As of Jan. 2, all but one of the four January productions-in-concert are sold out, a spokesman for the not-for-profit confirmed. Limited seats are available for the concert version of Jeanine Tesori and Brian Crawley's Violet, which, like Falsettos, Floyd Collins and Laughing Wild — all in this series — had their start at the respected theatre devoted to new voices. The series will introduce the public to the $27 million Playwrights Horizons home at 416 W. 42nd Street (the site of its former space). Violet, Jan. 16-19, is expected to sell out, as well.
The musicals of the series — Falsettos, Violet and Floyd Collins — will be presented > in the company’s 198-seat mainstage theater, with six performances each on three successive weekends beginning Jan. 9. Christopher Durang's Laughing Wild will be seen in four performances on the company's more intimate 96-seat Peter Jay Sharp Theater, starting Jan. 30 (a change from the initial announcement).
With the arrival of the new year, casting for the shows has been updated. Here are the details:
Falsettos, William Finn and James Lapine's Tony Award-winning musical that was originally produced separately as March of the Falsettos in 1981 and Falsettoland in 1990, ultimately combined as Falsettos for Broadway in 1992, plays Jan. 9-12. Lonny Price directs a cast including original cast members Michael Rupert (Marvin 1981, 1990 and 1992), Chip Zien (Mendel 1981, 1990 and 1992), Alison Fraser (Trina 1981), Faith Prince (Trina 1990), Heather MacRae (Charlotte 1990 and 1992) and Janet Metz (Cordelia 1990). For the concerts, Fraser will play Trina in March of the Falsettos and Prince will play Trina in Falsettoland, as originally premiered. Stephen Bogardus, the musicals' original Whizzer (1981, 1990 and 1992), is unable to perform due to his commitment to Man of La Mancha; instead, Jonathan Dokuchitz (previously seen at Playwrights Horizons in The Bubbly Black Girl Sheds Her Chameleon Skin) will play Whizzer in the concert. Jesse Nathanson Greenwald will play Jason.
Violet, by composer Jeanine Tesori and lyricist-librettist Brian Crawley, based on a short story by Doris Betts, plays Jan. 16-19. The original staging (and this version) was directed by Susan H. Schulman. The concert features members of the original cast, including Stephen Lee Anderson, Michael McElroy, Cass Morgan, Roz Ryan, Michael Parks and Lauren Ward (reprising her performance in the title role), as well as special guests Norbert Leo Butz, Tracy Nicole Chapman and Luther Creek.Floyd Collins, the tale of the Kentucky spelunker trapped in a cave that will be his tomb, with book and additional lyrics by Tina Landau and music and lyrics by Adam Guettel, plays Jan. 23-26. Landau will again direct. The cast includes members of the original cast, Stephen Lee Anderson, Matthew Bennett, Jason Danieley, Martin Moran and Cass Morgan, as well as special guest Romain Frugé, with additional cast members to be announced.Laughing Wild, the 1987 comedy written and directed by Christopher Durang, will feature original cast Durang and E. Katherine Kerr, Jan. 30-Feb. 1. The work premiere at PH's Studio Theater in October 1987 and plays the new Peter Sharp Theater. PH artistic director Tim Sanford noted that PH's tradition of musicals on its mainstage will be carried through when the theatre presents My Life With Albertine, by Richard Nelson and Ricky Ian Gordon, as its inaugural full production in February.
There are limited seats still available for the Jan. 26 benefit performance of Floyd Collins.
For more Playwrights Horizons information, call Ticket Central at (212) 279-4200 or visit http://www.playwrightshorizons.org.
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The new PH HQ features two theatres (a 198-seat mainstage and a studio), a large main lobby, two rehearsal spaces, offices for artistic, production and administrative staff and the Ticket Central box office.
