The Guthrie Theatre production of Warren Leight's Side Man, the Tony Award-winning Best Play of 1999, begins previews on May 5. The show opens May 10 and runs through May 28.

Director Ethan McSweeny returns to the Guthrie Lab to helm Leight's autobiographical account of his family history, which paralleled the slow decline of jazz music in the '50s.

Leight attended rehearsals at the Guthrie Lab and was quoted in production notes saying, "It's an emotionally driven structure and I wanted the play to unfold the way a jazz set does in a club...by stating a melody and then doing riffs and going further and further out." The playwright also said that he and the director and cast had "worked very hard on what the rhythms of the scenes are."

Guthrie's Side Man cast includes Kelly Bertenshaw as Patsy, Frank Deal as Gene, Richard Iglewski as Ziggy, Jim Lichtscheidl as Clifford, Stephen Pelinski as Al, Stephen Yoakam as Jonesy and Stephanie Zimbalist as Terry.

The artistic team for the show comprises set designer John Arnone, costume designer Amelia Breuer, lighting designer Matt Reinert and sound designer David Maddox. Preview tickets run $18. Fri.-Sat. tickets are $28. All other performances are $24. The Guthrie Lab is located at 700 North First Street in Minneapolis. The Guthrie ticket office can be reached at (612) 377-2224 or toll free at (800) 447-8243.

-- By Murdoch McBride