Marion McClinton (King Hedley II) will direct stars Annabella Sciorra ("The Sopranos") and Sarita Choudhury ("Mississippi Masala") as previously reported by Playbill On-Line. Sherri Eldin, Joseph Kamal (Dinner at Eight) and Daniel Oreskes (Aida) join the production set to open April 5.
Roar explores the disrupted lives of a Palestinian-American mother (Choudhury) and her family living in Detroit when an exiled Kuwaiti relative (Sciorra) arrives at their home. The work is set in the early 1990s, following the first Gulf War.
Sciorra has played on the New York stage in the Off-Broadway stagings of David Rabe's Those The River Keeps and Eve Ensler's The Vagina Monologues. The Italian-American actress, who recently guest starred on HBO's "The Sopranos," has appeared in such films as "Jungle Fever," "Cadillac Man," "The Night We Never Met," "Romeo is Bleeding," "Mr. Wonderful," "What Dreams May Come" and the current "Chasing Liberty."
Choudhury, who appeared in The New Group's 1997 presentation of The Flatted Fifth, made her big screen debut in "Mississippi Masala" opposite Denzel Washington. The part-Indian, part-English actress has also acted in "The House of the Spirits," "The Perez Family," "Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love" and "A Perfect Murder."
Palestinian-American playwright and actress Shamieh has performed her play of monologues Chocolate in Heat at the 2001 New York International Fringe Festival. Her work has also been presented at Second Stage Theatre's Destination America project, at the Hangar Theatre Lab, Interart and the Exiles Theatre in Ireland. The design team for Roar includes Beowulf Boritt (set), Jason Lyons (lighting), Ken Travis (sound) and Mattie Ullrich (costumes). Stephen Gabis serves as dialect coach.
The third play of The New Group's current season is yet to be announced. The troupe opened with the lauded revival of Wallace Shawn's Aunt Dan and Lemon (currently playing at The Acorn Theatre) directed by The New Group artistic director Scott Elliott.
The New Group makes its new home at the renovated Theatre Row, 410 West 42 St., this season. For tickets, call (212) 239-6200. For more information, visit www.thenewgroup.org.
