy since it landed on Broadway last spring. The Broadway production proved a solid hit, earning back its money in a matter of weeks.
Maria Mileaf has staged the Chicago mounting at the Royal George Theatre. Mileaf was associate director on the Broadway production, piloted by Matthew Warchus. Mileaf has several Off-Off-Broadway credits to her name, including The Gut Girls at Cucaracha Theatre and Tomorrowland at SoHo Rep.
Michael Gross plays Serge, the character whose purchase of an all white painting tests his friendships with Marc and Yvan. Gross is best known as Michael J. Fox's father Stephen Keaton on the TV sitcom "Family Ties." In the theatre, he has appeared on Broadway in Bent and The Philadelphia Story. His most recent stage role was in Later Life at Chicago's Northlight Theatre.
Stinton (Marc), is an old hand at Mamet, having played roles in The Old Neighborhood, Edmond and The Water Machine. In New York, he has appeared in Some Americans Abroad. He has also done extensive work at Chicago's Goodman Theatre.
Zach Grenier (Yvan) has been a versatile New York presence for several years. Among his varied credits are roles in A Question of Mercy, Three Birds Alighting on a Field, Creditors, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Rhinoceros.
Art won the 1998 Tony Award for Best Play. For Chicago tickets call (312) 988-9000; for tickets to the Broadway production call (212) 239-6200.
